May 27 & 28 Change of Plans Again

May 27 was my coldest night on the PCT to date. The temperature got down into the teens but with the storm now behind us there was no wind and the current forecast showed the worst was behind us. I wore the vapor barrier clothes I had made from plastic bags and managed to stay warm. I couldn't help wondering how Eagle Eye and Nick were doing. They got caught right in the worst part of the storm. Roberto and Ooops were headed to Mt Whitney and my plan was to continue on the PCT to make it to Independence by Tuesday by myself. Mt Whitney is not part of the PCT but a must-do side trip for most thru-hikers. I hiked Mt Whitney last August so was planning to skip it and with recent knee problems it would be the smart thing to do, besides I couldn't go as I only had enough food for 3 1/2 days. So of course I changed plans when Ooops offered me his extra day of food! May 27th we hiked above Guitar Lake to base camp in preparation for the Mt Whitney summit.



Guitar Lake

We would get a 5:30 am start to avoid afternoon storms. By only carrying our survival gear, warm clothes, rain gear, and some food, the lighter load would ease the burden of climbing to 14,500'. Mt Whitney is the highest peak in the contiguous U.S. After our summit we'll return to base camp, pack out and head back to where we left the PCT.
As we hiked to Guitar Lake Roberto took the lead, I was behind him by an hour and Ooops behind me by an hour due to picture taking. With so much beauty surrounding us Ooops may never make it out of the Sierras this year. We settled into camp around 6pm, at an elevation of 11,450' and prepared for another cold night.
All went as planned the next day and we summited Mt Whitney by 9am. The weather was perfect and we got lots of great pics - see for yourself...



Almost there- looking down from a crack in the wall of the trail


The hut at the top of Mt Whitney



It was very cold up there!




Views from the top...










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