I wake late-ish, but most everyone’s still asleep, hungover on the excellence of yesterday evening. I pack up, head over to the fire, where there’s coffee and conversation to be had. We throw our extra food Pineapple’s way – she’s not going to Bishop, but heading straight through to Vermillion Valley Resort six days ahead – and give her so much love before Outro, Yoda, Homegrown, Sprinkles, and I all head off towards the Kearsarge Pass junction. Continue reading
It’s so easy to get up this morning after yesterday – cold, but easy, the anticipation that comes with new challenges thrumming through me. Today, we head for Forester Pass – the tallest point on trail – to suss it out, see if we can’t get over it. I’m hoping to do more than the nine miles we’ve got to the approach today, but I’m not assuming anything. We’ll see. Continue reading
My alarm goes off at 11:30pm, Yoda’s nearby at 11:45 – thank goodness, because I’d fallen back asleep. I hate everything a lot less than I think I will, particularly since I was smart and did most of my packing last night, but after clothing myself and grabbing my food out of my bear can and stuffing everything I need into what turns out to be my now absurdly light pack, it’s still 12:30am before I leave camp. 7.5 miles to the summit, sunrise at 5:15-ish – it’s gonna be tight, I think, but I’m trying to stay positive. Continue reading
I roll over and out of my bag and into a normal-yet-weird morning. I do everything the same as I normally do, grab the bear cans, pick out the food for the day, pack up, stride off into the flat behind both Yoda and Outro. But today’s the setup – we’re climbing Mount Whitney, the tallest peak in the lower 48 states, for sunrise tomorrow, and it’s got me bouncing through the morning’s flat in anticipation. Continue reading
I’m one of the first ones up this morning. My tent is pitched all weird, deeply involved with a tree branch – and it bothers me until I take it down, trying to be quiet for all the still-sleepers. Outro’s out first – how quickly she manages, even with the bear can! – and then it’s me, off into the rocky ups awaiting us. Continue reading
My alarm goes off at 4:30, but it’s still dark-dark outside. And cold. At 4:45, I persuade myself to get up – my friends aren’t going to wait for me. Dally, yes. Wait, no. The bear can take a longer to deal with than I’m used to, and it takes me 45 minutes to get out. Still, I don’t think the Pack will be up this early, if past experience is any indication. I’ve got to use this time to move before they do. Continue reading
Everyone’s already packed up by the time I roll out of bed this morning – I think about packing, but Pineapple tells me she had a dream about me, namely that my box didn’t come. Great. I stare balefully at my tent, decide not to pack yet – I’ll have to figure out how to pack everything differently once I get the bear can anyway. Continue reading
I wake early today, go back to sleep annoyed – why get up when there’s no walking to be done? But I can’t stay asleep for long with the sun shining merrily down on my tent, and I flee the bright for the relative chill of the outside world. Continue reading
I’m getting into this terrible habit of ignoring my alarm – it’s cold when it goes off at 5, and there’s no one else stirring, so I roll over and go back to sleep. At 5:45 though, Evac starts stirring in a manner it’s impossible to ignore, so I’m up myself, if only marginally. I ask for just a sip of coffee and she offers it to me, sweet brown liquid rolling warmly down my gullet. I guess it’s time to start the day. Continue reading
Morning comes quickly, since I stayed up past 10 writing. My alarm goes off at 4:30 – nobody stirs. I reset it for 5, still nobody stirs. It’s not until I hear movement at 6:05 that I finally feel like a lazy fuck enter consciousness for good, try to relax into the morning. No one’s in a hurry today. Continue reading
Brown Girl on the NST 