by "Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
Published 12/21/2017 at 11:02
by "Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
Published 12/21/2017 at 11:02
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STARS: 0
And by the moon, I mean Ridgecrest, CA. That area is part of the high desert (2000+ feet ASL) in Southern California. It is rather remote and also VERY different than Los Angeles for sure. That is one of the crazy parts to me about living in Southern California now, is just how varied the landscape can get within just a couple hours of driving.
Leaving at around 9pm on Monday, I was able to get up there at about 11pm, which was a good 20 minutes faster than google maps predicted. Desert highways tend to be very straight and empty at that hour! Of course I took the STi up there since it was going to be a bit cold, windy, and all of my driving would be in the dark on straight roads anyways. That was the first real highway trip for the car and at that pace going up there, I was able to eek out 21mpg in the car. Best mileage yet! I would think if I could do a highway trip at closer to 65-70 then I could probably actually achieve the EPA rating of 24mpg but that’s no fun!
Seeing as it was 28 degrees (F) when I woke up on Tuesday, this was also the first time I have found actual cold in California as well. While I have spent plenty of time outdoors in a nice humid -10 or lower while skiing back east and was actually sweating still, this was still chilly. It of course warmed up during the day but I was indoors most of the day anyways.
Being up there really did feel like I was on another planet. It is just so vacant, desolate, quiet, and honestly quite beautiful in its own way. I am glad to live back in civilization with all of its noise and chaos but its nice to explore areas like this as well. I dont know if I could ever see myself going up there just for fun (other than further north for skiing) but I am sure there is some cool hiking that would be worth visiting. Except in the summer, then I might as well be on the sun with how hot it gets up there.
"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
12/21/2017 at 11:45, STARS: 1
Taint the moon, I’ve been to the moon.
That looks like a very fun place to play though.
"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
12/21/2017 at 11:53, STARS: 0
Haha yup, I am exaggerating a bit. Places like that are much more moon-like. I figured you would post this image here. But it was the best comparison I could make to being in Los Angeles. I also didnt really get to do much other than work but it was still a cool place to be at.
"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
12/21/2017 at 11:54, STARS: 0
No it really does look like fun. Im in dire need of some desert in my life lately.
"DasWauto" (DasWauto)
12/21/2017 at 13:27, STARS: 2
If you enjoy hiking and moonscapes, I highly recommend driving another 1.5-2 hrs up I395 to Lone Pine and making the trek up Mt. Whitney.
Going in the summer is actually best. The heat doesn’t last once you start adding altitude.
"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
12/21/2017 at 13:48, STARS: 0
Funny story, I was just looking up Mt Whitney since a coworker had mentioned it while I was up there. I planned on entering the lottery to go hike up there next summer. Plus I will be skiing at Mammoth some time in January for sure (and probably a few other times this winter as well). Sounded like a somewhat intense hike of about 4000 feet over the course of 10 miles (one way) but it would certainly be a doable day hike. I think I would rather do it overnight though just to be able to camp up top anyways.
Sounds like something extreme to do on my own but still seems like a fun adventure.
"DasWauto" (DasWauto)
12/21/2017 at 15:54, STARS: 1
If you can do a weekday, your chances in the lottery are pretty excellent. Weekends and holidays are where you need some luck.
The total hike is about 22 miles, iirc. You start at 8000ft (I recommend camping at the trail head one night to acclimate a bit) and hike to 12000ft for the overnight stay at trail camp - I recommend this as well, especially if you haven’t been at such altitude before, which my friends and I hadn’t. If you get an early morning start, you can be at the summit for a sunrise and easily get back to the trail head by the early-mid afternoon. If you’re ambitious, you could drive back to LA that night. We stayed at a hotel in Independence instead.
2 of my friends ended up not feeling well at altitude and not summiting on the second day of the climb, which is unfortunate but getting to 12000ft was a pretty good slog as well, and a new altitude benchmark for both by some margin. Despite a gnarly lightning/hail/rain storm overnight limiting our sleep severely, another friend and myself did summit, which was extremely satisfying, knowing we’d hiked to the highest point in the contiguous US. The altitude did start getting to me around 13,500-14,000 ft or so, but I think exhaustion was a good part of that.
Going on your own is certainly doable, but a group of 2-4 allows you to spread your gear out that much more which is especially useful on a 2 day hike.
I’m pretty sure I’ll be back sometime in the next few years - I know the guys that didn’t summit want retribution and I can be easily talked into tagging along.
Btw, there’s a section of 99 switchbacks, they suck a little bit :)
"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
12/21/2017 at 16:15, STARS: 0
Thankfully the 99 switchbacks are right after the “campground” area, so at least I can get a night’s rest before trying that. Ideally I would go when I have a friday off (every other week) and just take off the Thursday before as well. Then I would head up after work on Wednesday, camp out at Whitney Portal that night, hike up to Trail Camp and stay Thursday there, and summit on Friday. And if possible, I want to be able to add the Saturday on to account for storms, altitude sickness, or other delays. But that certainly sounds doable.
I would plan to find a few suitable dates, plug them in when the lottery opens, and then plan to do some training until then with like Mt Wilson, Mt Baldy, and some others in the LA area. Elevation is also new to me so I really should find some easier elevation hikes to practice on. Highest elevation I have ever hiked at was Granite Chief in Squaw at 9000'. And I started at the top of the ski lift at 8000' although in ski boots in the snow that was somewhat tough still.
"DasWauto" (DasWauto)
12/21/2017 at 16:28, STARS: 0
If you’re fit-ish, I wouldn’t worry too much about preparing for the altitude, though obviously it wouldn’t hurt. I don’t live too far above sea level and did absolutely zero such training beforehand for altitude and my previous highest summit was Mount St Helens at 8300ft.
Banking on an extra day for weather is definitely a good idea, it can change quickly up there. On our drive out from L.A. we could see lightning storms at the top of the range and we heard from hikers coming down that people had to abandon summit attempts and/or got suck in the lightning shelter at the top for more than an hour and a half.
Despite the challenges, it’s definitely a great hike and I’ll always remember it.
"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
12/21/2017 at 16:36, STARS: 0
The lightning sounds like a real problem up there! I am used to seeing the absence of any sort of weather in LA, especially in the summer time. Crazy that someplace like that is only a few hours drive from home though so I will at least have an easy time getting there and back. So if the weather doesnt support, I wont have invested days worth of flying or any of that nonsense in the process.
If this season is anything like last year, I will be skiing into June as well so staying fit shouldnt be too hard. I havent really hiked with much gear, I usually go for literally only bringing water and snacks to save weight. But I really want to get into overnight hikes anyways. The biggest problem for me is having to survive off of cliff bars and crap. I often will cook steaks and other fun stuff while camping. I am glad to sleep on the ground in a one man tent, but damn do I want some bacon in the morning lol.
"DasWauto" (DasWauto)
12/21/2017 at 16:51, STARS: 1
Yeah, we all flew in from various places in Canada so I’m happy we got a bit lucky with the weather (lightning storm at night notwithstanding) and were able to summit.
I hadn’t hiked with much gear before either but I got a new pack for this trip with a good support frame in it and it worked wonders to keep my back from being stressed. We brought lots of food to cook as well. 2 tents and campstoves to cook for 4 people worked out pretty nicely.
Don’t forget to get some water filtration as well, salmonella is a concern and water up there was considered non-potable when we were up there.