Tomcat and Slow Nymph bag Gambler's Special Peak

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Snow Nymph
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Tomcat and Slow Nymph bag Gambler's Special Peak

Post by Snow Nymph »

No, that's not a typo in the title. This was my first trip to the Sierra this year, and as I expected, I got sick. Tomcat wouldn't go on, and encouraged me to continue. Thanks! It was a 15 hr day, and 8 hrs of it I suffered from altitude and lack of sleep.

The plan was to start at 4:30am. I arrived Whitney Portal just before midnight. Tomcat came over and decided to chat about the bear, so I didn't get to bed til almost 1:30am. So when my alarm went off at 3:30am, I couldn't get up. I didn't get up til 4:30, when he knocked on my window! So much for an early start!

We were on the trail by 5:35am. Just below Lower Boy Scout Lake, I dropped way behind. I started getting dizzy, and had to sit down before blacking out. After 5 min, Sierragator walked by! You never know who you'll run into on the trail! I told him to tell Tomcat to go on without me. I was only going to LBSL and would hang out to get acclimatized. When I got there the guys were still talking, so I sat down and we hung out for about 45 min. Tomcat said I could make it up to the tarn, about 12,000'. I tried, but couldn't breathe without my chest hurting (just the upper part, kinda wierd). I kept asking, are we at 12K yet? We took another long break up higher, around 10,900'. We continued up, and by now I was dropping way behind, taking more breathing breaks. I couldn't call him because we didn't have radios. By now it was 12:30pm, so I took a quick break to look thru my first aid kit, and took 1/2 Diamox. A few minutes later I caught up, where he was taking a break. We ate lunch, and he proposed a different route than planned. Instead of going to the tarn and up, we would follow the scree chute 1/4 mile, and 1000'. I agreed. An hour later we got started, and I felt a LOT better! No more chest pain! Now it was fun.

We were in a class 3 chute, and climbed a lot of large almost vertical rock. I took my wedding ring off, because I didn't want to ruin it. Tomcat was able to reach where my short arms and lets would not. A few places had big exposure, and I was hoping I wouldn't have to go down it (because there was no way I could have done it). Near the top we got off the big boulder. They were getting bigger and more vertical with less handholds. We dropped down, and by 4pm, 2-1/2 hrs later, we were at the summit! The views were awesome! I think we counted 8 Fourteeners around us. We left the summit around 5pm, and headed down the SE chute (so we thought). Tomcat was ahead of me and looked "stuck" at a "V" in the rock chute. So I stopped. He couldn't find a way down a dry fall, and we didn't have rope. So we had to climb back up! By 5:50pm we were back where we could drop into the next chute. From there we scree skiid down. FUN! We were at LBSL around 7pm, and back at Whitney Portal by 8:35 (did not use headlamps). By the time I changed boots, and packed up it was a little after 9pm. I had to rush to Lone Pine to get take out dinner from Pizza Factory, and a shower at Boulder Creek before they closed at 10pm.

This was my 2nd try at Gamblers. I'm so glad I was encouraged to continue! Another new peak!

Working on photos!
Last edited by Snow Nymph on Wed May 16, 2007 7:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


http://snownymph.smugmug.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Post by copeg »

Way crazy story. Looking forward to the pics.
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Snow Nymph
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Gambler's Special Peak photos

Post by Snow Nymph »

Saturday, 12 May 2007
Whitney Portal to Gamblers Special Peak

PHOTOS: http://snownymph.smugmug.com/gallery/2850842#152865536


It took 7 hrs to go the first 4.5 miles with altitude problems, but an hour after taking Diamox I felt a lot better. Should have done it sooner! It felt good to be back in the Sierra again!
Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


http://snownymph.smugmug.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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tomcat_rc
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Post by tomcat_rc »

great trip report - going to look at pictures next

acclimation is everything - I have now been over 10k feet for 6 weekends in a row - I think that made lots of difference

I pulled the trigger on Smugmug this morning - so soon should be gettting pictures up myself.

sure it was tempting to hike Whitney with Sierragator - but let's face it - your much better looking company than he is anyday - it's was an easy choice - actually I know you needed it to acclimate for this coming weekend
mountain hiking is addictive:
I can quit anytime I want - I just choose not to want
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Snow Nymph
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Post by Snow Nymph »

I knew the first high altitude trip of the season would be bad. I felt great Sunday, except legs were a little tired, but the altitude didn't bother me at all.

Thanks again for your patience and making me work for this peak. The views were just awesome!!! It was an accomplishment considering I was ready to quit at 8am. :eek: :D
Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


http://snownymph.smugmug.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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ridgeline
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Post by ridgeline »

Looks like a fun one! Im still puzzled about the section of EB ledges Tom is on. The few times I have been up the N fork the one ledge I go on looks so different, obviously Im not on the shortcut.
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Post by madeintahoe »

Congratulations you two! Cori..enjoyed reading your trip report..but so sorry you did not feel well for a while there!....thats awesome that Diamox helped.
Beautiful pictures of such a lovely area of the Sierra...Awesome shot of the break with your feet showing & of course the fat marmot made me smile and laugh..what a cutie. :D
Where is the monkey? Tom will look forward on your pictures too :)
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Post by CinnamonGirl »

Congrats you two Gamblin' Fools!

Great TR Snowy and so glad to hear that you eventually felt better and had an awesome day. Loved the pictures, especially the two sunrises and the smiles on your summit happy faces! TC was quite the gentlemen trail bud. :nod:

What a tremendous effort to kick off the Sierra Season with! :clapper

Can't wait to share a Sierra peak with you both soon.

CG
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Rosabella
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Post by Rosabella »

GREAT pictures!!! :nod:

I've got another month before I'm gonna be able to get out and do some hiking...this time of year ballet totally takes over my life until the summer concert in June. The trip reports and plans for upcoming trips this summer are inspiring.

Someday I'm hoping that one of my trips to the Sierra will overlap with a HST get-together! That would be fun, and I'd enjoy meeting a few more people on the Board!
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Post by tomcat_rc »

finally got some pictures up. the only comments I would add to Snow Nymphs are

the mesquitos are out - bring deet
the views of Whitney and all the surrounding area were spectacular - we counted 9 14k+ peaks we could see while on summit

pictures now up - I will finish adding captions later:
http://tomcat-rc.smugmug.com/gallery/2851355#P-1-15
mountain hiking is addictive:
I can quit anytime I want - I just choose not to want
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