sparky wrote:I took a couple boys on a fun scramble, and it ended up being a great memory.
When I did my (sort of) annual back entry speed burn to Whitney in June, I passed a SOBO JMTer going up Forrester in the snow. We did the usual eat-a-snack-at-the-top-of-the-pass routine while talking to some PCTers. Turns out the JMTer was an experienced hiker from CO, and was sampling the "best" of the JMT ie south of Wanda & north of Langley. He didn't know how far south he was heading, and really hadn't thought about Whitney. He was just out for the week cruising around.
I took off shortly to get to my next stop @ Crabtree meadow. Also per usual, I sat on the x-c bluff by Diamond Mesa on the way to LSA to get organized and clean out my shoes. Once back on the PCT, I saw the same guy sitting down taking a break before the Tyndall crossing. He must have taken off shortly after me and passed me down below while I was on the bluff.
The first week of June is when a large number of PCTers are coming through the area. If they look interesting, I don't mind stopping for a few minutes to discuss conditions, etc. I was talking to one solo lady from England when the same fellow caught up and passed me. Great, now I have a hiking buddy - neither one of us is going to sit & wait to create some space, especially with clouds coming in.
So, as we're heading up the grade to Bighorn Plateau, I put on the afterburners and never looked back. I just needed to get to Crabtree pronto, because is was looking like a good rain storm. When I got to Crabtree, there wasn't anyone around; about a mile up, I found a very small, but good campsite off trail on a small cliff overlooking Whitney creek.
There were a few small sprinkles starting to hit as I put the finishing touches on my site. Then, climbing over a large fallen tree that was acting as a blind, comes my "hiking buddy". I couldn't believe it - it was actually sort of funny, because since he was also experienced, he had seen the same location qualities from behind. However, when he was coming over the tree, he saw me the same moment I saw him. LOL
He immediately apologized, but I interjected and said go ahead and stay. It was a good spot, sort of sheltered, and we could scramble down to the creek to get water. Besides, the storm was ready to let loose. So, he set up around 5' from me - all the room he had to squeeze in - and finished setting up his tent as it began to rain.
I was bushed and crawled in under my tarp. He was also worked, and hit the sack as well. Within 10 minutes, we were both in the middle of a major summer squall with all the fixins'. I fell asleep, woke around 9pm to see that it had cleared, and went back to sleep.
The next morning I was up around 5:30am, staying pretty quiet, but packing to get to Whitney and out. He said have fun through his tent, and I asked him whether or not he was going to summit. He said he didn't know, but to have a good hike.
Well, after I had been hanging out @ Whitney for around 45 minutes and was getting ready to head down, here comes "my shadow"! I greeted him and we hung out for few minutes to talk, and he laughed that since he was awake in his tent, he figured what else was he going to do? So, he decided to go up as well.
Another storm was heading in, and in fact was beginning to snow. I was ready to book it out of there, and ended up running the trail the entire way back to the junction where I had left my main pack. To make a short story long, I talked to Doug at the WPS for a little bit, caught a ride down to LP, got cleaned up @ the hostel, and was enjoying a beer outside on the patio of a restaurant across from Elevation, when who do I see entering the store?
I'm sitting at my table and I'm yelling across the 395, "compadre", "hermano" - since we had never exchanged names - but he doesn't hear me. So, I get up, tell the waitress to keep my tab going, and run across the street. You can imagine his surprise seeing me all fresh & tidy, but I invited him back for a beer. So, amongst the clean patrons, Ken plops down looking like a typical hiker that's been out for a week, and we share a couple of beers.
Turns out he was from CO, and was quite an outdoorsman. Anyway, he had left his car @ Onion valley, and needed to hitch a ride. He was in Elevation hand printing a sign when I walked in. I told him not to worry and asked our waitress if she knew anyone willing to drive him up the road. 10 minutes later, her friend is there, Ken is on his way, and she only charged $20.
Pretty cool, huh? Solo is great, because you can choose to interact, or not, and have all kinds of interesting experiences if you keep an open attitude.