Day 4- June 14- Sky Blue Lake to Chicken Spring Lake
Anyways… I woke the next morning after a warmer but still fairly cold night with considerable wind. At least there wasn’t any condensation unlike the previous night. My decision to bring my thicker pad was definitely a life saver. I don’t remember putting on my rain shell so I could have withstood colder temps. But my 32F bag was working overtime to keep me at a reasonable temperature while trying to blissfully sleep amid a gorgeous basin lined with serrated spires crested in snow. I quickly ate my breakfast amid a blazing sun and started the quick descent into the valley below. Well my descent was quick no doubt but… injury struck!! I retraced my steps to the somewhat steep snow slope below the outlet of Sky Blue Lake and it was around 8:45 or so. This was about 3 hours earlier than the previous day which means that the snow had not softened up as much. I, displaying a generous amount of hubris assured myself that I could navigate down it without an ice ax or crampons, since I had my mountaineering boots on. Ah… I couldn’t have been more wrong. It was almost instantly that I lost my balance and was on my ass sliding uncontrollably down the 60 foot slope. Naturally it all happened inexplicably fast and the last thing I remember was the “oh ****” moment that came immediately prior to smacking into a rock at the bottom of the slope. When I hit the rock I tried to curve my body a bit so that I didn’t hit it directly feet forward. This may have been helpful to prevent breaking something substantially but it also caused me to somehow sprain my ankle. And I bruised my butt pretty well since my impact speed was around 10 MPH. Honestly, it could have been faster. Immediately after impacting the rock I went into mild shock. I was fighting hard to prevent myself from going into major shock which could turn ugly very quickly. I kept reassuring myself that my injury was not that bad since even though I was in considerable pain I was fairly sure I had not broken anything. “You’re okay… you’re okay… you’re still breathing just fine” were mostly the phrases that I used. Eventually I figured it was time to stand up and that’s of course when I really felt the damage. Stepping on my left foot was unbearably painful and I had truly realized the full extent of my situation. The next day or 2 would be a true testament to my will to overcome everything and channel my pain into a unrelenting focus on getting out. I had my SPOT with me… but for me a SPOT is a worst case scenario. The last thing I wanted was someone to rescue me and then have my parents freak out for the rest of the summer during my trips. So, I knew it was up to me to get out of there. Slowly but surely I made my way down the steeper slopes and ended up in the valley below. It was a beautiful day. Most of the snow was melting off quickly and my saving grace was that the basin I happened to sustain my worst injury in was incredibly gentle terrain compared to many areas I have been through. I started thinking about this kind of injury in a place like Ionian Basin or the Palisades. The first thing that went through my head after the initial shock was… “Well it finally happened. Rogue always said it would. Eventually time and luck would catch up to you… you will get injured.” And sure enough I certainly did. Well… at least I wasn’t bleeding profusely like when Rogue got injured several times. I think though at that point I would have taken a cut versus a foot which was pretty much dysfunctional at that point. I continued to trek down the basin via a nice trail on the proper side of the creek this time and it was actually lovely. I focused all my might on concentrating on the beauty of the area. I eventually got down to where the previous day I skipped crossing the creek. I was not very excited in getting into freezing cold water, but I had no choice. The shoes and socks came off and I plunged into the swift current and to my delight the ice cold water acted like ice on my sprained foot. I even dipped the foot in some more once I crossed the creek. The time had come though and I kept plugging along. I went all the way down this time and met up with the trail that I bailed off from yesterday. I do believe it is the preferred way to just lose a couple hundred feet and instead stay on the trail. I eventually made it to my lunch spot the previous day at the Soldier Lakes trail junction and at lunch once more. I took several videos chronicling how I felt. One of the more important statements was that the injury was completely preventable. Yes… it sure was. I definitely will never look at short and easy looking snow slopes the same way ever again. I consulted the map and found that my best bet would be to go over Cottonwood Pass. It was less elevation gain and about a mile and a half shorter. Not to mention I’ll get to check out a new area. My total mileage came out to be 18 or so from where my injury happened. It was about 4 miles of cross country travel and 12 miles total today to Chicken Spring Lake. I knew I would not be able to make it out today and I figured if I could do 12 miles on a bum ankle I was doing pretty well. The trek continued. I passed the junction to New Army Pass and headed past it towards Siberian Pass. Before actually getting to the pass, the PCT intersects the trail and I started to down that towards Cottonwood. I figured I would soon see the intrepid PCT’ers. It wasn’t long before a group of them were found filtering some water by a creek. They asked me how I was and my answer to most of them was “Oh you know.. could be better hah.” I quickly told them the situation and they all asked what they could do and unfortunately no one could do anything about my situation. I passed by quite a few more parties of them including several ultralighters that I had great chats with about gear. The views along the PCT were gorgeous looking towards the magnificent Great Western Divide and Kaweah’s. I was grateful that even though I was substantially injured and in (at times) unbearable pain I still found the resolve to appreciate the beautiful areas I was trekking through. The day was growing old and soon large shadows appeared across the land. It was getting late so I figured I must be getting close to Chicken Spring Lake. I actually got there a little after 5 which I figured to be excellent time for 12 miles given my situation. I spoke with some of the PCTer’s about the weather the past couple days and they recounted the major storm that I experienced at the South Fork Lakes. Many of them bailed out at Trail Pass because of all the wetness and dried out their gear. Fortunately though the weather was something I didn’t have to worry about now since there were hardly any clouds all day and the evening was clear with promise for low winds and mild temps. I gingerly went through the process of setting up camp and went to get water from the creek since I heard the water in the lake might not be as pleasant. I started to cook my dinner and quickly felt the most agonizing pain of my life. My muscles were cooling down after much stress all day and the effects were unbearable. Sharp, searing, knife stabbing pain was shooting into my foot. I ate my dinner as best I could without throwing it all up. At least it was cheesy chipotle pasta shells which I thoroughly enjoyed given the circumstances. I quickly wrapped it all up and thought about tomorrow.. would I be able to make it? What if my foot pain got worse and I literally couldn’t walk in the morning? I had come all the way from Sky Blue Lake and now only 6 miles remained to my salvation at my truck.
- The slide... This is where I twisted my ankle. Slide down this slope and couldn't stop myself in time and crashed into the rock below. Needless to say it was intense.
- How could you stop taking photos when it's this epic!
- At least the views were impressive!
- Finally made it!
Day 5- June 15- Chicken Spring Lake to Cottonwood Lakes TH
The night was painfully long and I could barely sleep since my pain would come and go in waves. At one point it was so bad I think I was hyperventilating and had a little difficulty breathing. Finally, I could see dawn approach and I got a fairly early start. My foot was bad but not impossible to deal with. I kept thinking.. just a little uphill and then it’s all downhill from there. Unfortunately downhill seemed to be worse though for the pain because of the pounding on the feet. I made my way up to the pass in short order and sent a message to Rogue telling him about my injury and cancelling my ability to join him in Onion Valley the following weekend. My original plan was after climbing Whitney I would head to Onion Valley and meet Rogue on Friday for a weekend climbing peaks around there. He also mentioned that because of work he would cancel that as well. The views from Cottonwood Pass were quite uneventful albeit Big Whitney Meadow. This scene spurred a hilarious memory of Rogue telling me the story of his dad and the homeless guy “Marty” foolishly made it up to Cottonwood Pass instead of the Cottonwood Lakes. Yeah… kind of a big difference in terrain between the two, hence why the story to this day is still one of my absolute favorites. I descended down the pass as quickly as I could and entered Horseshoe Meadows. I got to my truck around 11:30. The relief that finally swept upon me was incredible. I cannot possibly describe how I truly felt to this day. The fact that I didn’t have to worry about walking for several days was the best thing I could have asked for. Since I already had the next couple days off I wouldn’t have to work and could take the time to recover and heal up. Just as I started to put my pack into my truck a girl approached me and realized that I had a vehicle and wasn’t a PCT’er. I figured I probably looked like one with my appropriate beard and light weight pack with an ice ax. She asked me if I could give her a ride down to Lone Pine or at least down the road to where her friends were if they had gotten a ride. I certainly didn’t hesitate a second, since I’ve been in that position many a time. It was the first time I’ve gotten to help out a PCT’er with a ride. I had a change of clothes and more importantly light tennis shoes that I was elated to get into. Getting my feet out of my clunky mountaineering boots was heavenly and instantly my foot felt better since it had more room to move around and decompress. We loaded our gear into the truck and made our way down to the main road. We saw her friends had gotten in a car where there wasn’t any more room so she stayed with me. I told her my tales of this trip and she was a little in disbelief to my high spirits. Then again.. my high spirits had manifested since I wasn’t hiking anymore. We continued down the incredibly windy Horseshoe Meadows road until I came along another hiker (who I presumed to be a PCT’er). I stopped for him and he told us of 2 more girls ahead hitching down to Lone Pine as well. I picked them all up and since I have 4 seater truck the older gentleman said he was perfectly fine sitting in my bed. Since I have a camper shell it would be better than being buffeted by the wind and sun. I took all the curves quite slow since I knew my passenger in the bed would thank me later for it. We all ended up at the Mt. Whitney Restaurant. I figured it was time for lunch anyways so I enjoyed a pleasant lunch with all the PCT’ers. I found out that the first girl I picked up actually worked with the 2 girls I picked up down the road. And somehow they all planned to do the PCT that year unbeknownst to each other! The man had just retired from the Navy and this was the end of the line for him on the PCT. He had planned it that way so he finished everything he wanted to. His plan now was to become a trail angel for the rest of the season. What a noble way to go! His first trail angel recipient happened to be me since he paid for my burger and beer. I was thoroughly satisfied. I bade all the PCT’ers goodbye as they headed to the post office and hostel. I realized I wasn’t in Bishop like I normally am along the East Side of the Sierra and concluded that my drive would be considerably longer than normal back home. At least I was full and able to operate my vehicle. My truck has a manual transmission so my left foot is very necessary in operating my clutch. It hurt every time I had to go use it but I had no choice. I called my parents and told them what happened and let them know I was fine and would be home later that day. On my way home I messaged a couple people about my injury and they were all pretty shocked but happy I was in one piece. The next thought that came over my on my drive home was.. what does this injury mean for this summer? My summer hike with Rogue would start in about 2.5 weeks. Would I be okay? Only time would tell. But for now.. I was cruising along 395 back home amid sunny skies.
- Cottonwood Pass with beautiful Horseshoe Meadows below.
What's interesting is when I got home I realized what was wrong with my camera, since I had some issues with it on the trip. My aperture was stuck open at it's widest position. Photos are not half bad for all being taken at f/2.8! I was mostly bed ridden for the next 4 days and I was healing as fast as I could in preparation for the summer and going back to work. I had an X-Ray done a couple days later and no fracture but definitely a sprain that could easily be worse than a break. The doctor told me the pain would last a while… several weeks if not more than a month. So now I knew that I would likely be in some pain at the beginning of the summer. At least he said that it’s normal and exercise is still important and healthy for it.
So that’s that… an adventure of adventures where I still wasn’t able to climb Mt. Whitney after another failed trip to do so. Alas… I knew I’d be back
