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Published: June 29th 2007
Picnic in the sunshine
As the sun came around to our side of the Hulk, we dined on PB&J bagels and drank a latte! If you're wondering, yes, I am climbing with gaiters on my legs... 41 degrees is cold! Well, as we look ahead and begin thinking about states further east and countries far, far away... there is time left for one last backcountry adventure while we're in California. We drove north of Yosemite/Tuolumne to Bridgeport (home of the highest-priced gas I've ever seen - $4.05/gallon) and Twin Lakes (home of many retired folks with RVs) to begin our three-day trip up to
Incredible Hulk. We heard so many good things about here that it would be difficult to live up to our expectations; especially after the trip we just finished into Whitney/Russell.
Since we'd just left the backcountry, our minds were fresh with the items we wish we had or hadn't brought... added to our packs was a book (
Siddhartha), socks for hot weather (who really likes sweaty feet?), and ramen noodles (I've been converted). Taken out of the packs was the balaclava/neck warmer (it
is July, you know), alpine pants (which in retrospect, I wish I had brought along), and the heavier, high-altitude stove that is going with us to Asia (while good for high altitudes, we didn't really need it and mostly just wanted to test it before actually being in Central Asia). So with a
Splitter crack climbing
Although you probably expect to find a dihedral on a route called Red Dihedral, we also found this thin hands splitter further up the route. little lighter packs, we skipped off into the wilderness via a wet and wild creek crossing (how do beavers build those dams?) for our last adventure.
The winds were so strong (we figure they were steady 40 mph with plenty of gusts) that our lightweight tent barely had a chance. We set up shop inside (glad we brought a book!) and listened to the belay commands of the party high up on the route we planned to climb the following day, wondering if they were having any fun up there at all and silently asking ourselves if we were up for the adventure climb. When they got down, they immediately began packing their packs to get out of there... too cold, too windy... when asked about the climbing, one of the guys replied 'towards the top, I was just wishing for it to be over.' Not the ringing endorsement you want to hear before you set off to send.
Thankfully, we woke the next morning to complete calm (after listening to wind for a long time, it's interesting to notice how quiet and still the air can be). Excited, but cold (41 degress until the sunshine finds you),
Campsite Dishwashing
We had a little stream flowing through our campsite... just enough to fill water bottles, rinse dishes, and attract 1,000,000 mosquitos. It turns out that not only are my nylon pants not warm enough for the alpine chill, but they aren't thick enough to fend off the onslaught, either. we prepared for our last adventure climb. The route,
Red Dihedral, is a sustained 1,500 feet of climbing. Fully west facing, we shivered in the shade until about noon; but the sun finally hit us at the first really comfortable belay of the day... so we had a little picnic.
The route climbed well and without incident, living up to our expectations and being one of the single best days of climbing on the trip. We returned to camp to find some of our new friends from the Valley and about 1,000,000 mosquitos that didn't have the breeze to keep them at bay (if it's not one thing...) Wow, were they aggressive! We'd seen a lot of baby mosquitos up at Whitney, but they hadn't really learned how to bite yet. These suckers at the Hulk were full-grown and hungry!
Regardless of the wind or bugs... the day was a great success. it seems each day tops the one before... we thought Third Pillar was 'the best,' but when Philippe topped out the crux of Mithral a week later, his exact words were 'Third Pillar is a pile compared to this!' After climbing the Red Dihedral, we criticized the
Dessert, anyone?
Thanks to Philippe's parents, we brought along some yummy, gourmet dessert from Spain - Almond Turron. A bit like halvah, it is concentrated, caloric sweetness. Although the fine dining is great at altitude, I think we lose a point for eating it straight out of a plastic baggie with a fork. The marmots did get into our Toblerone, but we were pleased to find they didn't get to this! Mithral for not being long or sustained enough. As we prepare to leave California, I look back on all of the days of our climbing here and realize 'it's
all good.'
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Tot: 0.127s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 14; qc: 57; dbt: 0.0579s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
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Jon Lippincott
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Memories
You bring back great memories of my youth. Backpacked easily 2,00o miles in those beautiful Sierras, including the entire John Muir, twice. I've heard the back country, in spite of the state population having more than doubled since, is a lot less traveled these days. It was the thing to do in the late 60's and early 70's. Sometimes had to wait 5-6 weeks for a wilderness permit. I thought I might suggest to you, that you find some type of repellent which is 99-100% DEET. I used to use a product named "Muskol." 100% DEET. Those big old skeeters would stay at least a foot away from your hide. In fact, You know how they sometimes swarm just above your head? I'd stick my arm up into the swarm and they would actually back away. And, a little goes a long way. Good luck to you and yours on your adventures. I am envious. BTW, do you do any Trout fishing?