I'm a little scraped, bruised, and tired - in other words, a good weekend!
Chores and cooking on Saturday, got the final measurements and can order a replacement trampoline mat. Excited about that! Made some really good chili and some OK GF brownies. Not sure that almond flour agrees with me, and Tom is not a fan as it messes with his belly too. Oh well, baking treats doesn't really need to be a big part of our lives.
Sunday we met up with the crew - new guy John who just moved to AZ from North Carolina, and friends Elliot and Ahsan. Could not believe it when Ahsan indicated he was going to wear running shoes. His choice, and he has done some challenging mountaineering so isn't unfamiliar with what we might encounter. He says all of his boots give him blisters. I'm thinking that frostbite will slow him down too! It was below freezing in the parking lot at 8500 feet and we are climbing up to 12,633, the mountain is shrouded in a cloud and we've had several bouts of snow and biting wind. He is an adult, it is his choice, but we will all keep an eye on him.
I have rather mixed feelings about mountaineering. I love the challenge of powering up a steep hill and love the views and being in the mountains. I don't always love the mixed snow, rock and ice and the danger of falling, particularly since Tom had a near fatal fall at 13000 feet in Colorado several years ago. Hearing him crashing down was beyond awful and being 'in charge' of his rescue when the other guy with us freaked out left me feeling too vulnerable. Ultimately, bodies are rather fragile. I pick my mountaineering experiences rather carefully these days.
Anyway, we set off up the trail with big boots, snowshoes, ice axe, micro-spikes, and lots of clothes. Made good time to the base of the avalanche chutes at 10,300 feet. John was moving a little bit slow as he moved from sea level only 1 week ago. Tom stayed with him and it gave them a chance to talk and get to know one another. Ahsan wasn't weighed down with heavy boots as the rest of us were, so was going pretty fast. Elliot and I stayed with him until just short of the chutes. As the cloud ceiling lowered and visibility dropped to nothing, I didn't want us to be so spread out. We added some clothes and waited for Tom and John to catch up. As a group we went the final distance up to the basin and tried to find a little shelter to add more clothing, eat and drink, and unleash our ice axes. Freezing cold as soon as we stopped, we didn't pause for long.
The avalanche chutes are steep and were a little bit icy. Both Elliot and Ahsan had trekking poles and neither had brought an ice axe, but both had micro-spikes - not quite crampons, but better than yaktrax. Around 11,000 feet I climbed on ahead to Ahsan and then passed him, while Elliot, John and Tom brought up the rear. The wind was whipping the snow all around us - hard to tell how much was new snow versus snow blowing up from the ground. And the wind was crazy, sometimes blowing down from the peak, then blowing up from below. At 11,775 the visibility dropped again and I told Ahsan we should wait for the others to catch up so we didn't get separated. There wasn't a lot of shelter, but crouched close to the ground, we could get out of the worst of the wind. We had a drink (my Gatorade was freezing inside my pack so the temps were well below freezing) and Ahsan who was using a bladder had to break his up to get a drink. My Gu wasn't frozen, but was getting quite thick. Finally, we could hear them below us. Ahsan was getting too cold and wanted to get moving, so I told him what to look for and he took off up the mountain. I waited for Tom, Elliot and John. As we all clustered, Ahsan came back down saying he was getting too cold and was going to go back to the cars. John said he was having cramps and given how slowly he was moving, he thought he should go down as well, and that it would be safer for he and Ahsan to travel together. Tom and Elliot wanted to continue so we split up into 2 groups.
We quickly moved from snow onto mixed rock and snow as we got closer to the summit ridge. Prevailing winds around here are from the west southwest so there is always a huge cornice on the east side of the ridge. We scrambled over jumbled rock for about 100 feet, then once we attained the ridge at about 12,000 feet the walking was easy aside from the blasting wind. I thought my face might freeze off, the little buff I was using as a gaitor was completely inadequate and once it froze solid from my breath, just added to the discomfort. The three of us moved quickly on the snow cornice, our only concern was getting knocked off our feet or the edge by an especially fearsome gust of wind. Finally, we made the summit at 12,633. Garmin was close and more accurate than I expected given the conditions, reporting a max elevation of 12,617.
I had expected we might just reach the summit and then turn around immediately if conditions on top were too awful. We were pleased to find an area with some shelter so we added clothing, ate, and broke up the ice in our bottles in order to drink. We didn't stay long, but the break was welcome. Tom and I put our micro-spikes on, knowing the added traction would be appreciated on the steep downhill to come. I've practiced it a lot, but the only time I've ever self-arrested for real is on this mountain. The chutes are steep and luckily, fairly clear of trees and debris, but I'd rather not fall.
Given conditions, our uphill tracks were already gone, so we made a guess at our path based on elevation. We slid into the chute and started down. Tom and I were cruising along, but Elliot was moving slowly, trying to use his trekking poles for stability rather than relying upon his legs and core. After dropping 700 feet he complained his back really hurt and I suggested he try standing up and kicking his heels in as Tom and I were. He did and started moving with more speed and confidence. As we got lower, close to the bottom of the chutes, the snow was much softer and we started post-holing. I've got some rather nasty bruises and even some scrapes from icy edges as a result. We paused to eat another snack, remove some clothes, put away our ice axes and spikes, then headed down the trail.
Even as we moved lower in elevation, I was surprised how cold it was. The storm that moved through (the skies were starting to clear) left a cold pocket behind. It took me about 3 hours to warm up, even after eating and drinking, I stayed in my down jacket until I went to bed (with an extra quilt and a cat snuggled on either side of me).
4100 feet of elevation gained, 8 miles, 6.5 hours, some scrapes, bruises, and sore quads - a really good day!
Garmin (no HRM or foot pod this time):
Chores and cooking on Saturday, got the final measurements and can order a replacement trampoline mat. Excited about that! Made some really good chili and some OK GF brownies. Not sure that almond flour agrees with me, and Tom is not a fan as it messes with his belly too. Oh well, baking treats doesn't really need to be a big part of our lives.
Sunday we met up with the crew - new guy John who just moved to AZ from North Carolina, and friends Elliot and Ahsan. Could not believe it when Ahsan indicated he was going to wear running shoes. His choice, and he has done some challenging mountaineering so isn't unfamiliar with what we might encounter. He says all of his boots give him blisters. I'm thinking that frostbite will slow him down too! It was below freezing in the parking lot at 8500 feet and we are climbing up to 12,633, the mountain is shrouded in a cloud and we've had several bouts of snow and biting wind. He is an adult, it is his choice, but we will all keep an eye on him.
I have rather mixed feelings about mountaineering. I love the challenge of powering up a steep hill and love the views and being in the mountains. I don't always love the mixed snow, rock and ice and the danger of falling, particularly since Tom had a near fatal fall at 13000 feet in Colorado several years ago. Hearing him crashing down was beyond awful and being 'in charge' of his rescue when the other guy with us freaked out left me feeling too vulnerable. Ultimately, bodies are rather fragile. I pick my mountaineering experiences rather carefully these days.
Anyway, we set off up the trail with big boots, snowshoes, ice axe, micro-spikes, and lots of clothes. Made good time to the base of the avalanche chutes at 10,300 feet. John was moving a little bit slow as he moved from sea level only 1 week ago. Tom stayed with him and it gave them a chance to talk and get to know one another. Ahsan wasn't weighed down with heavy boots as the rest of us were, so was going pretty fast. Elliot and I stayed with him until just short of the chutes. As the cloud ceiling lowered and visibility dropped to nothing, I didn't want us to be so spread out. We added some clothes and waited for Tom and John to catch up. As a group we went the final distance up to the basin and tried to find a little shelter to add more clothing, eat and drink, and unleash our ice axes. Freezing cold as soon as we stopped, we didn't pause for long.
The avalanche chutes are steep and were a little bit icy. Both Elliot and Ahsan had trekking poles and neither had brought an ice axe, but both had micro-spikes - not quite crampons, but better than yaktrax. Around 11,000 feet I climbed on ahead to Ahsan and then passed him, while Elliot, John and Tom brought up the rear. The wind was whipping the snow all around us - hard to tell how much was new snow versus snow blowing up from the ground. And the wind was crazy, sometimes blowing down from the peak, then blowing up from below. At 11,775 the visibility dropped again and I told Ahsan we should wait for the others to catch up so we didn't get separated. There wasn't a lot of shelter, but crouched close to the ground, we could get out of the worst of the wind. We had a drink (my Gatorade was freezing inside my pack so the temps were well below freezing) and Ahsan who was using a bladder had to break his up to get a drink. My Gu wasn't frozen, but was getting quite thick. Finally, we could hear them below us. Ahsan was getting too cold and wanted to get moving, so I told him what to look for and he took off up the mountain. I waited for Tom, Elliot and John. As we all clustered, Ahsan came back down saying he was getting too cold and was going to go back to the cars. John said he was having cramps and given how slowly he was moving, he thought he should go down as well, and that it would be safer for he and Ahsan to travel together. Tom and Elliot wanted to continue so we split up into 2 groups.
We quickly moved from snow onto mixed rock and snow as we got closer to the summit ridge. Prevailing winds around here are from the west southwest so there is always a huge cornice on the east side of the ridge. We scrambled over jumbled rock for about 100 feet, then once we attained the ridge at about 12,000 feet the walking was easy aside from the blasting wind. I thought my face might freeze off, the little buff I was using as a gaitor was completely inadequate and once it froze solid from my breath, just added to the discomfort. The three of us moved quickly on the snow cornice, our only concern was getting knocked off our feet or the edge by an especially fearsome gust of wind. Finally, we made the summit at 12,633. Garmin was close and more accurate than I expected given the conditions, reporting a max elevation of 12,617.
I had expected we might just reach the summit and then turn around immediately if conditions on top were too awful. We were pleased to find an area with some shelter so we added clothing, ate, and broke up the ice in our bottles in order to drink. We didn't stay long, but the break was welcome. Tom and I put our micro-spikes on, knowing the added traction would be appreciated on the steep downhill to come. I've practiced it a lot, but the only time I've ever self-arrested for real is on this mountain. The chutes are steep and luckily, fairly clear of trees and debris, but I'd rather not fall.
Given conditions, our uphill tracks were already gone, so we made a guess at our path based on elevation. We slid into the chute and started down. Tom and I were cruising along, but Elliot was moving slowly, trying to use his trekking poles for stability rather than relying upon his legs and core. After dropping 700 feet he complained his back really hurt and I suggested he try standing up and kicking his heels in as Tom and I were. He did and started moving with more speed and confidence. As we got lower, close to the bottom of the chutes, the snow was much softer and we started post-holing. I've got some rather nasty bruises and even some scrapes from icy edges as a result. We paused to eat another snack, remove some clothes, put away our ice axes and spikes, then headed down the trail.
Even as we moved lower in elevation, I was surprised how cold it was. The storm that moved through (the skies were starting to clear) left a cold pocket behind. It took me about 3 hours to warm up, even after eating and drinking, I stayed in my down jacket until I went to bed (with an extra quilt and a cat snuggled on either side of me).
4100 feet of elevation gained, 8 miles, 6.5 hours, some scrapes, bruises, and sore quads - a really good day!
Garmin (no HRM or foot pod this time):
