Special Feature
TRAVEL
MOUNT WHITNEY:
Full Moon and Wildfires by Chuck Graham
F
ed by a beaming full moon, the gritty granite walls were lit up With two other climbers, Forrest Van Stein and Solomon Nalike an ancient coliseum as we ascended the Mountaineering hooikaika, we left the trailhead at 11 p.m., taking advantage of the Route on Mount Whitney in the Eastern Sierra. Harvest Moon; the scent of fall was in the alpine air. Mostly, we didn’t need our headlamps as we ascended the sheer granite walls Days earlier, I had my doubts on whether or not we would be of the gorge until we reached Lower Boy Scout Lake. Also, in the allowed to ascend Mount Whitney. All the National Forests through- moonlight, it was clearly visible that water levels were lower than out California were off-limits to recreation up to September 17, I’ve ever seen them in the creeks and alpine lakes in the Eastern year-round wildfire weather wreaking havoc on the Golden State. Sierra. I had a climbing permit to access the Mountaineers Route on the tallest peak in the Lower 48 at 14,505 feet. By September 16, the call It was warm along the creeks and the first two lakes as we ashad been made to reopen the Inyo National Forest, but other forests cended above the tree line, then weaved a path through a maze of were to remain closed in Southern California for another week. willows where streams of water spilled off massive slabs of granite. The first section of loose scree forced us to concentrate on our Nevertheless, as I cruised up Highway 395, smoke from three steps as we attempted to find the paths of least resistance toward fires burning on the west slope of the Sierra were wafting eastward Iceberg Lake at approximately 12,500 feet. We found a fun, quick throughout the Eastern Sierra and settling in the barren Owens scrambling section that allowed us to bypass some of the loose Valley, with the Inyo Mountains to the east. However, when I picked scree sections. Before we knew it, we were at Iceberg Lake. There up my permit at the visitor’s center, I was told the mountains were were no climbers at the frigid tarn. We were the only climbers on completely cloaked in smoke and not visible the day before. At least the entire route. I could see those majestic peaks, although they were smothered in a smoky haze. Still, it was forcing me to pause and rethink whether However, the temperature had dropped noticeably once we I wanted to inhale all that smoke while working hard at elevation. reached Iceberg Lake. I had to walk in place to keep warm as the boys fetched more water and rested in the moonlight. Mount RusI drove up to the Whitney Portal, where I rested until 11 p.m. sel, another 14,000-foot peak just to the north of Mount Whitney, Fortunately, it continued to clear. The moon shined brightly through was lit up so brightly it almost appeared as if it were daytime, but it the pine forest, mule deer tiptoed nearby, and a few hikers/climbers was 3:30 a.m. Once we began the monotonous trek and scrambled milled about the portal and trailhead, readying for their ascents. up the exposed chute, the crux of the Mountaineers Route, we
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Central Coast Journal | JANUARY 2022
