Day 14 : Guitar Lake

Saturday July 12, 2014
6 Miles Today
229 Total Miles

I arrived mid morning at Guitar Lake. None of the friends that I have met along the way were here. I assume that Jason, Jana, and Merrick made it here last night and left early this morning to go to the summit and head out to Whitney Portal. I have no wish to revel any further today. 

My plan is to be awake around nine-thirty or ten when the moon should rise over Mt Whitney. I hope to get some pictures of that. To facilitate that I have found a campsite where I can setup my tent facing east. I am trying to get some rest this afternoon as I will be up taking pictures and then a few hours later I will get up to begin my ascent of Mt Whitney. My goal is to arrive at the summit about one half hour before sunrise. 

There are no clouds at all and the sun and the radiation off of the rocks makes it extra warm. There are no trees so my only shelter from the sun is my tent. That works great if there is a breeze. Without the breeze it's like sitting in a solar oven. My second strategy is to sit out where there is a breeze in a soaking wet shirt. This strategy seems to be the most comfortable at this point.

One of the good things about all this radiation is that my solar charger is working great. I have it plugged directly into my phone and it is charging while I write.

Waiting for the sun to set is like watching grass grow. Nothing seems to be happening unless you doing something else for a while then come back and check again. There was finally enough shade behind a rock for me to rest comfortably in the shade. A guy named Phil showed up. He is cowboy camping out in the field. His base pack weight is around ten pounds, he travels without a stove or a tent. He said the last time he was here was last October in a snow storm... Without a tent or stove. Not my idea of a fun way to travel.

Felix and Kevin showed up later on the afternoon and they are camped in the site next to mine. They re supplied at Onion Valley and actually had some friends hiking in with them. The friends turned back because to altitude was too much too fast. We are all planning to wake up around twoish to hike to the top by moonlight and be there before the sunrise. 

Super Full Moonrise over Mt Whitney