Mon, Mar 25 at 8:36 AM
DEAR AGNES…………….# 5
I’m sorry I haven’t written you for a few days. But I got lots of time to write you today.
The last time I wrote to you, I was describing a trip I took into the Desolation Wilderness. If you recall, I climbed Horse tail Falls which was the beginning of my sojourn as a mountain man.
The climb up the falls is a 5 mile journey at a very steep angle and obviously this climb is difficult. Naturally when I got to the top of the falls, I wanted to call it a day.
The next morning I was intent on seeing how far I could make it towards Dick’s peak. That was my destination.
Having made it to the top of the falls, the next leg of the journey was going to be much more calm.
I could see Dick’s peak from where I was. I had a crude map in the form of the bandanna. I didn’t have a compass which I never used anyway . Why people need a compass I don’t know. There is the sun, the stars and all kinds of visual references such as staring directly at Dick’s peak. Why do you need a map or a compass, there it is right in front of you.
I don’t like to pay attention to trails either. Somebody was first to treck here and they did not have a map, right?
So the next thing you know, I was mostly jumping boulders and wading streams. It’s such an amazing thing to be walking across timeless territory. Who knows if anybody has ever placed her foot where you just placed your foot.
I crossed a little stream. The water sounded delicious tinkling over the rocks. Then the wise words were remembered. Only drink boiled water. So I took a drink from my canteen rather than delicious cool water stream.
You need to have a good sense of balance if you’re going to go backpacking because you will be leaping from boulder to boulder and if you twisted an ankle out here, you are screwed.
I didn’t follow a trail and I got to the mountain that I wanted. It wasn’t hard to find. It was a mountain…………… I FOUND IT !
I thought it would be a good idea to park my carcass at the foot of the mountain that I intended climb.
Climbing the mountains was a ferocious task. The climb was very steep but there was always a foothold. One area was straight up. Now I’m not much of a mountain climber but fortunately this stretch was covered with buck brush. Buck brush is very hearty and covered with thorns. I tried to ignore the thorns tearing my skin because I’m a manly man . Getting ripped to shreds was the safest way up .
Once I got past the buck brush there was a gorgeous little grotto just adjacent to the snowfield. They were icy structures and pools of beautiful blue water.
I couldn’t stop too long because I wanted to reach the peak before the sun went down.
There was about 400 feet of snowfield that I had to traverse before I could reach the top. I dug my shoes into the snowy ice sideways so as to make a sort of staircase. As I was doing this, a Desolation Wilderness rescue plane flew overhead. I think they were looking for signs of me being in distress, but I was not in distress.
I’m really glad my boots were able to dig into the icy snow because if I had slipped, it would’ve been a fast ride down the hill and I would’ve crashed into boulders. I could’ve sustained a serious “owie” .
Well I made it safely across the snowfield’s 45° angle . I finally reached the top. I was there at last — — — Dicks Peak .
I didn’t have to worry too much about eating because I was sick to my stomach. At 10,000 feet you will definitely have altitude sickness.
I don’t care anything about lack of oxygen because I am a man among men. Lesser humans need oxygen, but not me because I am Superman.. I couldn’t eat and I couldn’t sleep because of altitude sickness. However I had the most wonderful night of watching stars.
Off in the distance to the West was a major city.. I speculated that I might be seeing a city over a hundred miles away. I speculated San Jose. Eventually I dozed off a little bit as I planned my next days route down off the mountain.
The following morning after breakfast I headed for the opposite side of the mountain. Opposite from the side that I came up on . I wanted to explore both sides of the mountain. The route I chose had a stream running down. Of course it was just melted snow but the thought occurred to me that the safest way would be to slide downhill, in the stream, on my butt. I got in the stream and sat on the slippery rocks and slid down one rock after another. It took several hours to get down to the bottom of the mountain. My Levi’s had a pretty serious tear in the crotch but fortunately I brought a needle and I had some dental floss I used to sew my pants shut.
After sewing my pants shut I decided to start heading out . I calculated that from that side of the mountain, it would comfortably take me 2 days to get back to the car.
I figured out, it is not a good idea to roll out your sleeping bag anywhere near water. Get your water and go somewhere else so that you can avoid mosquitoes.
Sleeping under the stars in the mountains is wonderful. It’s one of the best experiences you’ll ever have.
I made it to the car and I popped the hood and put the rotor back under the distributor cap. I pumped the gas pedal 10 or 15 times and turned the key . The Dodge engine sputtered to life and I kept it going by revving the engine repeatedly. Finally the car was warm enough that it didn’t try to stall.
I drove out of that tiny parking lot, relieved that there was no one damage to the car.
The first thing I did was stop at 711 to get up Big Gulp. I was so thirsty and that sugar did me good. I started heading home thinking that I’m going to have to get into the bathtub with some strong detergent to get this patina off of me.
I will never forget that backpacking trip that I took by myself. It was a wonderful experience. And the best part is, I lived to tell the tale.
That was a long letter wasn’t it Agnes ?
Next time I write to you I’ll try not to be so long-winded.
See you later Agnes. I miss you,
you have no idea how much.
