I woke up to a light dusting of new snow on the campsite. The night was very cold and I slept fitfully, but well. The wind started up about 9pm and gusted all night. The sound of the wind in the trees reminded me of sleeping by the ocean, each gust sounding like a wave breaking outside my tent. I woke up at 7, and did not want to get out of bed. The water in my Nalgene was frozen solid, signifying temps well below freezing, and the wind was biting. I woke up and went about making hot tea and breakfast. I was on the trail by 8am, and the morning was clear but a bit hazy down in the valley.    I started up the trail and suffered a bit for about the first mile. The trail climbs steeply in this section, and I took it easy. The wind stopped on this side of the ridge, and I was soon shedding layers as I climbed to the saddle. Coming around the ridge I caught the first sight of today's objective, Telescope Peak. There was still quite a bit of snow on the peak, I was a bit worried about my lack of proper snow equipment.   I reached the saddle between Rodgers and Bennett and savored the views of the valley below. There was a large rock cairn on the saddle and an old (illegal) fire pit. The wind started up a bit on this exposed ridge, so back on went the top layer.    As I traversed around the back side of Bennett, I hit the first substantial snow I had seen all day. The wind also picked up dramatically in this section and I began to get discouraged about the conditions on the summit. It was gusting heavily and I found myself stopping every few minutes to put my back to the wind. I stayed warm enough, but the wind stung my face.    I finished the traverse around Bennett and found myself on the main ridge line to the summit of Telescope. This is a very beautiful but imposing mountain. The views were every expanding and awe inspiring. I stopped to take a picture of a cactus covered in snow, another sigh of the duality of this place.    I climbed the first section of the ridge and again found myself in some deep snow. I did not plan for this, and was therefore unprepared for what I found in this section. The wind, which had died down on the first section of the ridge, made itself known. I was shocked at how cold the wind was. Any unprotected skin was numb and painful in a matter of moments.    The higher I climbed this section of the mountain, the worse it got. I was fighting through hip deep snow with a crust on top. One step would support my weight, the next I was post holing to my thighs. I entertained the thought of turning around, but I had come too far. I eventually ended up crawling up the last 50 yards to the false summit just to spread out my weight and stay on top of the crusted snow. Upon reaching the false summit, I was greeted with the awesome sight of a pleasant walk on bare ground to the true summit.     The views were jaw dropping, perhaps some of the best I had seen on any peak I have ever climbed. You can see forever, there is nothing as high as you are for over a hundred miles. Absolutely amazing!! I had to take my time with the pictures, my hands were freezing. I was also having problems with my camera, when the batteries get too cold they stop working. I had the same issue on Shasta and Whitney so knew the solution was to put the camera and batteries inside my jacket to keep them at operating temperature. So between switching hands and batteries, it took me 15 minutes to take these summit pictures.         When I could stand the cold no longer, I left the summit. I had two more peaks to knock out today, it was time to get started. I dropped back down to the false summit I had fought so hard to reach, and back to the snow slope that had given me so many problems. It was worse this time. Without the benefit of climbing to generate body heat I got very cold very quickly. My nose, fingers and toes were all numb in quick succession. I rushed as much as the deep snow allowed to reach the relative safety of the saddle between Telescope and Bennett. The snow conditions and slope angle made a glissade impossible, so I suffered quite a bit while trying to downclimb this section.    Upon reaching the saddle I climbed cross country to the ridge leading to the summit of Bennett. I was still very tired from the exertion on Telescope and it was slow going. The views back across to Telescope were awesome and gave new perspective to my feat. I stopped on the summit for a snack and to regain my strength.    I dropped down the far side of Bennett heading for the last summit of the day, Rodgers. I felt much stronger now after a rest and a snack, and I made short work of this last summit. The top is marred by numerous radio antennas, but the view is still great. This was my 37th summit, and I dedicated it to Sunshine in honor of her favorite number. I snagged a small token to commemorate this event.     Looking for a change of scenery, I decided to take the service road down from the summit. The topo said it was 1.3 miles to the trailhead, so off I went. The top portion of the service road was covered in snow, so I found myself walking on the berm that runs along the bottom of the road. Over an hour later, I was still walking. Either there had been some changes to the road, or the topo had a major error. It ended up taking 1:15 walking downhill to reach the trailhead, at least 2.5 miles by my estimation.    I finally reached the trailhead and walked back to my camp, all of my camp mates from last night had left. I broke camp and took off down the 4wd road towards the valley floor. I stopped at the kilns that I had bypassed last night. There is not much to see here, the history is interesting but a bit boring.   I proceeded to Stovepipe Wells intending to camp there for the night. If you are a tent camper, don't bother. The Stovepipe Wells campground consists of a gravel parking lot with fire pits, populated with RVs and tent trailers. I inquired at the store and was referred to the Emigrant campground. I backtracked 9 miles and 2000 feet to the Emigrant campground and was immediately greeted with a naked middle aged man showering in the first campsite and a no campfire rule. I decided to try Furnace Creek, there are 4 campgrounds there, and found a nice site at Texas Creek. I recommend this area if you are tent camping, the best sites on the valley floor. I set up the tent and had some dinner. It was windy but warm, and I could not help but contrast this with last nights experience. I spent the night in shorts and a tee shirt and fell asleep on top of my sleeping bag. |