I finally found time to climb White Mountain Peak, at 14,252 feet. To get acclimated, on the day before White Mountain Peak I did a rock climb of Crystal Crag at Mammoth Lakes, an easy 4-pitch lead climb to a 10,300 foot summit, rated at 5.6. I climbed Crystal Crag on a different, non-vertical route in the snow in March, so it was fun to return in the summer.
White Mountain is no more than a hike on a trail. But it's a tough hike, at 15 miles round trip and 3500 feet of climbing. The altitude makes it tougher than usual. It all went well, but then I had a little adventure on the way down.
The weather was good, but thunder storms were forecast starting at about 5 PM. No problem. I reached the summit at 10 AM. However, clouds started to develop while on the summit, so we hurried back down. (I had met two Frenchmen on the trail so we hiked together.) When we got to the bottom of the steeper slope, we met a Russian woman going up. We told her to turn around, as a storm was fast approaching and it would take at least two more hours to get to the top. I hurried on ahead of the others.
About an hour later, it started hailing. By then I was very close to Barcroft Station at 12,500 feet. It's a scientific research facility. I increased the pace another notch, since I knew that hail was made in thunder heads. I was maybe 10 minutes away from possible shelter when a crack of thunder hit directly above me. I never saw any lightning, though. I hurried down the trail as the thunder and hail grew more intense. I finally reached the research station, but there didn't seem to be anybody there, and there were no roof overhangs to duck under. There was a large Quonset hut, so I tried the door. It was unlocked. Relief! The other three soon appeared so I waved them in. We waited out the storm in a cold, narrow hallway with plywood walls and a concrete floor. The storm grew very very intense, lasting about an hour. The Russian woman thanked us for convincing her to turn around. When I finally deemed it safe to continue, we went outside into 1 to 2 inches of hail, and had a nice 2-mile walk to the cars.
Crystal Crag, with the approx route shown as a thin black line.
White Mountain Peak - It looked like Mars up there. Very surreal scenery.
