Mt. San Jacinto July 27 2008

I don't even know where to begin.

I rode with my friends Gene and Jeremy to Palm Springs where we took the Aerial Tramway up to 8,500 feet elevation. It is the easiest way to climb Mt. San Jacinto but it certainly wasn't easy today. I am getting to that.

For the 2 or 3 people who have been reading my blog know, I have been fighting shin splints for quite some time. I have good days and bad days. Today began as a very bad day. Immediately upon our first steps into Long Valley, my legs were failing me. I had to stop repeatedly. I was holding back Gene and Jeremy and every step I took brought on more ferocious pain, especially my left leg. The pain was as intense as I have felt in my life. It took me probably 2 hours just to hike the 2 miles to Round Valley. At that point, I could see they were frustrated, and I certainly was too.

I made the decision to call it a day. I couldn't go any further and I was holding them back. Jeremy and Gene said they would reach the peak and meet me either in Round Valley or back at the Tram Station.

There were wide-ranging consequences of what I was going through. At that moment, it seemed clear to me that my days hiking were over. This meant Mt. Whitney was out, as well as the hike next weekend up San Gorgonio which corresponded with my birthday. This wasn't to be taken lightly. I love the outdoors and hiking if the main way you enjoy it.

A few others may know that I attemped to climb the peak in 1990 with my BSA troop. Only, my map was marked wrong and at the Wellman Divide I headed north instead of camping at Round Valley with my troop. I spent the night on the trail until Search and Rescue came looking for me. I knew I was close to the peak, and I didn't make it. It has bothered me all these years.

I found a rock to sit on and let my legs burns and cool down for the next 45 minutes. I needed every second of it, my left leg in particular was on fire. After a while, I grew weary of sitting there and I walked around a little, making a circle around the Round Valley meadow. I could see the peaks like Jean, Miller, and Cornell jutting skyward. It was frustrating to be grounded.

Earlier in the day, Gene and Jeremy made an observation. They thought I was walking flat-footed. This is not something I was apt to pay attention to because when you have muscle memory, you tend to let your body do it for you. With a little more range of motion in my left foot, I exaggerated a heel-toe walk to see if walking this way, if it were different than my normal gait, would help.

At first, there was little difference, but I made a curious decision. I would head up the trail to the Wellman Divide, to see how far I could get. It was only 1 mile, but climbed 700 feet making it very steep. At the same time I did this, an older gentleman hiked ahead of me and I noticed he was keeping a very slow pace - perfect for me. I followed behind him, careful to stop when he did. My shins still hurt, but it wasn't debilitating. After some patient time had passed, I saw us cross the creek and I realized I was almost to the junction. What a surprise! I could see the ridge just above me and at this time, I was up to 9700' elevation.

Then, the thought hit me. I am starting to feel better, my stamina is still good, what if? What if I could get higher up the trail to meet back up with Jeremy and Gene. I continued north, and I honestly felt a second wind I hadn't felt before. I moved as quickly as I could, and I believe it was a good pace because I passed a number of people who hiked ahead of me earlier in the day when I could barely walk. The distant peaks of Jean and Miller were surprisingly close. I kept going, and the thought finally hit me that I might catch them in time to make my own ascent.

Alas, I passed a group coming down who I encountered earlier in the day. They told me I was at 10,200'! I couldn't believe it, but what was more remarkable was that I was only 600 feet from the summit, in elevation. They thought I was only about 1 mile from the top. As luck would have it, I immediately ran into Jeremy and Gene who seemed generally shocked to see me so far up the trail. And I didn't have answers for them, I don't know what force it was that carried me that far but it was remarkable.

I immediately negotiated with them. They knew I wanted this climb for a lot of reasons and they decided I was close enough to do it. Even better, they decided to go back up with me. With my renewed energy, I put my focus on climbing and I think they would agree I kept up a good pace. Within minutes, we were doing the final rock scrambling up and unbelievably, improbably, I found myself on the summit of Mt. San Jacinto. After 18 years, there I was.

As many a hiker will tell you, when you make the summit, you are only halfway. So we had to get on with things and head down the mountain. The pace was good, with few breaks. Just a few to calm down everybody's legs and knees which were starting to ache. I even found the rock I slept on 18 years ago and showed it to Jeremy and Gene. I still remembered that rock.

Coming down, we ran into a lady named Christine (Kristine?), who had passed me and hiked near Jeremy and Gene most of the day. She appeared to be struggling and her friend had left her behind. She had her hands to her head in a clear sign of a headache. As it turned out, she had run out of water which is dangerous in the mountains. We gave her a bottle of water, a Clif bar, and a couple of Jeremy's naproxen. I hope she made it through okay. She was quite beautiful and asked us for a business card to thank us, only I was too dense to think to get her phone number or email address. The usual for me. I did have the pleasure of lecturing her friend on leaving her behind. What a jerk. You don't leave people behind in the wilderness.

I did fill out a permit card with my name, phone, and email but alas, I never saw her again. A shame.

Now that the peak is done, I really am in a quandary. Is my way of walking causing my leg problems? Is it that simple a solution? Can I realistically do San Gorgonio next weekend, with the first 4 miles wearing a full backpack? I am very nervous about that, and Whitney is only 3 weeks away. Next weekend will be test.

Today, I failed and then passed with flying colors. What a strange world. On the Whitney confidence scale, I would say I am a 3 right now.

Tahquitz Peak

It was a dark and stormy day...Jeremy and I climbed Tahquitz Peak. For me, it was my 2nd ascent up the peak and my first in over 10 years. As for the usual protocol, I got off to a very slow start. Jeremy was patient with me, and it prevented me from getting shin splints on the hike.

The weather was interesting, with gusts of wind blowing clouds over the peak and from the south. I was wearing a shirt with no sleeves, so the gusts were quite cold. There were intermittent rains. We found a tree to huddle under to let them pass.

The trail was measured at 3.6 miles with a '2400 elevation gain. It did not feel like a steep trail though and that either means the mileage is mismeasured on the trail or I am starting to be more confident going up the trail. I won't give myself any credit, it is probably the former.

The trail roughly followed the South Ridge that leads up to the peak. Approximately 2 miles into the hike, it moved across the West face of Tahquitz with steep switchbacks leading all the way to the top.

One pleasant surprise was to find the Fire Lookout manned. They are all volunteers now, but they were very gracious and friendly to hikers. One gentleman showed us his map and where other fire lookouts had spotted lightning fires in the San Gorgonio Wilderness.

The weather drawback was that the spectacular views promised by a Tahquitz ascent were nowhere to be found. Someday, we will come back and bask in the view.

Overall, this was a slow day but I felt progress being made in my quest to do Whitney. If you wanted to know...I would say I am a 5 on the confidence scale today.

I plan to do Cowles Mountain on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this week, with a date with Mt. San Jacinto on Sunday.