Howdy All
We met in the South Fork parking lot about 7 AM and were hiking by about 7:45. The trail was fairly well packed and even icy in sections, making me wish I had microspikes (we all had crampons and snowshoes). I'd almost forgotten how much harder it is to hike when weighted down with a backpack
Although about 30 F when we started, we were quickly shedding clothing.
We took a break at Poopout Hill by the camera sign, then continued down to Southfork Meadows. We actually had to cross snow bridges -- first time I've ever seen these here. Donned the snowshoes and went cross country uphil towards the Jepson bowl. At about 9300 we'd had enough for the day and made camp. Arthur recommended that we make a trench in front of our tents so that we could sit inside the tent with our feet in the trench. On his recommendations, we created cooking areas as well.
Right about sunset, we heard people wearing snowshoes and dragging a sled heading directly towards our camp. They stopped and asked us how close they were to Dry Lake
umm...about a mile to the east. They had followed our tracks up from South Fork meadows. Turns out these folks were only the lead party of a group of 11 hikers. As the evening wore on, the rest of their group tromped by. One of our team members informed us that we'd have to change the location of our "restroom" as the other group now had a direct view. About the time we all retired to our tents for the evening due to the cold, we heard the sound of tent stakes being pounded into the ice
I was absolutely entertained and giggling uncontrollably due to the sardonic comments of my fellow team members.
I don't usually sleep well the first night in a new area and Friday night was no exception. The wind picked up and rattled my borrowed REI quarter dome tent mercilessly. About midnight, I realized that I never should have told the group about the storm at high camp (19,300 ft) on Aconcagua. Clearly, San Gorgonio was offended and wanted to demonstrate that SHE was also a serious mountain. As the night wore on, I realized that I had to off-load some fluid
Oh dear, what to do? Didn't want to put on my cold boots, head outside the tent and turn into a blond popsicle. Finally came up with a solution -- bless those gallon size freezer bags.
At daybreak, we were all awake and talking, although not ready to emerge into the freezing dawn. Fortunately, everyone had figured out how to make coffee (elixir of life) without exiting our winter abodes. I asked my fellow team members to please "pay no attention" to the plastic bag with yellow fluid in the trench below my tent. This prompted an energetic discussion as to how others had handled the dilemma and various fluid receptacles were brandished about. This naturally lead to a competition about who had the most concetrated urine. I am happy to say that our fearless leader, King Arthur, won -- visualize unfiltered apple juice.
We finally got ourselves up and ready to attempt a climb up San Gorgonio. We climbed to the left of the Jepson bowl -- the amount of snow on the chute between Jepson and San G was amazing and intimidating. As soon as we left the protection of the trees, the wind (blowing southeast) blasted us. We worked our way up towards the trees to gain some protection from the gusts. As we climbed, the route got steeper and more windy. We finally gained the ridge about 3/4 mile away from San G and stashed our packs in some rocks. King Arthur, the Yeti (Jeff), Brandon and I made our way over to the summit. Thanks to the wind, it was bitterly cold on top. I hugged and thanked my team mates and we took the requisite summit photos. I was holding on to King Arthur, Brandon and the Yeti and leaning into the wind to stay on my feet.
We made our way back to where we'd dropped our packs. The Yeti needed to be one with the mountain and refuel, so we endured winds (50 mph or more) and a snow dermabrasion facial before descending. I am still leery of glissading and was the slowest one going down. Bless the Yeti, he forfeited his glissading fun to stay with me. Before long, we were back at base camp with our team, who had kindly melted water and improved the camp for us. We spent the last evening enjoying each other's company and goofing around.
All good things must come to an end. Sunday morning, we broke camp and headed out. Had a fabulous meal at the Oaks, courtesy of Carol and Brandon -- thank you so much!
Thank you to Arthur, Jeff and the rest of Team Hypoxia for a fabulous weekend. Everyone pulled together and helped each other. I look forward to future adventures with my mountain brothers and sisters -- Arthur, Jeff, Carol, Eva, Brandon, Norm and Joe.
Pictures by the Yeti (Jeff):
http://picasaweb.google.com/Jeffscof/Te ... turePart2#
Miles of smiles,
Ellen
