{"id":5268,"date":"2017-08-16T11:39:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-16T18:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/?p=5268"},"modified":"2017-08-16T14:37:26","modified_gmt":"2017-08-16T21:37:26","slug":"august-16-2017-force-nature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/august-16-2017-force-nature\/","title":{"rendered":"August 16, 2017 – Force of Nature"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Frost on the meadow around Rock Spring Lake on Saturday morning.<\/p><\/div>\n

This is a continuation of a post I wrote on Sunday, the day after returning from a six-day hike to the summit of Mount Whitney.\u00a0 Sunday\u2019s post was the story.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how I\u2019m holding it all \u2013 what made it hard, what made it worth it and what I\u2019m taking with me.\u00a0 It\u2019s longer than usual, but it seems I\u2019ve got lots to say!\u00a0 Get a cup of something and join me\u2026<\/p>\n

I should have guessed from the equipment list that included a warm hat, gloves and long johns that we\u2019d experience cold, but this was August<\/em> and I naively thought that these were \u201cjust in case\u201d things.\u00a0 The nights and mornings were cold<\/em>.\u00a0 Saturday we woke to frost on the meadow \u2013 in the summer!\u00a0 Several of the nights I never got really warm.\u00a0 I needed a liner for the sleeping bag \u2013 something for next time.\u00a0 My hands and feet were numb in the mornings – especially those when my boots were wet from stream crossings the previous day.\u00a0 Putting on cold clothes in the cold air is just\u2026 well\u2026 burr<\/em>.<\/p>\n

As always in the backcountry, we were limited on what we could pack; we had minimal clothes and no way to clean them.\u00a0 No soap, no deodorant meant that by the end of the week, everything was dirty and very, very stinky.\u00a0 I did rinse out a few things in the lakes and creeks, which helped, but after the second day, my cleanliness sensibilities were gone<\/em>.\u00a0 Though we were all in the same smelly boat, it was still uncomfortable to have hair that hadn\u2019t been washed in a week.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think that a shower has ever felt as wonderful as it did on Saturday!\u00a0 And you should have seen the color of the water in the machine when I washed all my clothes!<\/p>\n

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Our commode-away-from-home and the view when seated.<\/p><\/div>\n

As we venture out of civilization our bodily functions become a bigger deal.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to write about this with any delicacy, so I won\u2019t even try.\u00a0 Peeing and pooping in the wilderness is inconvenient at best!\u00a0 For starters having to pee in the middle of the night meant getting out of my warm sleeping bag and tent to head out into the cold to find a place to squat (you guys have it so much easier!).\u00a0 Lauren and Barb set up a pit toilet for us when we were in camp \u2013 which was dubbed the \u201cloo with a view.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s quite an experience having a morning constitutional while looking out on an alpine meadow!\u00a0 But when we weren\u2019t in camp, having to go number two meant digging a six-inch deep hole with a hiking pole behind a tree or boulder.\u00a0 Up in the Whitney zone we had to use something called a WAG bag<\/a> \u2013 two plastic bags that contained our solid waste to pack out and dispose of.\u00a0 And we each had a companion for the week \u2013 a plastic bag in which we collected all our used toilet paper.\u00a0 I was so happy to toss that thing in the trash!<\/p>\n

Though the actual hiking was done at a very gentle pace, there was basically no down-time all week.\u00a0 We woke to take care of our basic needs:\u00a0 eat, make our lunch, re-fill our water containers, pack our day-packs for the day, take down our tents and then set out at anywhere from 5:00 to 8:30 am.\u00a0 We arrived at the next camp between 4:30 and 7:00 in the evening to do it all in reverse.\u00a0 Though I had looked forward to seeing stars at night, between being tired and escaping the mosquitos that swarmed us in two camps, I was in my sleeping bag by 8:00 every evening – when it was still dusk.\u00a0 On top of this there were the little pains:\u00a0 blisters (though mine weren\u2019t too bad), stiff and sore muscles (especially by the end of the week) and I had to nurse an inflamed Achilles tendon on my left foot which I so didn\u2019t want to prevent me from hiking.<\/p>\n

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Water, water, everywhere!<\/p><\/div>\n

Life in the backcountry is inconvenient and uncomfortable, but it\u2019s also stunningly<\/em> beautiful!\u00a0 I looked at pictures of Mount Whitney before the trip and imagined that we\u2019d be spending a week in a landscape that looked much like the moon \u2013 all rock and snow.\u00a0 But that was just part of one day.\u00a0 I was bowled over by the natural beauty we were immersed in:\u00a0 there was water running everywhere, streams and creeks, crashing over boulders and meandering through the meadows.\u00a0 Clean, cold snowmelt \u2013 there is nothing more invigorating than getting wet with mountain water.<\/p>\n

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This flower girl loved all these flowers!<\/p><\/div>\n

Surrounding every stream were areas of vibrant green vegetation and so many wildflowers!\u00a0 In fact the wildflowers were not just where it was moist, they were everywhere<\/em>:\u00a0 in the more arid flats and amongst the boulders \u2013 even way upon Mount Whitney!\u00a0 Rising above the green were the granite mountains of the Sierra Nevada \u2013 breathtaking scenery was all around us, every day, scenery that you just don\u2019t get to see unless you hike deep into the wilderness.<\/p>\n

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Lauren, Jackson and Barb – our guides and packer – they made it all work – and made it fun too.<\/p><\/div>\n

Humans are amazing \u2013 nine of us started as strangers on Monday and over the course of the week we became intimates.\u00a0 My six companion hikers were all interesting, fun and courageous women.\u00a0 We shared tents just large enough for two sleeping bags, we worked together to make things go well, we cared for each other, we shared moments of hilarity and struggle.\u00a0 And our guides \u2013 women in their early-mid-twenties were two of the most impressive people I\u2019ve ever met.\u00a0 Their self-possession and capacity for leadership was remarkable.\u00a0 We worked hard all week – and they worked harder<\/em>.\u00a0 They set up camp and cooked for us each night, then made a hot breakfast and packed it all up the next day.\u00a0 They paced our hiking days and attended to all our needs \u2013 they held us, providing the container for our experience just masterfully.\u00a0 Plus, they hiked every mile and every foot of vertical ascent that we did \u2013 without breathing hard!\u00a0 I\u2019m in much better shape than when I started, but oh, to have their level of fitness!<\/p>\n

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Jackson and beloved mule, Mutt and our mules, loaded down with our stuff.<\/p><\/div>\n

And what made it possible was Jackson, his mare and five mules.\u00a0 Other than what was in our day-packs, all our gear, food and equipment were carried from camp to camp on the backs of pack mules.\u00a0 We got to eat delicious, real (not freeze-dried) food all week and had \u201cluxuries\u201d such as the pit toilet.\u00a0 It was really humbling to watch them pass us each day, loaded down with all our stuff on the way to the next night\u2019s camp.\u00a0 \u201cReal\u201d backpackers carry all their stuff in big, heavy packs themselves<\/em>, I told myself. But Jackson assured us that mules want to work and that these animals have a great life.\u00a0 They get to be in nature, some of it completely free.\u00a0 One night he let them loose to graze in the meadow near our camp.\u00a0 Someone heard them wandering amongst our tents in the middle of the night!\u00a0 None of us would have done the trip if we\u2019d had to carry a heavy backpack; our mules made it do-able.\u00a0 And what a precious thing it was on Saturday morning to witness Jackson nuzzling Mutt, his favorite mule.<\/p>\n

Journeys start when we commit to them.\u00a0 I\u2019ve grown and transformed so much from this trip – starting when I signed up just after Easter.\u00a0 The insights are many.<\/p>\n

Here are some:<\/p>\n