Postmortem

October 13, 12:15PM: The team met up in Berkeley around noon to load up the van and head out. The trail head is far enough out there that we decided to take Friday off from work to begin our trek. We've all been there...drive out Friday night or super early Saturday morning, come back to work for Monday morning. It's brutal. This was the way to go. Lots of daylight, good sleep, no rush. It's honestly much more enjoyable and safer. We made it to Bridgeport in time for an early dinner and took advantage of some final big calories. It was going to be a long day.

October 13, 8:38PM: Motel 6 was in full swing - thanks Sam! Super comfortable and warm. Wake up call was set to 4AM. I'm a big fan of starting as early as possible and moving steadily. Sometimes this takes some convincing and compromising. Worst thing you can do is start late, push super hard from the gate and burn yourself out.

October 14, 4:03AM: We had already packed our bags from the night before so we just needed to get up, hydrate, eat a quick bar, and get out the door. We were moving on trail by 4:30AM. All great days start in the dark! Note to self...do not forget extra headlamp batteries. Gah, rookie mistake. Good thing Ronen (AKA Old Man Winter) had extra batteries AND an extra headlamp. Another note to self...it is always good to pair yourself with other people thinking about backup gear and redundancies for this exact reason.

Temperature was right above freezing, so not bad when we started moving. Shorts and a t-shirt with a lightweight puffy and some glove liners was all I really needed. The day started out on a normal maintained hiking trail which we made fast progress of. It then transitioned to a classic sierra scree field which kept us nice and warm. Progress slowed slightly but we were making good time.

October 14, 7:59AM: The sun had fully risen at this point and the sky was clear. A little windy but the sun helped. We had reached the ~9.6K mark and were feeling good. We found some really interesting ice crystal structures which had formed on the ground. I did a little research and I believe this is called needle ice which forms when the soil temperature is above freezing but the air temperature is below freezing. The team stopped here for a good 15 minute break to catch up on food and water. The real climbing was just ahead of us.

October 14, 11:40AM: By this time we were at the bottom of the icy couloir which starts in earnest around the 11K mark. We were definitely slowing down as the terrain became more technical and exposed. We opted to avoid a long snowy patch between the lake and couloir and instead proceeded through a scramble route which arguably was the wrong move. It was a bit more exposed then we thought. We moved cautiously through it to the base of the couloir. In the photos below you will see SamTheVegan's optimal gear setup. This includes a construction hardhat (haters going to hate) and more importantly a crampon that was sized way too small for his large feet. We made it work with the help of some metal wire, ski straps, and zip ties. Note to self...make sure everyone in your party has tried on their crampons before the trip.

October 14, 1:22PM: The team made it through the crux of the couloir. Pictures do not do it justice. Steep and icy. The mixture of rock and snow was unsupportive in spots. Crampons, ice axe, and a helmet were definitely a must. A fall in some sports would be...unpleasant. We were the only party going up this route. There was a group of 4 hiking the AllTrails route which is basically a giant scree field the entire way. This route is far more technical. I traded in my puffy which would have been torn to shreds for my shell. The wind was not howling but a consistent flow kept us cool even when we were working hard. I was surprised how little I was effected by the elevation at this point. No headaches, no anxiety, no brain fog, just a little heavier breathing. Good sleep does wonders.

October 14, 2:44PM: The team made it to summit! 360 degree view at 12,279ft on a clear day - hard to beat! We spent a good 35 minutes or so celebrating and taking pictures. It was a job well done. I wouldn't say we had done anything wrong up until this point, but we were definitely a little behind schedule. It was a long way back to the car and moving through steep scree is never fast. No injuries, plenty of food and water, still lots of light. All we had to do was get back to the maintained hiking trail by sunset. Game on.

October 14, 5:02PM: So much faster going down! We went down the scree field instead of the couloir (that would have been sketch city). We were through the worst of the worst ankle biter scree sections. Just a good ole' slog march back to the van at this point. But first, a little break.

October 14, 9:44PM: Back to the Van! 17 hours door to door. Woof. I ate a bunch of food and went to sleep. We drove back to the Bay Area in the morning.

Thank you Matterhorn Peak for granting us access. We shall return.