DATE 8/12/2015
TITLE White Mountains
IDS 5525 92379 25069 5502
GROUP white_s_2 whiteMountains_wildernesss_hp_1 peak_13,615ft_1 barcroft_2
PARTY Robert_Wu Chris_Henry Tom_Grundy Scott_Barnes Rob_Houghton Jeff_Moffat Ken_Yee
<a href=lamarck_col_1.html>Continued</a>...

For the first 14 years of the Challenge, all the peaks we climbed were in the
Sierra Nevada by design - after all the full name is the 
<i>Sierra Challenge</i>. 
I had intended it to continue this way indefinitely and if it had been up to a
committee any deviation from the norm would probably have been shot down. But
the Challenge isn't designed by committee so I'm free to break the rules as I
deem fit. So far, this hasn't posed much of a problem since there really aren't
many folks that care about the rules per se - most just want to know which 
trailhead we're using and what time we're starting. The rest is details. Peak
13,615ft is a <a href=/dayhikes/elevation/CA/13000/300>CA 13ers</a> I had not
yet visited in the White Mountains, found a few miles north of the highpoint,
White Mountain Peak. Our route to the unnamed 13er would necessitate our going
within a few hundred yards of White Mtn Peak, so that 14er was almost a freebie
bonus for today's Challenge. A trail (really a road) goes to White Mtn Peak,
some 7mi from the trailhead below the Barcroft Research Station, making for 
only a moderate challenge. The real part of interest was the cross-country 
ridge traverse between the two, with a section reported to be class 3 and
knife-edged. 

There were only six of us at the <P1>6a start</a> 
on a windy, cold Wednesday morning.
The big detraction for those that didn't appear was the long drive from Big
Pine to reach it. A number of these simply did alternate peaks in the Sierra
with far less driving. 
The road was in decent shape and I managed to drive it the
evening before without incident. I'd brought Eric with me as he had no car, and
about half a dozen of us slept outside or in our vehicles that night. A few
more showed up in the morning just as we were leaving or not long after. Two 
participants had started early and several others would start later - not
a bad idea considering how cold we were. Eric, fresh off two days' rest 
following his accident that left his middle finger heavily bandaged was at a 
great disadvantage. His gear had been at Daria's place in Big Pine the past few
days and what he'd brought with him the night before was mostly his sleeping
gear. He'd hoped Daria would remember to bring his daypack (which had most of
his warm clothes) with her when she drove up in the morning, but this was not
the case. I had extra gloves and others offered various spare clothing items,
but Eric refused them all, decked only in a pair of shorts and a couple of 
shirts which he figured might be sufficient once we got moving and warmed up.

Our pre-chilled crew headed <P2>up the road</a>, 
happy for the sunshine that lit up 
the range shortly after we started but finding it wholey inadequate. We reached
the <P3>Barcroft Station</a> 
after the first half hour, finding it quiet and seemingly
unoccupied without the small herd of sheep I'd seen in pens when I went by here
on my first visit more than a decade ago. Eric did not seem to improve much as
we continued, his bandaged hand tucked under his shirt, his other hand carrying
a Gatorade bottle filled with water, his only gear besides the clothes he 
wore. He continued to decline offers of clothes but he did relent and allow me
to carry his water bottle for him so he could tuck his bare good hand under his 
shirt as well. We <P4>carried on</a> 
as a group, hiking the road for several hours. Tom <P6>left us</a> 
briefly to make use of a shortcut that bypasses a bend in the road. I'm
not sure why we didn't follow him, but it may have been that we weren't
sure it would work (it did) or that it would offer much benefit (not much), 
but it seemed easier to just follow the road. As we climbed higher our group 
splintered some, Daria and a few others dropping back as the wind kept hammering
at us, sapping our energy. What I had expected (or perhaps, hoped) to be a 
fairly casual walk to the top of White Mtn Peak was far tougher. 

2hr20min after starting out, the first of our group <P9>reached the summit</a> 
of this 14er. Among those was Eric in his shorts and bandaged hand. We used 
<P10>a ladder</a> leaning against the summit building to gain an additional 
10ft of elevation. A few climbed <P15>the antenna</a> attached to the building 
to gain a few feet more. I paid a side visit a short ways down 
<P12>the west side</a> of the summit in search of the Wilderness HP. I had 
gotten a coordinate from LoJ and used this to navigate about 200ft down the 
loose, rocky ridgeline, looking for a small cairn or register to mark the spot 
but finding little. Nothing save a polished chrome <P13>dog bowl</a> I came 
across along the way, cemented among the rocks on the side of
the mountain. A last tribute to someone's trusty canine pal? I never did find
any info on this little mystery when I did an online search afterwards.

I rejoined the others at the summit to take a few <P17>photos</a> before 
continuing on -
hanging around here while my heartrate lowered wasn't going to help me keep 
from freezing. Off I went with a handful of others in tow. Eric did not join us
as he was ready to cut his losses and return. Daria would do likewise
after reaching White Mtn Peak. Four of us (Rob, Robert, Tom, myself) dropped 
off <P18>the north side</a> to begin the traverse along the crest. Shortly 
before 
reaching the class 3 section we came upon Ken. He had started early, already
reaching White Mtn Peak before us, but turned back at the class 3 section after
finding it a little too rich for his blood. Just before us now, the 
<P20>class 3 knife-edge</a> lived up to expectation and turned out to be the 
most exciting part of the day. It involved some <P21>good scrambling</a> on 
surprisingly solid rock with several short <P22>sections of knife-edge</a>. 
It took the four of us about 15min to cover <P23>the distance</a> to 
<P24>easier ground</a>, after which things became more relaxed.

Temperatures steadily improved with the rising sun, and though still windy it 
was not as biting as it had been earlier. We cruised along the crest of the 
range for another mile and a half alternating between somewhat tedious rocky
sections and the more delightful <P25>grassy sections</a>. 
Summer storms had kept 
portions of the crest green which made for a nice contrast with the abundant
talus. As we neared the final climb from a saddle up to Peak 13,615ft we spied
Chris and Jeff ahead, the last of our group to start early. Chris was on his way
back taking a line close to the crest while Jeff was traversing low towards 
the peak. Evidently they never saw each other when I asked Jeff later - like
two ships passing in the night. In a line not stretching too far, 
five of us managed to <P28>reach the top</a> around 10a. We found a makeshift 
register consisting of a few paper scraps left by <P30>Bob Packard</a> at an 
unknown date, sometime before 2009. Most of the names I recognized, 
including Bob Sumner, Daryn Dodge, Paul Garry, Keith Christensen, Teresa Gergen
and Chuck Ramm. There were only 3-4 that were unfamiliar among 
<P31>the collection</a>. We added our names in a corner of the second page and 
posed for <P32>a group picture</a> while trying to stay warm. Our visit at the 
summit would not last long. Though it had a <P33>dramatic view</a> of the High 
Sierra profile, it was not appreciably different from that 
obtained from White Mtn Peak. 

As we were heading back across the talus we met up with <P34>Scott</a> 
who had started
sometime later - the drive to the TH had taken him longer than he'd expected.
Rob, meanwhile, was doing a good job of not letting me out of his sight. I had
started the return at a strong pace, distancing myself from all but Rob. When
we got to the class 3 section I knew I could traverse it faster than Rob and 
set out to do exactly that. By the time I had reached the end of it and started
back up to White Mtn Peak he was out of view so I took off running. I made a
cross-country dash straight down the switchbacks on the 14er's east side, hoping
to get more distance between Rob and I before he figured out what happened to
me. But he was on to me sooner than I had thought and before I reached the base
of the switchbacks he was right on my heels - all that effort had gained me
nothing. We resumed walking when we reached the flat area below and returned
to the road and had a fine laugh while we discussed the episode. As we were 
walking the long section back towards Barcroft Rob decided to pick up the pace
to a jog again. I congratulated him on his perseverance in keeping the Yellow
Jersey lead but did not keep pace. I had not told him I planned to visit Mt.
Barcroft in way of a bonus peak, preferring to keep him guessing that I was not
far behind. I had been to Mt. Barcroft a few years earlier, but not from 
<P35>the north side</a>. 
There is nothing special about climbing this 13er which is class 2
from every angle, a steady but unremarkable climb however it is approached. It
gave me a chance to hike cross-country on my own for a while and get lost
in my thoughts. The summit has a really nice view of White Mtn Peak's colorful
south-facing facade and features an unusual <P37>summit register</a> 
found in a wooden
crate installed in a rock wall with a short wooden ladder (completely 
extraneous) to complete the odd scene.

Back at <P39>the TH</a> I found Rob, Eric and Daria 
<P40>relaxing in the sun</a>. Like Robert,
Rob had bypassed Mt. Barcroft to easily beat me back. Eric was actually smiling
and Daria was feeling better than she had in the morning though still bundled
in her down parka. It wasn't quite 1:15p, 
the outing taking just over 7hrs - not 
bad for an 18mi day with 5,000ft of gain. Now for the long, long drive back to 
Bishop...

<i>Jersey Strategy:<br>
Robert had done well to pick up 45min today in the Yellow jersey lead, improving
his lead to a comfortable hour. Still, he would not relax and felt the lead
anything
but comfortable judging by his conversations back in Bishop that evening. Chris
picked up two bonus peaks today (White Mtn Peak and Barcroft) to give him a 
one summit lead for the Polka Dot jersey over Michael Graupe who had climbed 
Mary Austin and Black today out of the Baxter Pass TH.</i>


<a href=crater_n1_1.html>Continued</a>...