Acclimating

Rock Creek to Guitar Lake

We’ve planned to ramp up slowly for the first couple of days, so there is no real pressure to get moving this morning. The cold temperatures add an additional reason not to be in a rush. So we have a leisurely breakfast before starting to hike mid-morning.

We can definitely tell we are not at Austin elevation levels anymore and feeling a little apprehensive about what to expect over 14,000′ tomorrow. At this altitude, the FAA would require the crew in an unpressurized aircraft to use supplemental oxygen. Fortunately, the Forest Service has no similar requirement. They don’t care about the partial pressure of O₂, but they do seem to care A LOT about other things… We’ve already had more ranger interactions than in all of our other backpacking trips combined. From what we can tell, they are out enforcing three rules:

1. Have the correct permit
2. Use a bear canister
3. Don’t poop on the mountain

Once assured that we have those three bases covered, we’ve found the rangers here to be friendly and helpful. There is definitely a different level of vigilance than we are used to for a wilderness area, though.

Advice to future JMTers: don’t go anywhere near Mt Whitney without a permit and a wag bag.

We had the option of stopping at Crabtree Meadow for the day, but it was only lunchtime when we arrived there, so we continued on to Guitar Lake, a little higher up. The excitement is definitely building now for Mt. Whitney tomorrow!