Mount Whitney (14,505ft) up and over Forrester Pass (13,200ft) to Kearsarge Pass (11,791ft)
The Sierra Nevada range is studded with magnificent rocky castles soaring high into the sky. Some are round and smooth, some with walls that drop deep into lush valleys, but the crown jewel is the jagged palace that is mount Whitney. A fortress of stone guarding over lake studded meadows.
(its really named after Mount Whitney Houston)
Forrester Pass is the highest point on the entire PCT, and is no joke at 13,200ft with a full pack on.
After spending an extra afternoon relaxing at Crabtree Meadows after our Whitney Summit, our crew was set to hit Forrester on Thursday afternoon the 17th. Of course, it just happened to align that day with the weather pattern moving in.
Wether it was the heat wave in the valley or the storm pattern hitting further in the north west, we were in for a change from our beautiful calm clear blue skies of the previous few weeks.
Our group started off from a mid-day lunch spot to gathering dark clouds on the horizon. It’s said that it’s a best practice to hit the high passes in the morning before the typical Sierra thunderclouds get a chance to develop. Well maybe we should’ve followed that advice before making our plan.
Lightning is an unpredictable hazard and definitely best to be conservative as far as risk tolerance goes. I decided to speak up abs suggest we head back down to tree line to wait out and see how the clouds were trending to air on the side of caution. I was very impressed and glad to be with group members who agreed and we made a safe choice to wait it out by playing subjective guess who 20 questions in the shelter of a small tree grove at a low point in the topography.
After some light drizzle and some distant thunder things seemed to be starting to clear up as the sun peeled through clouds that were becoming more blue than grey. We decided to hit it, and make for the pass, even after chatting with a Ranger who told us our choice to wait out til the next morning was a good one.
Well it turned out to be too good to be true, as we gained the final high bowl above tree line, more dark ominous clouds came flying in from the south, threatening to rapidly overtake us before we could get up too high. We made a quick choice to hunker down at the base of a rock mound, not being the tallest things in the area. It certainly felt like harrowing Type II fun, as we watched giant bolts of lighting strike the taller mountains 15 miles south of us. Fingers crossed as we waited out together, talking about what meal we would have from anywhere in the world (not to act like it was our last meal on earth...). We were hailed on and I finally got to use my rain gear, and wound up cooking a meal as the storm reared right overhead.
Luckily it skirted by just to the south and east and we were spared by the prevailing wind from the west. As it finally cleared up we made another conservative decision to head back down to tree line the way we had come from to hit it again in the morning as is recommended.
By that time more friends had walked up our way and we joined to have a 7 person cowboy camping sleepover in the safety of the trees. Again, learning our lessons, cowboy camping proved to be a mistake as another unexpected storm rolled in overnight and soaked us in our sleeping bags.
finally begrudgingly getting up and out in the pouring rain at 6am, we made our way back up at a safer time of day and it did clear up to beautiful blue skies to allow us to summit and scale back down over gorgeous blue lakes to Kings Canyon on the other side.
The lessons learned to be cautious and pay attention to Mother Nature, and always be ready for the unexpected storm.
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