Page 22 - 1994 Mountaineering Club Review

obliterated as it had turned into a river. At about 1400 we arrived after a very uncom­ fortable trek, at a dam construction site. It was a little clearer here, and we could see the tops of some 9000’ hills across the lake which were quite evidently being snowed on heavily. Our fears about the high pass­ es had obviously been well founded . W ith a little gentle persuasion we talked a dam worker into giving us a lift and with the rain still pouring down, we travelled 50+ miles down wild mountain roads, crammed into the back of a pickup truck, with those who could fit sheltering under a tarpaulin. We eventually arrived at the
small town of Shaver Creek, where we stayed for two days trying to find a way to get back to civilisation, and make contact with our support party on the other side of the Sierra. The plan had been that Don and Barrie would leave Bishop on the M onday and walk in to the junction of the Bishop Pass Trail with the John Muir Trail. They expected to arrive there on Thursday, and we were scheduled to be there early on the Friday. The arrange­ ment was that they would wait there until Saturday and if we had not arrived by then, ditch much of the re-supply and walk back off. From the TV we heard that the storms had been widespread over the northern and central Sierra Nevada and
had caught the weathermen totally nap­ ping - there had been no warning whatso­ ever. It was also confirmed that above 9000’ there had been very heavy falls of snow.
Friday 30 September
Two locals, for a fee, drove us in their trucks down to Fresno, where we caught a Greyhound bus to Merced and then on to Yosemite.
Saturday 1 October
Six of us climbed up to Upper Yosemite Falls, arriving at the top opposite Lost Arrow as a couple of climbers were doing a Tyrolean traverse from the top of the pinnacle back to the main face. Back in valleys Mike had finally got in touch, with Chris, who confirmed that Don and Barrie were safely back down and that they were on their way back to join us. Don and Barrie, as expected had been true
to the plan and had stayed up at Bishop Pass Trail, in appaling weather, until the deadline ran out. From where they were bivvied they had seen avalanches on Muir Pass, so our decision not to try to go over it was vindicated . They had been flooded out of their bivvy, had trees fall around them and generally had an epic time. As soon as the deadline arrived they had abandoned some of the gear to lighten their very heavy loads, and sprinted back down.
Monday 3 October
Having decided to try for Mount Whitney before heading back to UK, we travelled to Lone Pine, and went straight up to W hitney Portal (8361’). We settled down for the night in fairly low temperatures, contemplating the news that the weather forecast for the next day was not good.
ing. They confirmed that it had been mar­ ginal, with a lot of ice on the upper switchbacks, and suggested that to be thinking of trying it today, after several hours of fresh snow on top of the ice, was crazy. We agreed particularly as we had no winter gear, but decided to carry on upwards for a while. Although it was snowing hard it was not especially cold, and the trail was getting steeper, more dramatic and much more enjoyable (to some!). Paul, Tom, Terry, Iain, Ailsa and Barry pulled some way ahead of the oth­ ers, and by 1130 had reached a point, at about 12000ft where we stopped for a while to let the rest catch up. After a while hanging about in the increasingly heavy snow, it became apparent that no-one was following us. After a little longer, we assumed that the others had stopped
because of the weather, and retraced our steps to see if we could find them. We came upon Mike, Don and Barrie at Outpost Camp, which was as high as the others had got before it was decided to call it quits. Somewhat reluctantly, we agreed that W hitney was probably not going to be accessible for at least a couple of days, so set off down.
Sunday 10 October
After a couple of days making the most of LA’s shops and beaches, we flew back to Gatwick, having had a superb, if rather frustrating trip, busily plotting how and when we could have another go at it.
Tuesday
4 October
ANNUAL REVIEW
We woke to find a light dusting of snow and small flakes blowing in the wind. At 0330 all 13 of us set off up the hill. The plan was to get as high as we could today, hopefully to Wotan’s Throne (11843’) or maybe even higher, leaving all but a small amount of kit there next morning, mak­ ing a lightweight dash to the summit, and then picking up the rest of the gear on the way back down. However the higher we got, the worse the weather became, until by Outpost Camp (10080’) it was snowing hard. We found a British couple camping here, who had only just succeeded in making it to the summit yesterday morn­
Mike Yates
THE ROYAL NAVY & ROYAL MARINES MOUNTAINEERING CLUB
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