- Joined
- Jan 1, 2006
- Messages
- 1,649
So, my wife and I have been planning a backpacking trip into the eastern Sierra Nevada for a while, morning of the 28th we left heading north, and went WAAAAY too far north, wound up on the wrong side of Death Valley which my wife had never seen, we had all that day and the next to waste so we drove through the valley, stopping to see some of the sights, and enjoy the weather.... all one hundred fourteen degrees of it. Lots of the wild flowers were still in bloom, a nice little detour and one more National park under our belts.
Morning of our actual hike comes around and we head off up the mountain, it's alot hotter than I expected it to be at 8,000' we climb, and climb, I notice my wife is slowing down a bit so I ask if she's alright, I get an affirm, we keep going, at about 10,000 she tells me she's in some real pain in her hip(she dislocated it snowboarding a few years back) but wants to keep going. Evening comes around and she tells me we have to stop, I find a good spot for camp and set us up, getting eaten alive by mosquitos the whole time. At this point she's a 10 of 10 pain.....wow, I've got camp setup, and am working on food, feeling a little sick to stomach, headache...oh s@#$ I've got altitude sickness, it's almost 100 degrees, she can't move, and we're both being eaten by bugs, despite copious amounts of repelent. After wolfing down dinner I clean up and we get into the the tent for a long night, she can't sleep due to pain, I can't due to my stomach and head. We decide to go down the mountain first thing.
Morning comes around and as we're packing up the bugs are worse than ever, I've never seen mosquitos in these quantities before.... getting bit almost the whole hike out.
We make it, she toughed it throught to a spot on the road about 3 miles from our car and I went to get it. We stayed in Bishop that night the 2nd.
If you're ever in Bishop Ca. you are morally obligated to eat at the Upper crust pizza co. Really good pizza.
Get food and copious amounts of Benadryl into my wife and get her into a shower and bath. Later that night she mentions the Grand Canyon, we still have 2 full days left right?
I call and get us a room at the Jacob Lake Inn about 40mi from the North Rim entrance... this area is GORGEOUS... if you've been to the south rim and think you've seen the canyon, think again. This is completely different. All Pinyon pine forrest, lots of deer, nice weather, a totally different experience from the south rim...oh yeah, ALOT less people.
Spent the rest of the 3rd(my b-day) lounging around working on fire starting skills for both of us.
Wake up at 0400 to drive to the rim, got there in time for sunrise, had a nice breakfast at the lodge, spent the day exploring the rim, and drove on out to vegas for the night and fireworks.
1 trip
4 states
3 National Parks
1 million bug bites
and one unforgettable memorry
the lesson: be flexible, oh and bring alot more bug spray
I'm working on a gear review and pictures and will post them soon
I hope everyone enjoyed the 4th
Morning of our actual hike comes around and we head off up the mountain, it's alot hotter than I expected it to be at 8,000' we climb, and climb, I notice my wife is slowing down a bit so I ask if she's alright, I get an affirm, we keep going, at about 10,000 she tells me she's in some real pain in her hip(she dislocated it snowboarding a few years back) but wants to keep going. Evening comes around and she tells me we have to stop, I find a good spot for camp and set us up, getting eaten alive by mosquitos the whole time. At this point she's a 10 of 10 pain.....wow, I've got camp setup, and am working on food, feeling a little sick to stomach, headache...oh s@#$ I've got altitude sickness, it's almost 100 degrees, she can't move, and we're both being eaten by bugs, despite copious amounts of repelent. After wolfing down dinner I clean up and we get into the the tent for a long night, she can't sleep due to pain, I can't due to my stomach and head. We decide to go down the mountain first thing.
Morning comes around and as we're packing up the bugs are worse than ever, I've never seen mosquitos in these quantities before.... getting bit almost the whole hike out.
We make it, she toughed it throught to a spot on the road about 3 miles from our car and I went to get it. We stayed in Bishop that night the 2nd.
If you're ever in Bishop Ca. you are morally obligated to eat at the Upper crust pizza co. Really good pizza.
Get food and copious amounts of Benadryl into my wife and get her into a shower and bath. Later that night she mentions the Grand Canyon, we still have 2 full days left right?
I call and get us a room at the Jacob Lake Inn about 40mi from the North Rim entrance... this area is GORGEOUS... if you've been to the south rim and think you've seen the canyon, think again. This is completely different. All Pinyon pine forrest, lots of deer, nice weather, a totally different experience from the south rim...oh yeah, ALOT less people.
Spent the rest of the 3rd(my b-day) lounging around working on fire starting skills for both of us.
Wake up at 0400 to drive to the rim, got there in time for sunrise, had a nice breakfast at the lodge, spent the day exploring the rim, and drove on out to vegas for the night and fireworks.
1 trip
4 states
3 National Parks
1 million bug bites
and one unforgettable memorry
the lesson: be flexible, oh and bring alot more bug spray
I'm working on a gear review and pictures and will post them soon
I hope everyone enjoyed the 4th
I'm glad it turned out good for both of you and that you were able to enjoy the rest of the trip. We're heading out this morning for a few days...nothing strenuous, but just enjoying the outdoors with a little swimming, my wife's campfire cooking and hopefully a little bushcraft with my son 
