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--M. Cartmill
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Diggler - Aug 24, 2006 11:53 pm - Voted 10/10
Congrats, MorganA noteworthy Sierra peak. You'd given this one a try before, right? Despite the hardships encountered, sounds like a great trip. Would like to make it out there before the season is over myself. Nice photos & route overlays, too.
mpbro - Aug 25, 2006 1:28 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Congrats, MorganI'm sure you guys will zoom right up it. The route finding isn't too bad to begin with, but hopefully the route page helps more than it hurts. And no, this was my first attempt. I hiked up the Big Arroyo about 5 years ago, though...
mdash - Aug 26, 2006 8:11 pm - Voted 10/10
Good read!Your photos are awesome, too. Hope your friend is okay! I was in that area last July (Sawtooth)--you're right about the mosquitoes--they're baaaaaaaad!
mpbro - Aug 27, 2006 3:23 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Good read!Thanks, mdash. The alpenglow was sure nice at Columbine Lake. That's one of the nicest campspots in the Sierra IMO... At this sad point in my life, I'm only able to sample the Sierra mosquitoes once or twice a year. I think they were worse last year, but it's hard to say.
kironic - Aug 27, 2006 7:01 pm - Voted 10/10
InspiringMpbro-Sounds like an epic trip. Being from Houston myself I take heart from your success on this trip. Great story and pictures!
mpbro - Aug 28, 2006 1:35 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: InspiringGee, you're in Houston, too? We should take a trip sometime. ;-)
myles - Aug 28, 2006 1:20 pm - Hasn't voted
Thanks for the reportUnfortunately having to experience the Sierra Nevada vicariously again this year, so your report is an especially welcome read.
Hope to get to BK some day. Sounds like a very worthwhile peak--and you're right--it does look like "death."
Thanks
mpbro - Aug 28, 2006 1:38 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Thanks for the reportHeh-heh, I know the feeling (living vicariously through others' photos and words), and it is not fun. Take heart, you could be stuck in Houston, not NC! Thanks for the kind words.
Luciano136 - Aug 28, 2006 11:14 pm - Voted 10/10
Great areaThat seems to be a great area. There's something mysterious about it. Thx for the report!
mpbro - Apr 3, 2010 9:49 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: whoo hooThe memories will last a lifetime! Good luck and hope to read a successful report.
bigflat - Oct 7, 2010 8:58 pm - Voted 9/10
Bad MemoriesWow mpbro, your story bears a striking resemblance to my own. Your story is an example of the positive outcome of a fast climb of Black Kaweah (or any high, remote peak for that matter), mine is an example of what can go wrong. We, too, had a large party, very little sleep at lodgepole/mineral king the night before and a very large day of hiking (Glacier, Blackrock passes). We also had a one party member with an aching knee, but also some signs minor signs of AMS (me) who stayed back at Little 5 Lakes. I had convinced the other 4 in the party to leave me alone and go bivy near the base of the climb and summit the next day. The differences: it was late season (october) so there was no one posted and no communication at Little 5 Lakes, and late at night alone at Little 5 Lakes I woke myself up coughing up blood. I realized HAPE was setting in and tried to hike the only way to lower elevation that there was (toward Big Arroyo). I spent a day collapsed and alone trailside getting worse until my friends found me shortly after dark post-summiting. They made some very smart decisions and acted like the amazing people that they are by helping/carrying my 200lb of dead weight to a suitable place for a helicopter landing, hiking out to call the helicopter, and subsequently getting me rescued.
So, a cautionary tale with three major learnings that I will share: take an extra day to acclimate if you are a sea level dweller, don't push it at high altitudes, and NEVER EVER leave a member of your party behind in the backcountry above
~8,000 ft (roughly the minimum elevation for severe altitude sickness) if they are not feeling up to snuff, even if they beg you to go and enjoy your climb. We were all in great shape coming off of guiding two 10 day courses in the High Sierra, and we were all relatively experienced climbers/mountaineers. So this kind of thing can happen to anyone.