Weekend Death March

Well, for the second year in a row I have been denied a climbing permit for Mt Whitney. So, if you can't climb up the highest peak in the the continental United States, you tackle the highest peak in SoCal, right? Arrangements were made and the trip was planned. As the weekend approached, our group dwindled from six to two. So Friday night I met Danny at the trail head and crammed into the back of his 4Runner for a night of sleep. By sleeping in the 4runner we avoided paying $20 for a campsite and only got a few hours of sleep since I think i was over a foot taller then the space i was trying to sleep in. The next morning, we set out at 6:30am and made very good time, despite our 35lb. packs. We even passed up day hikers that were carrying nothing but water. At 8.6 miles in, we had climbed a little over 3000' but still had 4.2 miles and 2000' of elevation change left. During this section we came to realize several things: first, we hate switchbacks at 10,000' above sea level; second, Danny had grabbed his 40 oz camleback instead of his 100 oz one, and third, his decision to wear a lightweight hiking shoe would become a painful one. We summited at about 1:30pm and enjoyed a short lunch and a break. At this point we had traveled 12.8 miles and climbed just shy of one vertical mile. We then set out for another 5 miles to reach our camp which was near a lake that we could filter water from. At 3:30pm we reached our campsite. Danny set up my tent and I went to go filter some water from Dollar Lake. The word "Lake" paints the wrong picture and if it were up to me, I would more accurately rename the place "Dollar Stagnant Pond". I found a little spring that was feeding the Pond and refilled our empty camlebacks and Nalgean bottles. By 6:15pm we had finished dinner, put our food up in a tree, and gone to bed. At 2:00am we were aroused from our sleep by a hungry bear trying to steal our food. We shooed him away and returned to sleep. The next morning we picked up camp and painfully hiked another 6.9 miles back to the trail head. So if you ever want to Hike up Mt. San Gorgonio go ahead but don't invite Danny or me cause we have been there and done that, and it is way overrated.