6. THE EASIEST PART OF THE HIKE
A detail of great significance to me, which happened when we were about to leave the summit, and I forgot to mention in my previous narrative: We climbed down the summit on the path that I knew. Valentina was amazed at how easy this route was compared to the rocks we climbed to finally reach the top. We had not taken two steps on that descent, when Valen told me «Pa, we haven’t hugged for what we did.» We hugged.
One hugs affectionately with certain frequency, but hugging my daughter after having achieved this, made that hug heavenly in the whole sense of the word.
We kept descending. We didn’t feel the effects of not having slept for 35 hours and having used a lot of energy. It was very good that I didn’t have those thoughts because we still did not know how many hours of walking we needed to get to the car. The scree on the way down really helped curb the protesting of our knees. Valen’s warning of injury to her ligament practically disappeared.
It was quite clear that, if we continued in a straight line, we would eventually reach the area where almost everyone sets up their tents. Near that zone is the creek, which is the key point to locate and connect with the section of the trail that takes you back to the parking lot.
From the top I had noticed that my GPS was running out of batteries. It turns out that because I have come to this mountain so many times, I don’t like bringing that thing with me because I think I know the mountain very well. However, this time I decided to bring it for two reasons: One, as a source of information to know the distances and altitude traveled at any given moment, and two, as a safety item. Point two comes from my worst experience on this mountain a few years ago in one of my failed attempts, coincidentally, with the same Alejandro who came with us this time. In that attempt, everything happened to us: We didn’t hit the summit; when we returned, we got lost, we did not find the tent or the creek. I was using that GPS for the first time and I didn’t trust what it was telling me, it said that we had to go down a lot and then go back up. Anyway, the story I’m telling is not the one of that trip with Alejandro, but this last attempt in which my daughter and I reached the top. I am simply explaining why I brought the GPS this time.
Because I had the thing on during the entire climb, I had used up almost all of the batteries and I had not brought any to replace them because I never thought I would really need to use it.
Well, it was becoming VERY clear that I was going to need it once it got dark.
My head was racing, trying to come up with ideas of what to do once it got dark.
We were following a very well defined trail that was easy to follow. We still had a clear sense of direction: we needed to go down a little further, parallel to a rock formation that we had on our left and after passing it, turn left, and it would put us closer to the area that we considered the first harsh ascent, near 9500 feet high. Suddenly, that trail was no longer clear.
7. THE DARKNESS, THE MIND, THE CREEK
I was thinking about how I could use my phone for directions, but I knew that Google Maps shows me the creek, and where we were, but it doesn’t show these particular trails. I tried to cheat, trying to download the trail in GPS format, to see if Google Maps would open that file. I did not find the way. It was already dark. We had both the flashlights on our heads lit. I told Valentina that the only thing I could think of was that we walked straight down, that it was very likely that we would find a path that went from side to side, and we would take it to the left. I don’t know if it was because of the lack of ideas or what, but Valen agreed to that plan.
A light of hope came on when I grabbed my GPS and hit its power button just to see what it did. We were very happy when we saw that the device simply showed a message saying that it did not have enough power to vibrate or to bring the screen brightness to 100%, but it showed us where we were on the map, it showed us what it had recorded of our ascent, and, the absolute best thing of all, it showed us that the trail we were coming from was exactly the one we needed, and it continued only a few steps ahead of where we were at that moment. This happened at 10,000 feet, at about 10 p.m.
Oh, the happiness to feel a reliable guide!
From that moment, we only turned on the GPS for seconds when we found it absolutely necessary. The trail, when we found it a few steps further, did not disappear again the rest of the night with a small exception near the creek. At one point I had a hallucination that today I know was a vision and not something real: I saw a dirt road big enough for cars, with fences on both sides. It seemed normal to me, but today I find it very strange that I did not immediately realize that it was a hallucination (today I have vivid memories in my mind of that road). I have been many times in that area, and an open road like the one I was seeing was not something for one to forget. However, I saw it very clear. I asked Valen if she saw it; in fact, What I asked her was how we would go across those fences. She simply answered me with a question: «What fences?»
That was the beginning of the hallucinations. Soon I began to see strange things on the ground, which always turned out to be rocks. I often saw objects that looked like plastic shapes, but sometimes I saw animal shapes on the ground; not scary or anything like that, but they all ended up being rocks. It was a coincidence that Valentina was experiencing something similar, and we both saw a tent later, which turned out to be a large rock. We self-diagnosed and concluded that we were suffering from mental fatigue. Two decisions we made in this regard were that we would sleep at least an hour when we got to the car, and not drive straight to town. I thought that if I had seen tents that were rocks, how could I be sure that I wouldn’t see something strange while driving, that could make me go off the road and hit the jeep with a tree or a stone or… something. The other decision was that we would stop to eat the last sandwich that each of us had, and we did. Fatigue kept us from feeling hungry, but we knew we needed to digest something. In fact, I had long ago told Valen to tell me when she wanted us to stop and rest, that we would eat the sandwich to give our knees a rest. Her knees have bothered her a lot in tough descents like this; mine were not silent, they had been protesting for a long time.
So, we stopped and ate the sandwich. This was at about 8,600 feet. It was 12:30 at night. I knew we had little distance to the creek. That was the next hurdle. The super trail we were following came to a point near the creek where it split in several directions. The GPS didn’t show me clearly where to go. Yes, we had a general sense of orientation, but it is that, at that point, if the creek is not crossed at a specific point, then it is very difficult because on other places the ground is between a swamp and a lagoon of sorts. We tried two or three of the options that we had ahead, but we didn’t find the crossing.
Now I know that that point was the one that generated more anxiety in Valentina. Despite everything else that had happened to us up to that moment, it was this disorientation that affected her the most.
Well, the idea that I came up with was to walk to where 4 or 5 tents were setup, near us. We did that. Two of those tents had lights on inside. I spoke: «good night, anyone awake?» It was about one in the morning. They answered from both tents; I told them what was going on: “I am with my daughter and we cannot find the creek crossing that gets us to the trail to return to the trailhead. My GPS is out of battery.» A guy from one of the two tents answered and said that he was coming out to help.
The guy got out, and it turned out that we were really close to the crossing, but there were many trails and… well, the important thing is that the guys put us on the right path.
8. THE CAR
We crossed the creek and did not lose the trail the rest of the way. What happened was that, to take care of our knees, we walked extremely slowly, and this made us walk the 3 miles from the creek to the car in 3 hours. That section of the trail, which is normally perceived as endless, with the physical and mental exhaustion the two of us had, was eternal plus five minutes.
To increase our anxiety, we came across a hiker who was going up, and we asked the inevitable question, how much more? The guy told us not long, that he had been hiking half an hour from the parking lot and that, since he was going up, it had to be much less time for us. We had no reason not to believe him, except for our speed because of our knees. I thought it would take us about 45 minutes if that.
Almost an hour passed and nothing. We came across another person who said that no, that we were really very close to the trail head. It was another good 15 minutes before we finally reached our goal. The exhaustion we had was such that we could not express how happy we were to see the car.
27 hours walking.
It took me around 30 seconds to fall asleep. I don’t know what it took Valen, but she told me later that it was not more than a minute.
It was about 4:30 in the morning. We woke up after 10. I think we could physically feel the mental rest. We drove to town. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, the pizza restaurant I had in mind was closed. We were finally able to call Sammy, as the signal was very bad until we got to this town.
We went to the store in that town where I usually rent gear when I need. In May of this year I was there with David renting the gear he needed to get to the top of this mountain with me, thru a different route. I found the person who helped us that time, and I was very lucky to have found that guy. The reason I went into that store was to buy Valen a cap, the kind that David and I have. It is what I consider to be like the graduation thing after summiting this mountain, and I wanted to surprise her, but not at that store but at home when we arrived later. This is the reason why I considered it fortunate to find that guy, because he understood what I wanted without me having to explain it. I told him and went to the store’s bathroom to wash my face and hands, while he did this thing for me. From there we went to a restaurant that we had seen nearby on the same street. They turned out to have very delicious gourmet burgers. Also, the craft beers they had (the 2 I tried) were spectacular. As if this weren’t enough, they also had a wine that Valen likes a lot and that is not easy to find everywhere.
Well, we finished eating and started our trip back to home. Valentina drove two hours and forty minutes, and I drove the rest (about two hours).
We arrived at the house and it was very cool to tell this story that has nuances of incredible, of dangerous, but the coolest thing is the background that I did it with my daughter.
As for my friends who for different reasons gave up, I think that with the exception of Meli’s indisposition and the logical company that Omar owed her, the other 3 people I have no doubt that they would have gotten to the top with us. Do I criticize them? No, not really. They are my friends and I love them very much. What stays with ME is the lesson that often what one sees as an obstacle may not be; at least one is not going to confirm it until one tries. That is the point. I can’t control the weather, but I can try to climb a path that goes through some stones. I cannot stretch the day, but I can walk at night.
A personal aspect that is perhaps hidden under everything positive and incredible about this adventure: Clear things that are failures in my facet of organizer of things like this: The scheduling, the route, the necessary breaks in the hike, they all were things that I was far from having handled well. MINIMAL preparation for eventualities has never been more obvious to me than on this trip with Valentina’s threat of injury coming down from the summit. I should have brought my small tent to be prepared for such a situation. The extra batteries for the GPS: It is not valid that I say that I was carrying the device for information purposes; I know that in an emergency that thing can mark the difference.
I still think that my fortune is enormous for everything to have happened as it did. The two people that started with this idea concluded it. It has been the most difficult thing I have done on this mountain, without a doubt, but I literally love having done it with my daughter by my side.
Of course, I have no reason to return to Shasta, except if…
Crónicas de Mao 