Days 66-68 - PCP Backpacking/Mountain Climbing Trip

They said it couldn't be done. OK, I said it couldn't be done... A proper hike in, camp, climb and pack back out, all PCP-compliant (sans the muscle workout of course, but tell that to my thoroughly exhausted and aching body and the 5+ lbs that apparently vanished in 2 days).


Overview
The trip was a pack in trek to our campsite (~12,200 ft/3,718 m), sleep, wake up and summit Mount Massive (2nd highest peak in Colorado at 14,428 ft/4,398 m), return to camp for the night and pack back out the next morning. Doesn't sound too bad, right? But the thing about the trail layout meant that on the day of the actual climb we had to hike down about a thousand feet before switching to the summit route which in turn gave us about a 3500 ft gain to make in 2 miles. So, very vertical.


The initial hike in to the camp site, was gorgeous, and up up up all the way...

Clothes
Turns out, as this was planned well in advance of PCP, I hadn't given any thought to having to buy new clothes and the night before when I got out my hiking pants I discovered that they evidently belonged to a much heavier me. And while that weight loss undoubtedly helped with the overall climb enjoyment (not having to lug the 38 lbs that are gone as of today), it also meant that the large pack's hip belt bit and pinched my hips quite badly against my ill fitting clothes. So I have some sizable swollen cuts and blisters on the hips.


Campsite
We found a gorgeous spot. Sheltered and with ample access to water, and even twin lakes that the forestry service evidently stocks. One of the group even caught a trout which we ate the night after the summit.

And of course between the lake and nearby snow drifts, the group's booze stash was kept well chilled. Never fear though, fellow PCPers, as incredibly tempting as it was (especially the night after the summit), I didn't touch a drop.

Food
You know how Patrick has been telling us why we aren't drinking as much water as we used to and that our veggies and fruit are mostly water? Turns out that also makes them incredibly heavy foodstuffs to pack in... 


Usually (pre-PCP), I would pack in dehydrated food since its very compact and incredibly light. So, the initial hike up to the camp site with my sack of veggies, fruit and eggs was excruciating. I don't think I am exaggerating that the pack was probably tilting the scales at roughly 80-90 lbs all told. But, on the upside, I had very little trash, no cans or bottles to pack out and it almost certainly helped keep me hydrated throughout the trip. I admit though, some of those dehydrated meals smelled quite nice.

Handy Egg Canister

Sample fritter (eggs, yellow squash, garlic, pepper, onion, and tomatoes)

The Summit
The weather played along great! Just an absolutely beautiful day, and the temperature moderated perfectly the higher we got. We could actually see our campsite from the summit so we charted our own rather unorthodox descent via one of the many chutes spilling off of the ridgeline.

Summit!

Our campsite was between those two lakes in the distance

The chutes heading back

Heading down the chutes

My friend Matt demonstrating the pitch!

The small rocks and gravel gradually gave way to larger stuff... probably not the smartest route at the end of the day.

Looking back up at the peak from the moraine field

The Last Night/Next Morning
Not surprisingly everyone hit the booze pretty hard when we got back to the camp site after summiting as is the usual tradition. And at almost any other time I would have done the same... The next morning as we all rolled out of our tents at 6am (one guy had a flight to make back in Denver) everyone was complaining of headaches and nausea. Really, the perfect storm for a hangover though: sun, summit, altitude, exhaustion, dehydration, lack of sleep and alcohol... Despite the biting blisters on my hips, I think I may have gotten the better bit of the bargain on the descent by abstaining.


Non-PCP
Well, perhaps not surprisingly not everything was quite in line, but mostly for good reason:

1. Jump rope and muscle exercises at altitude and after some exhausting climbs were never going to be realistic. And the additional weight and clutter were the last things I needed.
2. 8 hours of sleep never happens when camping and this was certainly no different. You try to make it happen but even in the best of circumstances you're lucky if you get 4 to 5 hours of fitful sleep.
3. Timely meals. I really gave it all the effort I could to try and snack every few hours but it was quite difficult, especially during the summit as you really don't want to stop when you've got any momentum. A nice juicy Fiji apple part of the way up to the summit was an awesome treat though...
4. Also, as noted before dairy is pretty much a no go unless you have some sort of lightweight refrigeration unit to pack up.

And of course... 8MA with Kim when I got home!