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I had planned to get an earlier start, but I didn't get going until almost six. That would have been okay, except that I underestimated how long it would take. But it was a nice day with good views.
The stream was raging.
Only a few snowfields that were easy to cross but I knew would be trouble later on.
I got to the summit about one, which is way later than I'm comfortable with this early in the season. There were four other guys up there when I arrived. It was warm but cloudy, so I quickly took my summit shots and ate.
We were all getting ready to head down when suddenly I heard this sizzling and popping noise. I thought it was coming from my phone, then I touched my head and felt electricity shooting through my hair. So I casually turned to the others and said, "I fear for our safety. Perhaps we should descend." Or I might have screamed and started hauling ass down the mountain, I'm not sure. I do know that I've never moved so fast in my life.
You know, people always say they want to die doing something they love. That's ridiculous. If you love what you're doing, why would you want to die before you're done? I'd rather die doing something I hate, preferably right after I start doing it.
Anyway, I'm rock-hopping like a madman trying to get down as quickly as possible. I kept smacking my head trying to swat the static away, because that's how it works. When I got down a little ways the charge went away, so I went down a little bit further then voluntarily decided to stop and catch my breath. The other guys caught up to me and made sure I was okay. We got down to the ridge and I breathed a small sigh of relief. They told me my hair was standing up, which made me thankful for my panic reflex. We never saw any lightning so I don't know if I was in any danger, but I'm glad I didn't stay and find out.
These rocks were cool.
I headed down while they stayed and took pictures. The trip down was slightly less eventful. It was mostly sunny and warm. Then came the snowfields again.
It didn't get any worse than postholing up to my knees except for one part where I got stuck up to my waist and had to do some serious maneuvering to get out. I stopped at the stream crossing and soaked my feet.
Then a quick walk back to the car and I called it a day. I'm definitely going back to starting my hikes in the middle of the night, though.
So overall it was a perfect day. Almost.
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
Headed down off summit around 11, got some hail on me down low.
For others: Not much use trying to drive up the jeep road right now. Absolute farthest you could get is 2 miles (slide). There were a couple ATVs that got past this, but couldn't get above 12k.
A couple hundred yards of snow down low at 12k, posthole for a bit (can avoid if careful). You can stay out of the snow the rest of the way, in particular after the jeep road ends if you stay on the ridge proper. Consensus - no shoes, no spikes needed. Took me a tad under 7 hours round trip.
I had a similar story on Princeton earlier this year. I never heard a boom until I was 100' from the summit. It was removed a bit, so I finished the hike. As soon as I hit the summit my hair stood up. I was totally solo on the mountain. I just bombed it down a snow field as fast as I could. I was scared #$%^less. What's this about trying to release the static electricity? What can you do, besides descend, to reduce risk?
I started at the lower trailhead. The only snow to cross is at about treeline. I got across without snowshoes with a little postholing. It will be gone soon anyway. Most of the trail was totally clear.
ilium - I didn't really think I could swat static away, I was just panicking. But if anyone knows a way I'd love to hear it.
Thanks for the beta Slacker. Antero is on my To-Do list this year. But I have to wait for my climbing partner to have a baby first so it will be later anyway.
Did you cross the steam in your vehicle our was it too high? I am planning on going this weekend and we have a subaru forrester. Do you think we can drive across? If not, how do you cross on foot? Any suggestions?
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