A few years before Marcus and a few of his friends had attempted at reaching the summit, but like boys wanted to do it in one day. One of their friends got severe altitude sickness and could not continue, so the boys turned around and headed home. The only cure for altitude sickness is to change your altitude, and quickly. This time around we decided to spread it out into three days and two nights. We headed up the trail. The first day was a breeze. We set up camp made a delicious meal, hung out and told stories all night. We slept in had a good breakfast and took off for the official "base camp" at Lake Helen (10,000ft). The hike to Lake Helen, was short and painful. We increased altitude quickly and could see the environment and weather change drastically. We set up our base camp, it was early after noon so we had plenty of time to hang out and relax. We played with our ice axes and cramp ons preparing for the push to the summit. In the early afternoon we could see a huge storm in the distance.
The date was August and there had been thunder/lightning storms causing fires all over Northern California. When we had checked the weather report the storm wasn't expect for two more days. It was moving in faster and with a lot more furry. We could see the earth changing around us. There was a guide who was leading two people up the mountain near us, we decided to talk to them and see how they felt about the storm. The guide said it looked about 24 hours away and thats what her radio contacts at the bottom were hearing as well. We all decided to make the push for summit a 1am, under the full moon. This would allow us to be down from the summit and back at base camp hopefully by 8am. Then off the mountain by 12 just in time for the storm to hit. However we all know, no one controls the weather, its going to do exactly what it wants to do. The summit push was insane, I was cold, scared and had stuck in my head I didn't need to do this, that I could turn around at any point and wait for the boys at base camp. Marcus and Kris wouldn't have it. They kept me going, they weren't going to let me miss this summit if they had to drag me up by my cramp-ons. It was cold and I couldn't feel my fingers, it seemed almost impossible to dig my ice axe in deep enough. We finally reached the false summit and could see the storm was now creeping on the mountain. We hustled to the summit, wrote our name in the log book, took some pictures and hauled ass down.
We were on the highest point, during a thunder and lightning storm. Odds were not in our favor. I was tired and shaken up. The boys were rushing me by not waiting for my slow, feeble ass. Some where on the way down I lost my cramp ons. I fell and rolled a few times. At one point Marcus and Kris said to me, "Just jump, we'll catch you." Even though it was the same spot they had lost a backpack years before, in the same process. We then reached the snow run off tunnels and started glaciating down the face. Marcus went first I was second and Kris was after me. It was the perfect blend of fun and scary. My butt was frozen numb. We stopped to switch shoots and Kris said to me quiet and afraid, "Are you on your period or something?" I was confused I looked down at the snow I had been sitting on, "NO WHY!" ... There was blood all over the snow, I looked at my back side, my pants had ripped open and it was so cold I couldn't feel my bare bum scrapping across the ice. Great. We had to keep coming, it was now dumping inches of snow per minute. We reached Lake Helen, we were surround by two huge ridge lines and could still hear and see lightning striking around us every 22 seconds. We layed in our sleeping bags scared, what do we do? Wait it out, or pack up and run? We waited about an hour until we heard the snow take a small break, but we had been holding on to a small thread of luck. The boys ditched their trekking poles and clean canteens and began heading down what we thought was the trail. I couldn't bare the thought of leaving poles and bottles behind. I grabbed them, I knew that metal was not an attractant to lightning just a conductor. It was impossible to find the trail. I wish I had had my snowboard...
We hauled our butts down to the bottom where it was torrential down pour. There were rangers and CSAR people down at the bottom getting ready for a rescue mission. They knew there were people up there and were expecting the worst. The group of people who had a guide we had spoken too earlier were still up there. They had ditched their gear and were headed down with nothing, we all hoped. It was the storm of the year, in fact the largest storm northern California has seen since. The lighting storm caused hundreds of wild fires keeping Cal Fire very busy.
We loaded the car and drove back to Chico. We all showered and ate the best meal we ever ate. We went out and danced at La Salles all night. We were exhausted and worn out, but we celebrated. Boy did we celebrate. The next day we packed our bags said good bye and the boys headed down south. What I learned from this trip is you can do anything as long as you are surrounded by the right people. I also learned that we all have our moments of fear and clarity, be humble when its your turn to comfort.
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