Dave & I were actually thinking of doing the Alta Peak hike last year, but something came up, and it was canceled. The plan was simple enough. We would drive 5-hour to the Sequoia National Park. Starting at the 7,000 foot elevation trail head, we would hike the 4.4 miles to Mehrten Meadows, and make our base camp there. We would spend the night at Mehrten and hope the 9,280 foot elevation would help acclimate our Sea-Level lungs to the 11,200 foot climb to Alta Peak. We would leave the heavy hiking packs at Mehrten and use much lighter day packs in the climb to the peak. We would return from the Peak and spend a second night at Mehrten before packing up and hiking out the third day. We put a lot of effort into the planning, but things turned out very different from what we planned.
The weather was our first concern. At one time it looked like the snow level would be all the way down to the trail-head. 2 Days before we left, a warm front moved in, the snow turned to rain, and the path to the trail-head was clear. Now the forecast said days 2 & 3 would be clear and cold, but there would be rain the 1st night; starting around 2 PM. Now we had to get to Mehrten and get our tents set up before it starting raining.
After breakfast at my house, we left Santa Maria at 5:20. We drove to the park and made the hike to Mehrten by 2:30. The last 2 miles were through light rain and hail. We actually got out tents up between rain showers. After an early dinner, the rain set in. Since I got up at 4:00 AM, I was ready to sleep all night. The problem is; it rained all night.
Until I left home at 18, I slept in a house with a ten roof. Rain was always loud, but it was a very pleasing sound. It may wake you up; but it immediately put you back to sleep. Rain on a tent a few inches above you face is loud, but it is not pleasing. It sounds like a 2 year old playing with a drum set. I did not sleep well.
However, before 8:00 AM we set out for the Peak. Neither of us was suffering from altitude sickness, but the higher altitude did make everything harder. I figured by the time we were above 10,000 feet, I would be stopping to rest after every 100 feet. But since we had all day, I didn’t care.,,,,, and then our hike came to a halt.
About a month ago Dave had a bike accident where he fractured a couple of ribs, resulting in sharp pain with any strenuous effort. His Dr. said 2 - 3 months before any hiking. After 1 month, there was only a dull pain, so Dave said he was ready to go, and go we did. However, at 10,000 feet on the 2nd day, and 1 mile to the top, Dave said the dull pain was now a very sharp pain and he was stopping. I could continue by myself, or turn around with Dave. We kinda decided I would go on, and Dave would wait for me and we would return together.
I went about a ¼ mile before I stopped to take pictures of some great looking peaks across the valley. I was getting ready to put some traction cleats on my boots, because the snow would soon be getting much deeper, when I noticed the Peaks across the valley had disappeared. In fact, almost everything had disappeared. A dense fog had rolled in, cutting visibility to 100 yards. The reason to get to the top of Alta was so you could see everything and take pictures of everything. I saw no reason to kill myself to get somewhere to take pictures of fog, so I turned around. Dave and I hiked back to Mehrten, packed up everything, hiked back to the trail-head, and drove home. The fog at the top never cleared, and the pain in Dave’s ribs gradually went away when we started downhill.
I had intended to take many, many pictures on the way back. With the fog, that did not happen. The pictures I did take can be found by clicking here !!