June 8th, 2002 - Third time is the charm! Well after making it to 8,259' last weekend, I decided that I was not going to stop climbing today until I made camp Muir. My legs cooperated and I FINALLY made it ! What an AWESOME feeling. I was beginning to think I'd never walk in John Muir's footsteps. Today I met Rick, Mark, Erin, Bill (My first donor!) and Armand in the parking lot at 8:00 AM. We started our ascent at about 8:45. I think getting out of the parking lot early was key because the snow was nice and solid and I wasn't wasting valuable energy pulling my legs out of the "post holes" they were creating! The weater was kind of crummy. It was foggy in places and we were getting snowed on part of the day. Occasionally the sun would break through the clouds just long enough to warm us up. We made pretty good time to Pebble Creek, climbing an average of 1,000'/hour. After Pebble Creek @ 7200' my legs were feeling awesome and I did not want to stop for anything. I asked Mark and Bill to let me know when we passed through 8,259' so I could mark my new high point. After that everything was gravy. I asked the group if they would mind not stopping for lunch and just pressing right on through to camp Muir as I didn't want my legs to cool down too awfully much. They agreed and on we went. Higher and Higher. Nine Thousand feet! I felt awesome! At about 9,100' my legs started to cramp just a little but by this point I could JUST make out the guide shack at Camp Muir and I knew there was NO way I was stopping for anything. Finally by 9,300' or so my leg cramps had worked themselves out and I was feeling good again. At 9,500' I later explained to my wonderful girlfriend Teri, it felt like someone was standing on my chest, and someone else (me) was getting off my shoulders. The last 500' were by far the hardest. It seemed like we walked through the wall of no oxygen at that point. Up until then I was feeling like I was breathing OK, but at this point I could only go about 20 - 50 paces before I had to stop and take a few extra breaths. It was about this point too that we broke through the clouds. What an amazing feeling it is to be above the clouds! Check out my pictures page for an idea. Finally a little after 2:00 I was standing at camp Muir. You have no idea how overjoyed I was. It was so incredible to think that I was actually having lunch at 10,112' . . . I cannot wait to get back here again. Hopefully one or two more times before climb day. Thanks to Rick, Erin, Mark, Bill and Armand for all your help today, you guys rock!
June 1st, 2002 - Camp Muir Attempt Number 2 Today we had nearly 50 climbers show up for our official climb to Camp Muir. It's amazing when you have that many people all lined up trying to get to the same place. Kudos go out to Fireman Mark, Roger, Sylvia and Ericka for making this an awesome trip and for keeping everyone together! We headed out of the parking lot around 9:30 and on up to our first clothing food stop. My legs were burning pretty bad by this point, and I started to realize that my 4 mile run on Thursday was probably not the best idea. We kept on climbing on up to Pebble Creek and eventually my legs worked themselves out, I was feeling really great going into our lunch stop at Pebble Creek. However, it was not to be. About 100' out of Pebble Creek, my quadriceps started to once again cramp. I was bound and determined to hit a new high point however, and kept on climbing to 8,259' where it was just too painful to continue. I was bummed, but not defeated. I hung out there for about 30 minutes before descending to 7,400' where Mark was hanging out with Doug and Kathleen. We waited there for about 4 hours while the rest of the group made Muir and came back down. Even though I didn't make it, I had a really fun time hanging out on the mountain in the sun. There was some local wildlife to keep us amused, and Mark told us about the Raven that came a rap rap rapping on his mighty Ford. Good times. I'll give it a go again next weekend.