TR: Kearsarge Follies & The German Jedi of Yosemite

[Blastomatic]

"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." -Mike Tyson

Plan A back in April was to enter at Kearsarge and exit at Road's End. My buddy is a big fan of Kings Canyon and has never been there, so the thought of hiking down Bubbs Creek into the Canyon proper sounded like a nice slice of heaven.
Reality then asserted itself, and Road's End wasn't exactly a good egress point for the 2023 season.

Plan B was then to enter at Kearsarge, futz around at Kearsarge Lakes, Bullfrog, and Charlotte, then maybe pop up to Glen Pass and get an eyeful of the Rae Lakes before going back over Kearsarge.

Sep. 24 2023, Day 1: Arrive from sea level at 1330 in the Onion Valley parking lot. We split the hike to the pass into two parts, stopping to camp at Flower Lake at 1630. While there's a constant (and I mean constant) flow of dayhikers and PCTers finishing the Sierras, only one other camper is present at Flower as well as one lone mosquito, a flock of grouse, a gorgeous sunset, and high spirits. We hydrate well. Night temps dropping to low 30s/high 20s.

Day 2: Breakfast for me is cheese grits and coffee. Midway through the coffee, I vomit it all right back into the mug. Just the coffee - not one single grit. I chalk it up to poorly-reconstituted coffee crystals and have a pint of water instead. It stays down. In an effort to keep my weight down, I carry just enough water to get me to the pass, reasoning that it's a smooth glide down to Kearsarge Lakes once you're up there. I sip delicately on the way up, and don't eat, reasoning that I'll have a party at the top.

(..can you spot the mistakes? I sure can!)

At 1130 we make the pass and celebrate with food and water. I soon find it difficult to enjoy either, or to chew and swallow. Buddy says "How you feeling?" and as I turn to speak to him, I'm sick again, once, twice, three times in three minutes. Dayhiker witness is wide-eyed; PCTer witness bears only the thousand-yard stare of someone who has seen seen it all and only has 50 miles and 3 days before they need to figure out what to do with the rest of their life.

So now I'm dizzy, loopy, and puking right at the pass. If it's 'just' dehydration, I could remedy that at Kearsarge Lakes. If it's incipient altitude sickness, the Lakes are still at 11kft. We make, I make, the hard choice to turn back. I spend fifteen minutes sipping thin Gatorade and cycle breathing while Buddy carries my pack down just past the chutes. When the world starts merely rotating lazily instead of spinning, we head back down. 1600 or so we arrive back at Onion Valley, safe and sound. I take three quarts over the next two hours and we work out Plan C, camping at Grays Meadows where it's low 40s.

Day 3: Backup plan is to proceed into Yosemite and do some epic hiking at lower altitudes. We score a last minute reservation at Tamarack Flat campground and resolve, since it's been 30 years since Buddy saw Yosemite, to hike to El Cap for views of epic glorious epicness. Since it's a Tuesday my two favorite post-hike spots on 395 (Keough's & Copper Top) are closed, so we head to Wild Willy's to soak, where there is a vast number of naked people. (What's the term for a flock of nudists, anyways? An audacity? A brazen?)

Once in Yosemite, we bag a few small domes and hike a ways up Lyell Canyon. The caved-in steel roof struts of the Tuolumne Meadows Grill are a lingering testament to the savage winter. Tamarack Flat is mid-20s that night, colder than at Flower Lake. We find a large rattlesnake skin under our table which the camp host promises to show/spook the rangers since it's apparently both a bit high and cold for rattlers at Tamarack? No idea.

Day 4: Clear skies and a surprisingly busy trail which gets even more crowded once it merges with the leg that comes up from the valley. It's the last week of September and Yosemite is PACKED. Even with the crowds, it's a great day; it's Yosemite, after all, come on! While digging an unanticipated cathole, a squirrel comes up about six feet from me and digs its own. I take this as a sign that I have good instincts on places to **** in the woods. Either that, or this squirrel is a pervert.

After a long day of fresh air and great vistas, we settle in at our last camp site at Hodgdon Meadow (another last-minute-only-spot-open, low 40s at night) next to German twins who are hiking to every Sequoia grove in the state because they love, love, love the Endor scenes from Return of the Jedi - which they proceed to watch in German on an iPad. They also consider themselves Jedi, and were kind enough to give a stinky unslept giant dwarf one of their beers. I drift off to the sounds of "Otah gotah, Solo!" and "Ya, mein Emperor."

Day 5: We drive home, planning for 2024. One last hike at Mariposa Grove, where we declare the Grizzly Giant our new favorite sequoia. On the way out of Yosemite, we see the Wienermobile drive by as we leave Mariposa. It is somehow the least strange thing that's happened.

[michaelzim]

Fun report! Plus welcome to the Vertigo club...which I got in same manner you did, vomiting out my morning coffee at South Lake trailhead. You may have go the "bug" as it was not altitude sickness with me, as I got it 4 days before the trip, at home. Dissipated in a few days so carried on with my high country plans. However, it came back on entry day, then again on day 3 - which pretty much kiboshed my last backpacking itinerary of the season.
I know of five people in my very small circle of acquaintances who have had (or have) this "vertigo vomiting thing" despite my doc saying he has not heard of anything going around. A very unwanted after-effect has been my terrible sleep has gone to become as good as NO sleep!!! If you think you are the only one experiencing 'strange things' you have company.
P.S. If your sleep went to hell after your bout please PM me and let me know. It would be of great 'medical' interest.

Thanks for the TR. Best ~ Michaelzim

[balzaccom]

I agree--a fun report, although it might not have seemed like fun when it was happening. My wife once joined me for a trip to Yosemite. We startet at sea level, set up camp at Porcupine Flat, and then dayhiked up to Mt. Hoffman. She felt more or less fine until the middle of the night, when she serenaded our neighbors in the campground with vomiting. What fun. And we did what you did--a series of less challenging hikes at lower altitudes and she was fine for the rest of the trip. Going from zero to 11,000 in less than 24 hours can have some effects on your system!

[Blastomatic]

I agree--a fun report, although it might not have seemed like fun when it was happening. My wife once joined me for a trip to Yosemite. We startet at sea level, set up camp at Porcupine Flat, and then dayhiked up to Mt. Hoffman. She felt more or less fine until the middle of the night, when she serenaded our neighbors in the campground with vomiting. What fun. And we did what you did--a series of less challenging hikes at lower altitudes and she was fine for the rest of the trip. Going from zero to 11,000 in less than 24 hours can have some effects on your system!

Oh I was having tons of fun! I was laughing and giddy and blithely shooting the **** with random pass-crossers like nothing was happening. Then there'd be a moment of clarity cutting through, 'Ok, what the eff am I going to do here...' then back to laughing it up over how some piece of exfoliated granite looks like a butt. Once I had a few more pints in me and got a few kilofeet lower, it occurred to me just how out-of-it I had been, and what the potential risk could have been for both of us.

[Blastomatic]

Fun report! Plus welcome to the Vertigo club...which I got in same manner you did, vomiting out my morning coffee at South Lake trailhead. You may have go the "bug" as it was not altitude sickness with me, as I got it 4 days before the trip, at home. Dissipated in a few days so carried on with my high country plans. However, it came back on entry day, then again on day 3 - which pretty much kiboshed my last backpacking itinerary of the season.
I know of five people in my very small circle of acquaintances who have had (or have) this "vertigo vomiting thing" despite my doc saying he has not heard of anything going around. A very unwanted after-effect has been my terrible sleep has gone to become as good as NO sleep!!! If you think you are the only one experiencing 'strange things' you have company.
P.S. If your sleep went to hell after your bout please PM me and let me know. It would be of great 'medical' interest.

Thanks for the TR. Best ~ Michaelzim

I've been lucky - I'm sleeping as well now, after, as I did before. Fingers crossed it keeps!

[kpeter]

Nice sense of humor about a dangerous and unpleasant situation. Glad you got some fun out of it by altering plans and being flexible.

I've never had serious altitude sickness problems, but as I age it does take longer for me to adjust to elevation. I have always found that hydration works wonders--my blood pressure drops and I get dizzy (especially when dropping pack and setting up tent) if I am the least bit dehydrated. So I focus on drinking lots more than I think I need to, and so far this has helped me a great deal.

However, I have seen people with pretty serious altitude sickness, and it can progress and become very serious, leading to HACE and HAPE--confusion, dizziness, wobbling, chest tightness and pain, wheezing, high heart rate, dry coughing, etc. Not good stuff. I came across a group leader attempting to help get a teenage girl down from Mount Whitney who was experiencing those kinds of symptoms, and it was quite scary. She was on the wrong side of the Trail Pass and the leader was attempting to get her over the crest so they could get down in elevation on the other side. I don't know how that turned out. But turning back when you did was absolutely the right thing to do. Being stuck with altitude sickness with the prospect of having to CLIMB in elevation to get to a safer lower elevation is not a good thing.

I wonder if anyone has used the two drugs that combat altitude sickness (acetazolamide and dexamethasone) and what their experiences were?

https://www.wikihow.com/Prevent-Altitude-Sickness

[Gogd]

I wonder if anyone has used the two drugs that combat altitude sickness (acetazolamide and dexamethasone) and what their experiences were?

https://www.wikihow.com/Prevent-Altitude-Sickness

According to scientific research conducted by Charles Houston on Denali and later with the Air Force, studying high altitude related medical and performance issues, the meds referenced in the wikihow link actually can increase the likelihood of altitude sickness if taken as a prophylaxis. Their original introduction into high altitude mountaineering medicine was to prescribe after symptoms become apparent. Most doctors do not have extensive knowledge of high altitude sickness, nor full understanding of the pharmacological implications of these compounds, and rely on third hand references to Huston's teams original findings, which are frequently misinterpreted.

Acetazolamide (commonly referred to in the mountaineering community as Diamox) used as a preventative measure can actually predispose one to altitude sickness, due to its diuretic affects, since dehydration is a primary cause of getting altitude sickness in the first place. This the the reason it should not be taken as a prophylaxis, especially at the relatively low height of the Sierra (<16K'), where dehydration, conditioning and fatigue are the more significant contributing factors at Sierra level elevations. The functional affect of Diamox is to make the subject breathe more vigorously, reducing the impact low oxygen levels at altitude have on climbers. The alternative, of course is dialing back a bit on the exertion levels so you don't starve for air. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetazolamide

Dexamethasone is a steroid whose primary affect is reducing immune system related swelling. Taking it as a prophylaxis can aggravate issues related to getting high altitude sickness in the first place, as it interferes with normal fluid levels in the brain; hence why it is only recommended for treating active cases of altitude sickness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexamethasone

The time tested preventative measures against high altitude sickness are primarily good physical conditioning, staying well hydrated, well fed and well rested. NSAIDs and coffee also help minimize potential altitude related effects. I found a good strong cup of coffee and up to 700mg aspirin 4X/day works well as long the aforementioned other factors are properly managed.

Many people are more affected by altitude in older age, partially because of blood flow issues (diabetes, peripheral artery disease, kidney dysfunction), but also because we tend to back off the intensity level of our fitness regimen. You have to put in the work, else possible suffer the consequences, it is as simple as that! But what you should back off is exertion levels while you hike! You are less likely to suffer from the effects of oxygen deprivation if you are not pegging your VO2 capacity.

About Charles Huston: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Snead_Houston

Ed

[balzaccom]

Great information Ed. Thanks for posting this. My wife took Diamox before and during our trip to Peru, and she became convinced that the side effects were every bit as concerning as altitude sickness.

[kpeter]

Yes, good information indeed. I've never used either, and am less inclined now.

[sparky]

i have no idea how many times i have driven up from near sea level to a trailhead at night intending on sleeping in my vehicle and hiking in the morning, to getting zero sleep and finally driving down the mountain at 1 or 2 AM sick as a dog. Pretty sure I have done this at just about every high elevation trailhead in the sierra at least once. some multiple times lol

wierd because when I get altitude sickness while backpacking, I ended up passing out and sleeping for 14-16 hours and wake up refreshed. I have done this not once or twice, but like 10 times.

My brain is probably fried