Camping and the Mountain Warfare Training Challenge

Months ago I signed up for the "4th Annual Mountain Warfare Training Challenge, a challenging 10K off-road run at high altitude with obstacles such as tire course, low crawl, five-foot wall climb, and tunnel crawl."

I had fully planned to train and get in shape and then life with all of its stuff kind of rearranged my priorities again. But like so many other things, I signed up for it, I was going to do it. I knew I had to acclimate to the high altitude if I was going to have any chance of surviving, seeing as how I wasn't running or even working-out regularly at all. It was the perfect reason for a camping trip.

So last Wednesday, Skye and I packed up and headed up to the mountains.

The Trip

We made it up to Lone Pine and then headed over to the Mount Whitney portal. A camping site at the base of Mt Whitney(14,495 ft) which is the highest point in the continental US. The camping site itself is at 8300 ft, so it was a good way to start off the trip.




After years I finally got a tripod and learned to use the timer in my camera so we could both be in the photo together.




Our first night in the tent and we soon realized that unlike the last time we went camping, in Mammoth in last fall, we were going to be too warm in our mummy bags. It was pretty funny actually, after a few minutes in her sleeping bag Skye announced, "Dad, I'm too hot" and that's pretty much how it was for the rest of the trip.




That was a breakfast for one at the Whitney Portal Store that we split. The pancake took up three plates and still spilled over onto the table. I guess its their version of carbo-loading for the 11 mile hike up to the summit(22 mile round trip).




Here we are at what was going to be our second night's campsite, at Ellery Lake, which at 9600 ft is one of the highest drive to lakes in California. We figured since it was 70F camping up there would be a breeze. We obviously miscalculated. By the way, thats the lake there behind Skye.




Not a bad second choice. This is Lundy Lake at a mere 7800 ft. We had the lake to ourselves for around an hour, then the fishermen started arriving and the beautiful quiet was broken. We never got a bite. Although at the spot where we started fishing, some guys who had been there for all of five minutes caught a fish, with the same kind of bait we were using. Luck and timing, I suppose.




We did incorporate a goodly amount of schooling along the way. Here Skye is trying to get to class at the school house at Bodie.




Check out the gas prices in Bridgeport.




The starting line of the 10k. I had been worried about what to wear, so that I wouldn't be cold. It was 82F up at 7500ft, cold was not the issue.

The first 2 1/2 miles were uphill and brutal, but after that it was all downhill, a bit jarring, mine was more a 4 mile controlled fall. So I finished 105 out of around three hundred or so, in 1 hr and 5 min. I was pretty amazed and proud of my performance. The day before at the carboload dinner surrounded by marines and a bunch of hard core runners I thought I was going to be way in the rear. The next day however all the "normal" people, myself very much included, showed up.




Skye and I posing in front of the sign for the camp that reads, "The center trains marines to survive and fight in mountain and cold weather environments" It was 82F as we drove away at noon.




Skye and I mountain biking in Mammoth.




Just playing some pool



Last night of the trip




I have been taking Skye's picture at this spot before there was a building there, when it was still a construction site. I'll have to dig them up and do a retrospective.