Sierra Nevada Mts. from Schulman Grove
First, the reason for going up to the Whites was to give a talk to the California Native Plant Society, Bristlecone Chapter in Bishop. This CNPS chapter was generous enough to award me a research grant earlier this year and in return I gave a presentation at their monthly meeting. The topic was on methods for measuring recent ecological change with a focus on the work I carried out last summer revisiting a study by Hal Mooney in 1961 (Mooney et al. 1962). This was the first time I had given a presentation for a general audience (i.e. not a room full of academics) and it was also the longest presentation I had ever given (45 minutes). All in all, I thought it went very well with a lot of positive feedback from those in attendance.
The next day, May 26, after gathering some archival photos at the White Mountain Research Station I headed up to Schulman Grove where I would start and end my trip. This was a big snow year in the Whites and White Mountain Road was only open to the Grove and still snowed in beyond.
I got started about 3 PM and made it about 10 miles before nightfall. It was easy hiking with a mix of off trail and 4x4 road. Starting elevation was about 10,000 ft and dropped to 7,500 ft in Wyman Canyon where I camped. The night passed uneventfully and I slept soundly in my 30*, 21 oz Marmot Hydrogen sleeping bag I got off the Gear Swap forum on BPL (see my previous post where I talk about my desire to get a lighter sleeping bag). The temp was about 33* when I awoke and I was warm so I think I have now reached ultra-light nirvana with my sleep system. But, I digress…
The goal of the hike was to check out some low elevation sites (low elevation = 7,000 ft). I had camped at the intersection of my rout out of Wyman, so after breakfast I left my pack and headed down the road to check out what things looked like at 7,000 ft. There were a fair amount of crossings of Wyman Creek but most were ones I could jump. I did, however, get a little wet at one, which is an annoying way to start the day. I checked out the site and was almost all the way back from the 3 mile round trip stroll when I came to the difficult stream crossing that got me wet on the way down. Instead of dealing with even wetter feet I decided to search for an easier crossing and started skirting the side of the steep slopes above the creek. After a few minutes I realized I probably would have been better off getting wet feet but decided I had gotten this far and could see a possible end to the detour. The next thing I remember were some large rocks in my path. They looked stable and I stepped on one. The next thing I know I was laid out against a truck sized boulder feeling woozy with blood pouring out of my right thumb. I reached up to feel the side of my head and realized I had tore up my ear pretty good and had a large welt between my ear and eye. Looking back, I don’t think I was knocked out in the fall but I can’t remember the actual fall so it’s hard to say. I sat for about 10 minutes to gather my senses and when I stood up almost fainted. Another 10 minutes of sitting and I was ready to go. I got across the creek and back to my pack and got cleaned up. About this point I find out my left knee is pretty banged up but at least I can walk on it. When I got the thumb cleaned up it was looking pretty bad. I had sliced it just above the cuticle with fresh fingernail showing a lot higher up the thumb than you should be seeing it. I was really hoping I wasn’t seeing bone (luckily I wasn’t). I also took a picture of my ear and head to see how bad that was. Not too bad but it sure didn’t feel good and some hair had come off so that indicated it had been a pretty harsh impact with the boulder. All this, along with the knee, convinced me it was time to abandon ship and head back to the car. The walk back to the car wasn’t too bad, although the thumb was seeping blood the whole way. After cleaning up the thumb more thoroughly I headed home. By the way, I was able to get across the stream without getting wet feet!
Looking back on the trip I realize just how vulnerable one is when in the backcountry. I consider myself to be a careful person when hiking and try to minimize risk as much as possible but stuff can happen. Although where this happened was far from remote by my standards (I was on a 4x4 road), it was still a relatively untraveled area. Had this happened in north end of the White Mountains, where probably well under 50 people visit per year, I could have been in some real trouble if I had been immobilized. Situations like this are a good reminder of why you should let someone know where you are going and what your schedule is when venturing into the backcountry (which I did).
Anyway, I’m healing up and am getting ready to head back the Whites in about a week to get started with the experiments I’m conducting up there. I will try to update this every week or two this summer so you can see what I’m up to. You can also keep appraised of my travels by following me on Twitter at @CWKopp.
Not pretty
Pretty (Prince's Plume)
