Strangers needed help near Mt. Whitney's summit. Would we share our tent on a stormy night?

It was August 2013, and we were clambering up the majestic and regal unrealness that is Mt. Whitney, a upland some inviting and unforgiving successful its borderline for errors.

That was the archetypal clip we’d done it — my buddy Jesus, my buddy Fernando and me. They’re puerility friends of mine, and we were excited to effort to container the tallest upland successful the continental United States.

Between a Rock is simply a Los Angeles Times bid that shares endurance stories from the California wilderness.

We got into hiking successful our aboriginal 20s. On weekends, we had thing to do, truthful we started hiking bigger and longer. Eventually, we started thru-hiking, taking long-distance backpacking trips. We bash a batch of planetary question arsenic good successful presumption of hiking.

We did a batch of conditioning hikes beforehand: Mt. Baldy, Gorgonio, Mt. Wilson, beauteous overmuch each the large peaks successful Southern California. It’s hardly training, but we tried to information our bodies to marque definite they would beryllium capable to instrumentality the melodramatic altitude ascent and the acold temperatures.

Jesus got 1 of those Mt. Whitney books, and helium was precise well-read astir the perils of Whitney. We were mindful to remainder up beforehand and not enactment up excessively precocious and besides to carb load beforehand. A insignificant misstep oregon bout of ill-preparation comes with dire consequences, from the slightest of ankle sprains to bygone absent frostbitten fingers. It’s a no-nonsense endeavor up those 99 switchbacks.

We camped astatine Trail Camp, which has an approximate altitude of 12,000 feet. We didn’t bash that single-day happening wherever you person to get up astatine 10 p.m. to statesman to spell to the summit.

When you get to a definite altitude astatine Whitney, determination are small microclimates, truthful it’s truly hard to expect what it’s going to beryllium like. All you person to bash is beryllium a Boy Scout and program for the worst, which we did. Everything was waterproof, and we had exigency supplies. We adjacent planned successful lawsuit we were stranded up there, which luckily we weren’t.

The upwind was bad, truthful determination was a bully accidental of your structure being washed away. We were approached by 2 hikers who were — teeth clattering incessantly and apparel soaked — ill-equipped for the evening.

When we acceptable up our tent, we had to bash it connected a boulder and precocious up, precocious ground. They didn’t, and their structure was washed away, which was wherefore they had to stock our tent. It was truly the astir unsafe portion of that trip.

Tommy Vinh Bui with friends Fernando, left, and Jesus, right, astatine the Mt. Whitney summit.

(Tommy Vinh Bui)

We brought a structure for 3 people, but due to the fact that their structure had washed distant and each their supplies were soaked, we invited them successful — really, to prevention their lives.

There are nary strangers successful the large outdoors. I’ve learned implicit the years that what’s excavation is yours and usually likewise successful the tone of hiker comity. We look retired for 1 different — we springiness h2o if idiosyncratic is debased connected water, granola bars if idiosyncratic is low. There’s a batch of plenitude connected the trail.

So it was 5 grown adults successful a structure made for 3 people, the polyester cloth straining and holding its signifier by a thread. It was similar a head-to-toe situation, benignant of similar sleepaway camp. We were successful a precise intimate situation.

It was hailing. Not immense softball-size hail, but bully capable to person you moving for cover. An icy gale blew incessantly successful performance with a torrential deluge. If we had upwind chimes, it would’ve been a Lollapalooza monsoon of surly zephyrs each the livelong night.

We saw tons of lightning strikes. Whitney is notorious for lightning. That’s a large portion of wherefore you person to get disconnected the upland earlier noon. Lightning becomes much frequent. You tin spot the atmospheric unit driblet beauteous speedy earlier noon.

With the braggadocio of youth, I was astir apt excessively dumb to beryllium scared. Looking backmost connected it now, nether the circumstances, I should person been.

One of the strangers had a Garmin, and helium was beauteous adjacent to pressing that SOS fastener conscionable to get disconnected the mountain. We had headlamps and we were capable to support spirits up. I retrieve 1 feline was peculiarly not feeling great. He was a newlywed, and his caller woman was going to termination him due to the fact that of the situation.

It wasn’t ace comfy inside. My friends and I had alpine wintertime bags that were heavy and insulated. But things were bedewed conscionable from walking astir and having the h2o physique up wrong our shoes and past by taking them off. We had waterproof jackets on, truthful the h2o beaded off.

My friends and I brought books, which we thought we’d beryllium capable to work astatine night. We tried to support spirits up and bask ourselves. We knew it was perilous, but we besides knew it was a unsocial experience.

By morning, the clouds parted, and we recovered we survived the meteorological maelstrom comparatively intact. Our small makeshift ark hadn’t washed distant successful the nighttime lagoon, overmuch to our corporate relief.

We were under-slept, over-fatigued and waterlogged. I conjecture we were truthful miserable that my radical and the different hikers didn’t marque attempts to springiness each different interaction information. They were like, “We’re gonna hike backmost down” and wished america the champion of luck.

I privation to accidental they weren’t from L.A., but possibly from Arizona. This was their archetypal spell astatine the upland arsenic well. They indispensable person had immoderate hiking acquisition but they whitethorn person conscionable recovered themselves successful implicit their heads. It would suck to marque an effort astatine Whitney and person to crook backmost due to the fact that of weather. We’re lone a mates miles from the summit.

We were capable to get to the apical earlier noon. And erstwhile you’re astatine the top, you’re supra the clouds. You tin spot retired to Badwater Basin successful Death Valley. It looks similar a Windows screensaver. It looks Photoshopped, similar AI made it. It’s a beauteous tableau — panoramic, sublime, transcendent.

That’s wherefore we spell retired there, to commune with nature. I don’t privation to usage the connection “spiritual,” but it’s thing akin to that. If the outdoors tin beryllium a religion, past hiking is Sunday service.

Whitney is not a upland to beryllium trifled with, and a batch of radical deficiency respect for it and find themselves successful unsafe situations. My advice? Perform meticulous probe and effort to person a contingency for each imaginable scenarios. Check the upwind forecasts, download each the maps connected your Garmin, notify radical of your plans, battalion capable nutrient and h2o and person exigency supplies astatine the ready.

Be receptive to the restorative powers of the wilderness, and fto it beryllium a catalyst for your travel toward wellness and oneness with the large outdoors.

Solvitur ambulando, amigos. Let the entity slather your tone with serenity.

Tommy Vinh Bui is an L.A. County librarian and avid hiker and runner. He has competed successful marathons astir the world, including a caller contention successful Antarctica. He precocious became a begetter to twins, a lad and a girl. This retelling has been edited and condensed for magnitude and clarity.

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