Mt Whitney Zone Forums Trip Reports Trail Crest Day Hike 6/25, with Scorpions?!?

Well, it was supposed to be a Whitney hike, but my buddy Adam got in a bad way with AMS and had to be helped off the mountain. He spoke up way later than I would have been happy with, and was having chest pains, dizziness, and a lot of nausea.

Anyway, we left the Portal at around midnight for a nice, dark, moonless start. About a half mile in, my headlamp shines on something on the trail. Is the fact that there are apparently scorpions in the Portal area known to others? It seemed really odd and out of place.



The night was extremely cold. We wound up finding shelter just before Trail Camp for about an hour in between a couple of big rocks to stay out of the wind and warm up before heading up the switchbacks. There was a ton of ice where the stream runs down the switchbacks making navigation a bit tricky, and even the lake had frost and ice around the shoreline.



It was a great time and a beautiful day even if we didn't make it. I'll be back to try again next month!

Cool scorpion picture. I guess Barefoot Ted might need to beware.

Did you and your friend do ANY sort of acclimatization? Sounds like a bigtime candidate for Diamox help. But that might not be enough.

Yea, we were up at the Portal all day Saturday through Sunday night when we headed up the trail. He's been through a lot of high altitude stuff before, and we were well hydrated. I think he's got a bug of some sort, and it messed with him at altitude. It was unusual for him for sure.

It's frustrating to get that far, be able to see your objective, and know that you can not go on and leave a buddy behind. We made the right move heading down, but man I would have liked to have gotten to the summit before he got sick!

I was camping at the portal last year and when we got up at 1 am the day of our hike, I found a scorpion near my tent. I couldn't believe it - it's the last thing I would have expected to see at the portal. Needless to say, my boots went inside the tent with me at night for the remainder of our stay.

I have also seen scorpions in Idyllwild, which surprised me.

Here is the critter you encountered: http://www.solpugid.com/cabiota/uroctonites.htm

It can inflict a painful bite, but is not normally deadly to humans. However, if you are sensitive to insect bites, it could cause a severe allergic reaction.

May have hitched a ride from someone who camped in Lone Pine Campground and was unaware of the bandit, or due to the extremely warm temperatures that little feller likes to acclimate (coming from Owens Valley) and make friends with the bears.

Living in Coarsegold, CA (elev. 1500), my wife and I have encountered scorpions no larger than a U.S. quarter. They were easy to spot on our white ceiling and walls but were difficult to spot on our dark brown hardwood floor. A spatula or pair of tweezers eradicated the little booger. I must have killed at least 40 during the 5 years we have lived in our house. When I first saw my first one, I couldn't believe my eyes how small they were.

They don't like cold (like reptiles). They search for warm spots and like to wedge in between things. They crawl of the heat registers in the ceiling or they crawled in through the vents in our windows.

They can climb onto anything (they don't like spider webs and carpet) and are very fast if startled on smooth surfaces.

Anaphylactic shock very possible requiring immediate medical attention if extremely allergic.

It is very interesting to hear of scorpions in the Portal area. Yes, it reinforces the idea to zip up everything and checking your boots before inserting your foot.

Was your buddy able to descend ok slowly, or did you physically need to assist?
I did the entire trail yesterday and it seems you are pretty screwed if you get sick or injured way up there.

The scariest part of the whole scenario for me was when he looked me dead in the face and told me he needed my help, and didn't know if he could make it down without it. I kinda half thought maybe he was joking or testing my friendship/loyalty to that point.

He was pretty good on his own, but I had to give him a hand around a lot of the ice that had formed through the switchbacks. Once down at Trail Camp, we got water in him, and back down around Mirror Lake he was asking for food. After Mirror Lake his pace and attitude picked up greatly. He was a trooper about the whole thing.

It's good he started recovering so quickly. There are a few cases where the HAPE or HACE (edema or swelling in the lungs or brain) continues, and people head to the hospital even after getting down. It happens.... fortunately not that often.

On 6/26 someone from another party apparently had edema to the point they had to go to the hospital.

The guy I was hiking with developed what he though was a chest cold while we were up there, but it subsided after our trip and we returned to lone pine. I suspect that was a slight case of pulmonary edema as well.