August 21, 2012 –mystery lake on Bishop Pass - Bishop
Mileage: 9.5
All night long lightening flickered across the sky. About 1:00 am thunder started and by 3:00 am
we had rain. It stormed the rest of the
night. The rain let up at 6:30 am, so we
began to plan our soggy exit. Don had
slept pretty well until the storms hit hard.
His hand was throbbing. We needed
to get going and get him to the hospital in Bishop today! The trail gained 2000 feet in elevation in
the next three miles, and then dropped 3000 feet in 6 miles to the trailhead,
where we hoped to catch a ride the 21 miles down into Bishop.
We headed out in the cool, cloudy morning. The pass was totally socked in with
clouds. We had no map for this trail and
with the visibility difficulties, we were concerned about getting over the pass
before storms hit again. Sounds like
time for VIA! Found a rocky area with a
beautiful view and brewed up some coffee.
As we sipped the cloud cover raised and we could see our
destination. Bishop Pass is just under
1200 feet and a very nice climb from the west side through areas of meadows and
trees.
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| Injured Don on Bishop Pass |
We rested on the top and took in the towering peaks all
around us. Then we started down. It was a totally different environment, tall
mountains, rocky outcroppings and a steep drop.
The trail was etched into the rock with airy switchbacks. We looked down on big blue lakes below, but
had no idea what the names were. We
hoped the trail would be easier when we got down to lake level. But, alas no, lots of rocks! We continued down as the rocks around us
turned from grey to red. There were more
trees, but the trail was still very rocky.
We asked people that we met if they were going out to Bishop that day
but no luck.
Although the scenery was gorgeous Don and I were worn down
by the stress of the injury, exit and the rocky trail. We were anxious about getting a ride! We had been told that the dislocated finger
had to be taken care of within 24 – 30 hours of injury. Right near the bottom there was an older
woman on the trail with a young woman walking slowly with her. She was carefully hiking uphill. We said hello as we passed. Then I looked back and noticed they were
heading down. Don asked if they were
heading into Bishop. They said no, since
they were staying at a resort near the trailhead. Then, they asked why. When he showed his hand and explained our
situation, they said they were going to Bishop now! Sarah was the mother and this was the first
time she had ever hiked. She was from
Philadelphia. She was truly thrilled to
hear our story and to take care of us.
This brought tears for me! I had
not realized how tense I had been about getting Don to the hospital. Emily, Sarah’s daughter, is an artist and architect
from Los Angeles. She drove us the 21
miles to the Bishop Hospital. On the way
we shared our stories all enjoying learning about very different individual
lives. When we got to Bishop they would
have stayed with us at the hospital but we sent them on their way with one thousand
thank yous!
In Bishop we hiked into the hospital packs, hiking sticks
and all. We trudged down the hallways by
nurse’s stations, doctors and patients on our way to the emergency room which
turned out to be at the back. When we
arrived a nurse was with Don immediately, before we even registered. Over the course of the next two hours he was
x-rayed, doped up and reset. It was a
severe dislocation and Dr. Black stressed resting the finger. There were other follow up procedures. It was a relief that she was so firm about
this. It made our decision to end the
hike a no decision at all.
We checked into the Tree Motel, an older traditional motel
which was friendly, clean, and comfortable.
After delicious showers, we walked into town for a great Mexican meal at
El Rancho, a little café. Taking the
long way back to the motel we strolled, winding down after an arduous day. We were asleep by 8:30!
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