The slate gray light on the eastern horizon hinted that my
sleepless night was nearing an end.
The slate gray light on the eastern horizon hinted that my sleepless night was nearing an end. But my sour stomach could no longer contain itself. At our trailhead campsite, I scrambled from my sleeping bag, took five or six hunched-over paces and deposited the previous night’s dinner on a bed of lodgepole pine needles.
I have never acclimated easily to high altitudes, and this is not an auspicious start. The backpack trip ahead allows no opportunity for an altitude-weenie to adjust to the thinner air. The first three miles of the eight-mile trip to Pioneer Basin climbs from 10,000-foot Mosquito Flat through the incredibly beautiful Little Lakes Valley to 12,000-foot Mono Pass.
I have backpacked the Sierras for more than 40 years. I have never forgiven fate for giving me lungs that do not tolerate rapid ascents into high elevations. During hikes up Shasta, Whitney, Ritter and many others, debilitating side effects have plagued me; headaches, stomach aches and shortness of breath. I love this country, but when I climb too high too fast, it makes me pay.
This trip I am going to fight back. I have read that Diamox, a diuretic (it makes you pee a lot), can ease the side effects of altitude sickness. On any day that includes strenuous climbing, I am going to take two 250-mg. tablets of Diamox (one twice a day).
Little Lakes Valley is a very popular spot in the summer since it offers day-hikers quick, fairly level access to an incredible lake-littered alpine valley surrounded by magnificent 13,000-foot peaks. On an earlier mid-summer visit here, I had to park a half-mile below the parking lot, but on this mid-week fall day, ours is one of only three cars at the trailhead.
As we approach Mono Pass, lodgepole pine forests begin to give way to whitebark pines on bare rocky slopes. One day after being at sea level, we’re well over 11,000 feet, and I am feeling great. We round the shoulder of Mt. Starr for our first view of the top of Mono Pass.
We reach Mono Pass, and I feel no adverse side effects. None! When you are used to feeling like hell at 12,000 feet, it is a great gift to be there with only a pounding heart and a heaving chest. For me, it was a fantastic revelation that a couple of pills could so dramatically improve my backpacking experience.
Pioneer Basin is a broad park-like glacial valley with open gentle gradients connecting the basin’s nine larger lakes and many glacial tarns. Granite rock gardens, crystalline sapphire lakes and wind-trimmed whitebark pine hedges, everything placed just so. No intruders please. We are alone in the prettiest mountain basin I have seen.
And enjoying every minute of it. There is no explanation for my well-being here other than the Diamox.
The next day, after once again taking my Diamox, we scramble up Mount Stanford, the highest of the four peaks that surround Pioneer Basin at 12,838 feet. I have never felt so good at nearly 13,000 feet with so little time to acclimate as I did on top of Mt. Stanford that autumn day.
The best ways to prevent altitude sickness are slow ascent (acclimatization), drinking a lot of water, not overexerting yourself and eating a high carbohydrate diet. But if you are a weekend warrior who does all of those things and still suffers symptoms of altitude sickness, talk to your doctor about Diamox. It allowed me to fully enjoy and experience Pioneer Basin unencumbered by a sluggish, ailing mind and body.
Backpackers who suffer ill effects at altitude know what a real blessing this is. For me, Diamox has made a tremendous difference. Now, I can truly enjoy the places I long to be.
