An Alta reader responds to “The Accident on the Pacific Crest Trail,” by Louise Farr. Got something to say? We’d love to hear from you! Email letters@altaonline.com. Please include your name, city, state, and phone number so we can contact you. Letters may be edited for brevity and clarity.
CLIMBING EVERY MOUNTAIN
In 1976, I did the Mount Everest trek by myself midwinter. I had prepared the previous year climbing sections of the PCT, including climbing Mount Shasta (14,200 feet).
High-altitude climbing draws a certain kind of person, and I’ll mention some that I encountered on my trek in Nepal.
There were three men who were celebrating their graduating medical school in Bonn, Germany. None were in good shape, and they drank brandy while hiking. They went ahead of me, and the next day they came down the hill white as ghosts and didn’t even stop to talk but were almost running from the thin air.
At Kala Patthar (over 16,880 feet), I saw this guy with no equipment, and we stopped to talk. He pointed to some snow off the trail and wondered what was out there. He was obviously suffering from altitude sickness. After a while, as if something was calling him, he just walked off the trail and disappeared into the snow. I never saw him again, and his equipment was still in a cabin when I was headed south to Lukla four days later.
Storms move in quickly in the Himalayas, and I took shelter in a cabin. Inside were three men suffering from hypothermia who looked like statues staring at a distant object that only they could see. None moved or talked and didn’t respond to my trying to talk to them.
Thanks to Louise Farr for this important story on the Pacific Crest Trail and its challenges.
Joe Kempkes
Berkeley, California
March 24, 2024
