Original plan was to hike San Bernardino and East Peak as an overnighter with camping at Limber Pine. One the way up, I met several other six-pack challengers, Michele, Ang, Moses, and a german shepard. The weather started out nice and cool with some wind on the exposed ridgeline sections. I setup camp at Limber Pine and continued towards the peaks with a slack pack. I summited San Bernardino peak around 1:30pm when the clouds started moving in. As I began the approach toward East Peak, a light hail began and the winds picked up. With only a few hundred yards to go, I decided to continue and make the summit in timely fashion. On the return, more hail made the trail difficult to discern as I passed over the rocky pseudo peaks and relied on the Gaia GOS app to help navigate. As I passed back down the turnoff for the first peak, I met the last of the day hikers, brothers  Jeremy and Mark. We joked a little about the crummy weather but the laugh was soon to be on us. As I made my way back to my camp at limber pine, it really took a turn for the worse. Lightening, thunder, and driving hail with mixed snow made for an easy decision that I would not be camping overnight. By the time I made the couple miles back, the once sunny and dry camp area had accumulated a couple inches of snow and winds were near gale force. I was relieved to find my Zplex solo had held up and everything inside was dry. I dumped unneeded wayer, packed up in a hurry, and got the hell out. With lightning hot on my tail, I was practically skiing down in my boots. My mittens soon became frozen and I wanted to put on warmer layers but getting to a lower elevation and an area with more protection was a higher priority. At one point the lightening was only milliseconds from the thunder and I paused from hiking to assume the lightening position. Once I was about 5 miles down and back in the woods, I could calm my adrenaline, put on more layers, eat a piece of candy, send a satellite message, and check the GPS to make sure I was still on the trail. With so much white on the ground, the forest, landmarks, and trail all looked very different from earlier in the day. I didn’t even see the stack of rocks when passing the Washington monument. Lower elevations had even deeper snow accumulation from the blowing wind. Seeing wildlife helped to calm my mind as a realized this is just another day to them. Fortunately, the brothers Jeremy and Mark caught up to me on the trail. We were instantly bonded at that moment and it went unspoken that no man would be left behind. While descending to lower elevations the trail turned to a rocky creek as snowmelt eroded away sections of the trail. Several time we consulted the GPS as the trail/creek would divert downhill while the proper trail continued back across snow covered benches. At dusk, about two miles from the trailhead, we came across a SAR party going up after some lost hikers. We answered all their questions and provided information the rescuers needed to determine that a group in front of us had gone off the trail. Just as I was happy to meet up with the two brothers, they were happy to have me as I was the only one in our group with a headlamp. I took on the lead and we all made it back to the trucks sore, tired, hungry, and cold but safe.

As a reminder, always check the weather and come prepared. The weather in the mountains can be unpredictable so bring extra layers including a rain shell and something to keep your head/neck warm. Learn how to use GPS on your phone and leave your phone in airplane mode to conserve batteries. You do not need cell coverage to know your location or use the Gaia or AllTrails apps. When hiking a new trail or starting later, set a turn around time and bring a headlamp. Having a light source only weighs several ounces and could mean the difference between making a late decent or a 911/SOS call. I hope the lost hikers were found and made it home safe.

Before my trip, I looked at several weather forecasts over several days and planned my clothing for worse than the worse forecast. Nothing I read showed any chance of lightning. If  it had, I would not have gone. Snow elevation was supposed to be 9,000’ with no accumulation but it had snowed 4-6” down to 6,000 ft. A freak blizzard made for some scary times but aside from the lightning, I never felt unsafe or that I was in a survival situation. In the future, I would opt to carry the whole overnight kit to the peak rather than slack pack if there was any chance of weather to avoid having to throw everything wet in my bag, get my gloves wet, and risk damaging my shelter.