Eric Beecher and I decided last semester to embark on an epic trip after graduation from MIT to celebrate our entrance into the real world. Eric and I have known each for four years through the MIT track team and our fraternity, Phi Delta Theta. We started out in Southern California and worked our way to Arizona/Nevada and back. Our friend Rajiv generously allowed us to stay at his house in preparation for our trip.
The Peak of Mt. Whitney (Source: Ian Parker)
At the beginning of our hike Eric and I were warned about all of the dangers of Mt. Whitney. Some said that we needed to camp at altitude for a couple days before summiting to prevent altitude sickness. Others recommended crampons and heavy duty boots to prevent us from sliding off the mountain. The park rangers forbid us to take the mountaineer’s route because this was our first time summiting. For the most part, thewarnings turned out to be too cautious. We summited Mt Whitney with shorts and tennis shoes. Some of the hikers laughed at us for not equipping ourselves. Others admired us for having the ability to do without the extra. I did come down with altitude sickness, although I was still able to summit without much problem.
The tallest two men in the lower 48
On the way up, we met up with a park ranger who recommended us to go off trail to camp because the official campground was too crowded. He gave us directions to Constellation Lake, the highest lake on the mountain and also a quarter mile from the main camp site. Either he gave us the wrong directions or we got lost, but hiking quickly became rock climbing on ice. We had our camping 50 pound camping backpacks still on us while we were trying navigate steep rock surfaces. One of our water bottle was tragically lost when I dropped it and we watched it gravely as it clattered down the mountain. But we did manage to reach the alternate “camp site.” We realized why it never became the official one. Winds battered our tent mercilessly throughout the night. My altitude sickness also became to set in at this stage of the climb so that night was not a comfortable one for me.
Having climbed the tallest peak in the lower 48, we set out to the Colorado River for our Canoeing trip. Being MIT engineers, we were not satisfied in just renting a canoe. Instead, we wanted to float down the Colorado River the DIY way. We followed the directions on this website. Basically we bought three sheets of plywood and resin/varnish for waterproofness. We cut the first sheet of plywood in the shape of the bottom profile of the canoe. Then we bent the other two plywood to fit the profile and glued it together. The hardware store only sold 8-foot pieces, not long enough for a needed 14-foot canoe. We had to do some ghetto-rigging to build our canoe.
The Canoe and me hairless
Lake Havasu with Eric in the foreground
After two days of building, our canoe was finally finished, which we promptly christened it “Roxanne”. Unfortunately, we found out after the first test that Roxanne was impossible to keep upright. We had to install pontoons (40 galleon storage containers) on either side of Roxanne to keep her level and stable. What Roxanne lost in speed and agility she made up for it in character. The boat had so much character. Because we weren’t experts in waterproofing boats, Roxanne was actually quite leaky. Although the leakage wasn’t enough to sink the boat, Roxanne definitely kept us busy on the river bailing her out.
Our canoe after the "upgrades"
We quickly became the talk of the town as we paddled down the Bullhead City to Lake Havasu, a distance of about 60 miles. Boats would blow their horns at us, and beachgoers would point and stare. People in their expensive boats flying down the river couldn’t believe that we were paddling our way down. We were offered beer and food all through out the trip. Talk about an effective way of receiving free food. Strangely, people identified us as MIT even we had no MIT apparel on us. Apparently, a homemade canoe is the marquee trait of MIT students.
Near-death experience #1
Our next stop was Joshua Tree National Park, the home of wondrous rugged desert trees and enormous rock formations. While the trees were pretty strange and all, the rock formations entertained and challenged us for hours. Eric and I have been going to indoor rock climbing gyms the last semester at MIT training for our moment to shine at Joshua Tree. There no easy hand holds, and the only thing padding our falls were the granite below us. Its the stuff that makes moms sleepless at night. Fortunately both of us came out of that day unscathed.
Eric on the Rocks
Eric did not eat well during the trip and it showed
Alas, all good things have to come to an end. On July 9th, we ended our trip and had an absolutely enormous Indian dinner, courtesy of Rajiv. The next day I flew back to NY and resumed my job.
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