Friends That Hike - Split Mountain (2019)

[@ryang7720]

Oh shit, I love walking into drama. Parker Jones is a dick 🤣. So, looking back, was there a better move than deciding to continue to the summit? I mean, what other option did you have aside from hitting up the park service.

[@friendsthathike5729]

Lol, we try to keep it entertaining. Everyone thinks they're an expert and love to give their two cents, from the comfort of their home. Actually there wasn't. The source of the fire started at the trailhead. When we contacted SAR they told us that all of our cars were toast(in her words) and we couldn't exit the way we came in. This is an out and back trail so there was no where else for us to go. So they advised us that they'll be evacing us from Red Lakes on Monday (the next day) because the smoke was too thick to land, along with 4 other hikers who were there. This implied to me that we were not in immediate danger and in the fires path. At this point we were already more than half way to the summit and the air quality was actually much better the higher we got up. On our way down SAR contacted us and said that they will be picking us up that same day instead since the winds shifted the direction of the smoke so there was a clearing. By the time we got back to camp the helicopter was already there waiting for us.

[@Tj-wz1sx]

@@friendsthathike5729why 19, y’all walk the 5 miles to the trailhead?

[@anthonyd9984]

Pretty bonkers! Great video and glad you guys made it out safely!

[@tectonictraveller1173]

Beautiful. I’m a mountain guide in Alaska from California. I flew in Helicopters to glaciers every day. This made me cry. I’m speechless. You are all blessed

[@guregorihattofirudo2627]

You’ll be the old timers some day, with the incredible stories none of the youngsters will believe. Beautiful stuff guys

[@philmartz]

Great hike guys! Great adventure and cool video and background music. I really like how you took long and slow view from the top. You really captured and have one of the best videos of what it's really like at the top of a mountain peak trying to take it all in.

[@14erfinisher52]

Wow, what an end to your 14er climb! Glad you all made it out safely. The high winds must have really escalated that fire situation quickly, as they often do. Close call. One might say your video was absolute .... FIRE 🔥🚒🔥

[@rollinduces136]

Dope video

[@sean_town]

Attempting a summit over Labor Day weekend. Great video!

[@friendsthathike5729]

Thanks! It's one of my favorite summits out of the California 14ers (that I've done). Have a great hike when you attempt it!

[@suggg]

Just wanted to say I really enjoy your hiking vids - mostly eastern Sierra stuff. Seen the Split Mtn skiing vids and then came across this one. Holy smokes, what an ending!!!!! Crazy stuff. The vids for trail running/ peak bagging reference.

[@friendsthathike5729]

Thank you so much! I have a lot more videos I'd love to post but they do require a lot of time to edit. I'm hoping to share them soon. Glad your enjoying the videos and thanks for watching.

[@TVinmyEye]

Just summited Split Mountain on Sun! Such a frustrating hike with all the loose talus and boulders. Absolutely beautiful Summit though. Happy to know y’all came out unscathed

[@friendsthathike5729]

Nice work! It's definitely one of those pain in the ass hikes. My least favorite part was lugging a 35lb pack up to Red Lake. Did you day hike it or overnight?

[@markchanggz1]

Lucky guy surrounded by all these good looking ladies!

[@LinusWilson]

Split mountain and Muir if I go back to eastern Sierra.

[@henrykullberg8091]

Super informative on this hike. I am looking to climb all the california 14ers and this was great for research.

[@friendsthathike5729]

Glad the video was able to help you. I'm still checkin off the CA 14ers as well.

[@travissmith3031]

Glad you all were able to call for help

[@justrione]

Love it all

[@friendsthathike5729]

Thanks John!

[@joshuapierce4320]

Holy shit guys! Congrats on the summit and I'm glad you're all ok. (Hopefully you had the extra insurance on the cursed rental car!)

[@friendsthathike5729]

Thank you! Fucken rental car...

[@RunHikeExplore]

Great video, and what an experience

[@friendsthathike5729]

Thanks Jason! Definitely an experience we'll never forget.

[@synchrogrl18]

I'm so glad you'll came out of this unharmed!

[@friendsthathike5729]

Thank you, so were we. When does something like this ever happen?!

[@miis05]

Wow! Quite an experience!

[@wsiddiqi]

Wow what a hike - We've got permit for Mt Split this weekend. Looking at this video, wondering if it would be better to do a day trip up from the trail head vs camping at Red Lake. Thoughts? I read that the trail from the trailhead to Red Lake was not very clear but it doesn't look like thats a problem from this video

[@raymondklucik]

Epic video! What time of the year did you go? I usually look for the date in the description for planning my hike. Thanks!

[@friendsthathike5729]

Thanks! I usually put the dates of our hikes but seem to have forgotten it on this one, my bad. We went in September.

[@chrisdavidson7604]

Awesome video! Thinking about doing Split soon. Question...how were you able to call the Fire Dept from your Garmin? Would love to know how to do that.

[@friendsthathike5729]

Thanks! Sorry I'm replying late as I just saw this. We were actually on the summit when we hit the SOS button. It connected us to the Inyo Sheriff's department and they were able to send a helicopter evac for us. We also sent out a message(that includes our coordinates) to our loved ones and they forwarded that to the sheriff's department as well. Definitely came in handy. I believe Split is open again. It's a fun climb, enjoy!

[@friendsthathike5729]

Fyi, we had the Garmin InReach mini.

[@FlipEmpire]

Easiest 14ers in order (easiest first) based on my experience: White, Langley, Whitney, Split...

[@matthewstorm5188]

Clear Creek up Shasta is easier than Split.

[@PsychoFisho]

Reminds me of David Carradine

[@B1GR]

Love your video, what camera/settings do you use?

[@pojones92]

Great example of what NOT to do when you see a fire in the backcountry. These are the worst kinds of people. Please do not take on these kinds of excursions without the proper experience. It endangers your life and the lives of the people who have to rescue you. Shame

[@friendsthathike5729]

What are you talking about man?! This fire was started by natural causes as we were making our way up. You think we're a bunch of airheads who would just hike during a fire? Gimme a break you moron. For someone who wasn't there you're quick to pass judgment. Know the facts before you make yourself sound like an idiot. Oh wait, too late.

[@parkerjones1593]

​@@friendsthathike5729 'check out that smoke on the other side of the mountain. OK lets push to the summit.' Yall are just a bunch of donuts.

[@parkerjones1593]

fan of the video otherwise, thanks for posting

[@aadiduggal1860]

@@parkerjones1593 When is there NOT smoke in the Sierras during that time of the season? Why would any reasonable person expect that a seasonal fire would just HAPPEN to engulf the trailhead and their cars? It's not like they could have predicted that happening beforehand, teleported back, and driven home....Quit being such an asshole and use common sense.

[@ADM-wt9cn]

They stayed in the rockiest area lol.. Once the fire was started pretty safe area to be.

[@LinusWilson]

I liked the video but because you put yourself in a rescue situation and called for one, it gets a thumbs down. I think you need to evaluate if you have maturity and judgement to do further climbs. In my opinion you do not.