Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board still decent snow in So Cal. 4-4-15

Desiree wanted me to show her the way I went up South Fork to the chute I went up 2 weeks ago. Not knowing how much snow would be left we started are hike and stopped at Poopout Hill to see what the Chutes looked like, I told Des were going to have fun today. I took her cross country starting at the stream on Dry Lake trail.

Met Paul on beginning of the trail, Des and I went cross country Paul took Dry lake trail to the same chute so we met at the base of the chute and hiked together the rest of the day. After we left Gorgonio Summit we took Dollar Lake trail back to the car.

Can someone explain what was here at one time 10min. West of summit.

Since we have a low pressure here now the snow will be staying around for awhile..

Next snow trip ...When Langley opens

We went up 2nd Chute from left

mark
pictures here

Hi Mark If you could see into the basin and then East to another mountain could be part of a Radio /Microwave/TV building (tower)but the supports look too small. Another guess was a fire lookout building, but below and not a 360 view ?, We found many of the "light mountains" these mountains had towers that held a beacon so the early days of flying to the major Cities the pilots could fly light to light.

Talking about what you find on Mountain tops , during the early days of mapping the US many wood towers were built on mountain tops so directions (angles) and later distance could be measured to develop the National Control System for mapping. So when you look at a topo map and it says NAD 27 or NAD 83 that is what the reference is to North American Datum.

You will also find many old batteries and litter on these sites since it took many days to build the towers and do the observations. And after all that you find the 3 1/2" brass disk with 4 ties marking the "Station" .

Later a metal tower system was designed called a Bilby tower and could be built and moved, I worked off a copy model that would scare the hell out of you on a windy night. And when things didn't work out with a closure you would read in the notes "only visited by a light tender" meaning most likely a local farmer and he may have set the light on the wrong Mountain. Another classic statement from those days was when the Party moved into a new area the Head of NGS would say the most important first step was Plant a garden you will be there all summer.
So now with that GPS (get plenty of sleep) device the age old question Where are we? is answered but still tied back to the mapping created so many years ago. Homework: The name of the first mapper working with Geo.Washington?

Thanks for the write up Doug..

Homework: IS THIS IT
Washington relied on and benefitted from his knowledge of maps. Between 1747 and 1799 Washington surveyed over two hundred tracts of land and held title to more than sixty-five thousand acres in thirty-seven different locations. Early in the Revolutionary War, even with the responsibility of leading the army on his shoulders, Washington sometimes found it necessary to make his own field sketches, as the quotation above suggests. Recognizing a need, Washington appointed Robert Erskine as the first geographer to the Continental army in 1777.

AND
Early in 1748, with as few as three practice surveys under his belt, George Washington accompanied George William Fairfax and James Genn, Surveyor of Prince William County, on a month-long trip west across the Blue Ridge Mountains to survey land for Thomas, Lord Fairfax, 6t Baron Cameron. Although the surveys were actually performed by the more experienced members of the party, the trip was Washington's formal initiation into the field and led him to pursue surveying as a profession.

ALSO
Washington's cartographic career can be divided into two phases: public surveyor and private land speculator. Undoubtedly, the close association with and practical knowledge of the land that Washington gained as both a surveyor and land speculator contributed to his development from surveying apprentice to one of the leaders of Virginia, and later, of the United States

Thanks Doug learned more about George tonight

Hi Mark,

The foundations west of the summit are remnants of two cabins built by Raytheon. I can't recognize details that well in your thumbnail, but I have pics of all the near-summit structure remnants catalogued in 2001 (IIRC the year). The Raytheon cabins seemed closer than 10 min. from summit, but I'm probably slower than I think. Did you also see a longer rectangular array of foundation supports nearby?

"In October 1945, the Raytheon Manufacturing Company of Waltham, Massachusetts received a permit from the Forest Service to use the summit Mount San Gorgonio to test high-frequency radio transmissions. The company built “two firmly anchored cabins, with walls of asbestos fiber board and thick insulation” 250 yards west of the summit monument (Robinson, 1991, p. 90)."

"Pack trains from Barton Flat were used to bring up the supplies for the construction of the cabins, and twelve Raytheon technicians moved in. Raytheon had hoped to utilize the summit of Mount San Gorgonio as the main television transmission station for southern California. Pack trains continued to provide food and supplies until they were halted by the first major winter storm. An airdrop was accomplished by a crew in a Douglas C-47 in February 1946. Raytheon then proposed a tramway from Mill Creek to the summit, and a consulting firm, Southwest Engineering, estimated the cost to be $118,000. The tramway was never built, and the crew left the summit in early fall of of 1946 when their experiments were completed (Robinson, 1991). "



Glad you two were able to enjoy one more snow hike of our abbreviated winter.

(Hi Des! --another Bob)

Thanks for the write up..

between you and Doug I'm getting a history lesson.

Mark