If you do not bring the extra this and that you just might not be able to accomplish what your heart desires.
For our last trip, I brought my axe and crampons just in case I looked up Meysan Canyon and saw a lot of snow and ice on the east wall and slopes. I did not so, they stayed in the car. It cost me nothing to bring this stuff other than room and a few pennies of gasoline but I had choices.
Another reason we bring extra stuff, is we have had cases where information we have received from others, primarily Inyo National Forest staff, has been extremely bad and we changed plans accordingly only to find those conditions did not exist when we arrived.
We travel 200 miles to get to Whitney Portal and cost for not having the right stuff is minimal. If we are wrongly gear for conditions we will go somewhere in the Sierra where our gear meets conditions or shorten our trip. This is no big deal to us we can come back to Whitney Portal any time of the year because we have the gear and skills to see a good portion of the MMWT any month of the year. A lot of folks do not have this luxury, they live in other parts of the country, do not have a lot of free time and do not have skills, clothing or the desire to see this area in winter.
If you think you might need it bring it...it could be the difference between being able to go no further than Outpost Camp or seeing the Smithsonian Hut up close and personal.
Last edited by wbtravis5152; 10/07/07 03:42 PM.
