Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board An Old Guy Achieves His Goal

When I turned 60, I set a goal for 2009: Climb California's fourteeners plus two of my favorite thirteeners (Humphreys and Norman Clyde). Here is how it went:

April 20: Hike to Iceberg Lake and set up camp.
April 21: Climb Mt. Whitney (Mountaineer's Route), Mt. Muir (from the trail), and Mt. Russell (South Face, Right Side). I had all three peaks to myself.
April 22: Hike out.

April 30: Split Mountain (North Slope from the East). I was the only one on the peak.

May 7: Mt. Langley (Northeast Couloir). I was the only one on the peak.

May 12: Mt. Shasta (Avalanche Gulch). Two other climbers probably summitted later that day.

June 24: Mt. Humphreys (Southwest Slope and Northwest Face). My partner turned back near the summit.

July 7: Mt. Williamson (West Face) and Mt. Tyndall (North Rib). I don't think anybody else summitted Williamson that day. There were other parties on Tyndall.

July 12: White Mountain Pk. (the road). There were many other climbers, though altitude got the best of some of them.

July 22: Mt. Sill and Polemonium Pk. (North Couloir). There were other parties on Sill. I was the only one on Polemonium.

August 11: North Palisade (West Chute), Starlight Pk. (traverse from North Palisade), and Thunderbolt Pk. (traverse from Starlight). I started and finished at South Lake and had all three peaks to myself. I used a rope for the summit of Thunderbolt.

August 21: Hike to a tarn above Finger Lake with two partners. Our plan was to climb Norman Clyde Pk. on August 22 and Middle Palisade on August 23.
August 22: The weather looked marginal, and the Eagle Face would not be much fun in a storm with a party of three. We climbed Middle Palisade and hiked out. If we had done Norman Clyde, the rain probably would have caught us on the way down the North Face.

August 30: Norman Clyde Pk. (Eagle Face). I got off route and had to solo some 5.7. It was a mistake I hope I never make again. I had the peak to myself until I met a party of six climbing up from the west.

I'm not as fast as I used to be, and it sure takes longer to recover from a long day than it used to take. However, it feels great to be out there climbing these routes at 60.

I sure hope that I have the same energy when I turn 60.

Congrats Bob. Thats a good year (so far)...

bob,

I was so impressed reading through your list! At any age, what you have done is quite an accomplishment. If you are fortunate to be able to stay in shape, 60 is just a number.

Although I'm "only" 55 (I've been told I'm like a 10-year-old in the mountains), I feel the same way you do about still being able to achieve physically challenging goals "at my age". I only wish we had the kinds of mountains out here in Ohio that you are blessed with in California. I get out there whenever I can to hike, but lately, that hasn't been too often.

Again, way to go on achieving your goals (the MR, Muir and Russell's south face alone in April, no less!!!).

CaT

You have a bit more than a year on me, Bob, but my goals before I hit the big 6-0 in November 2010 are to do Hood and Rainier next summer and somehow find time for a couple more state highpoints as well.

I'm convinced that the more we keep moving, the less we slow down. I'm never going to keep up with my 20-year-old son, who has me by 6" as well as nearly four decades but I'll outhike almost all of the Scouts in our Troop even today...

I may have lost a step or two but I haven't stopped yet...and I hope to keep slogging along for a good bit longer.

Nice work Bob. Norman Clyde NNE face was a lot of fun huh?

Good Job ,keep on keepin on !

bob - I am so inspired by your accomplishment! I'm on my "second time round" and at age 52 I find I'm much slower than my "first time round". But it is a gift everytime I step foot on a mountain. I hope to have many more peaks ahead. What is your training program? Also, do you have a site where you host your pix?

Congratulations on an outstanding achievement!
MC

Thanks to all of you for your words of encouragement!

Living in Reno and being retired make it much easier. It's only 3-1/2 hours to Mt. Shasta or Bishop. I can monitor the forums and weather forecasts and pull the trigger when the conditions are just right.

The NE Couloir on Langley was the only route I hadn't done before. Knowing the routes made it easier to go relatively fast and light. I did have a few "senior moments" on the North Palisade to Thunderbolt traverse and on the Eagle Face of Norman Clyde. Those routes weren't nearly as easy as I remembered.

Old guys don't have a chance against the young studs in a sprint, but longer days even the playing field. Planning and execution are more important than youth. I actually did Williamson and Tyndall 21 minutes faster than I did them 19 years ago.

I'm afraid I don't have any worthwhile pictures. I used to carry two bodies, five lenses, and a tripod most of the time. When cameras got so "simple" that I couldn't control the shutter speed or the f-stop anymore, I lost interest in photography.

Two relatives served as inspirations: My mom won her last ski-racing trophy at 74 and my grandfather broke his last horse at 80 and then rode him long after that.

As for training, I try to hike or ride a bike several days a week. I lift weights about 1/10 as often as I should. It's really a matter of finding exercise you like and then going for it. Let's hope we can all keep climbing for many more years.

Bob

Ask Mike about what generally happens after we pass thur 12K...

Because of all the time I spend up high, and the fact that I know what pace I can hold ALL day...

Then we start to head down and I never see him again (unless he wants me to).

Congratulations on a great accomplishment!

Congrats Bob,

Outstanding accomplishment! Plus I think you should get some extra bonus points for getting all those peaks done under the wacky 2009 weather.

Cheers,
RickG

Thanks, Rick, but I don't think I deserve any bonus points. I managed to plan my trips so I had nearly perfect weather every time. The weather forced me to make an extra trip to do the Eagle Face on Norman Clyde, but every other trip went exactly as planned. The worst I had to deal with was a little more wind than I would have liked on a couple of occasions.

Bob

Simply awesome.

I'm 44 and hiked Whitney for the first time two weeks ago. I hope I can manage it again at 60.

You are an inspiration to those of us who lack your experience, and fear the passing of time that will bring it. I aim to stay active, you prove that it is possible.

Are all of the CA 14ks walkable, or are climbing skills needed for some of them?

Thanks, DoctorDee. If you keep active, you should be able to keep climbing for a long time.

Whitney and White Mountain Peak are the only walk-ups. Langley, Tyndall, Split, and Shasta are all a bit harder by their easiest routes. (Split requires a 4WD and a lot of off-trail hiking. Shasta requires crampon and ice axe skills.) Muir, Russell, Middle Palisade, and Williamson all involve class 3 scrambling. (Williamson has a very long approach.) Sill is a long trip from the west or some class 3-4 rock and maybe some snow from the east. North Palisade is class 3-4 from the west. Polemonium is class 4 from Sill. Thunderbolt is class 4 with a 5.8 summit block that many people climb by throwing a rope over it. Starlight is class 4 with an airy 5.5 summit block that is hard to protect.

Outside of California, Raineer is a glaciated volcano like Shasta, but harder. It has serious crevasses that require a partner, rope, and crevasse rescue skills.

There are many 14ers in Colorado. Most of them are walk-ups (class 1-2) or easy scrambles (class 3).

You may not be familiar with the YDS rating system, but you can get the general idea from the fact that bigger numbers go with greater technical difficulty. I hope this answers your question.

Bob

Colorado Specifics: 55 peaks over 14K, + quite a few over 14K that are not considered separate summits. Gerry Roach in his Colorado 14ers book cites; 7 Class 1 climbs
28 Class 2 climbs
4 Class 2+ climbs
10 Class 3 climbs
6 Class 4 climbs
These are all categorized by the EASIEST Route as many have
advanced technical routes. All of the above can be done without
ropes, technical gear,etc but you do need a good set of knees and elbows in tight places !

PLUS; so far Colorado does not require 1) permits in most areas; 2)NO WAG bags 3) 1 of the 55 peaks is on private property
and the owners charge (last I heard) $100 to enter and climb in a very restricted # of days. One or two others are on private property and discussions are on going about opening then up legally. Most everyone climb these 2 illegally without anyone to my knowledge getting a citation.

Hi CMC: Recently, I went to Colorado on a business trip, and only had a quick day left. I manage to drive up the Pike's Peak, very different experience than hiking it up. The Colorado 14er peak web site, www.14ers.com is put together nicely. Each route is explained in detail, and back up by photos. Below is an example of the Longs Peak:
http://www.14ers.com/routemain.php?route=long1&peak=Longs+Peak

Perhaps we can have something similar for California.

Well, I did it again! I was working hard finishing the Sierra Club SPS List , but I was wondering whether I could climb the 15 California fourteeners after my 70th birthday. Here is how it went:

April 24, 2019: Mt. Whitney (mountaineers’ Route), Mt. Muir (from the trail), and down the main trail.

June 5, 2019: Mt. Shasta (Avalanche Gulch) with a 55-minute ski descent to the car.

June 21, 2019: Split Mountain (the usual route up from Red Lake).

July 5, 2019: Mt. Langley (via New Army Pass with Ben).

July 9, 2019: White Mountain Peak (via the trail with Paul).

September 14, 2019: Middle Palisade (up some class 4 rock where the old class 3 route had collapsed).

October 3, 2019: Mt. Russell (East Ridge).

July 24-26, 2020: Mt. Williamson (West Face with Amin and Paul) and Mt. Tyndall (North Rib with Amin and Paul).

July 30-31, 2020: Mt. Sill (North Couloir) and Polemonium Peak (from Mt. Sill).

August 21-23, 2020: Thunderbolt Peak (Southwest Chute #1 with Sean), Starlight Peak (Northwest Chute with Sean, Amin, and Daryn), and North Palisade (traverse from Starlight with Sean, Amin, and Daryn). We got separated on North Palisade, and I ended up soloing a 100’ 5.6 chimney to the summit. That was a fitting grand finale!

This project was really fun, but the peaks all seemed harder and took longer than in 2009. I won’t be doing this again at 80 or even at 75. It’s probably time to scale back a bit.

Congrats, Bob!

Excellent work! (Although, in all honesty, if I lived near a mountain that carried my surname, I'd bag that SOB every year in addition, haha...)

The first time I climbed Mt. Pickering, a snowstorm blew in just as I was leaving a business card in the register. I bailed in a hurry. I had to come back a week later to retrieve the wallet that I had taken out when I left the business card. I haven’t been back since. Maybe I should do it next year.

Just keep leaving your wallet every other time... (And I'm sure if anyone finds it in between, you'll probably know them or vice versa ;))

After posting, it got me searching for any peaks with my surname. Lo and behold!

There is one! And it's over 10K'!

---in Antarctica. (Most likely not one I'll be leaving my wallet on...)