Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mt. Morgenson - September 27, 2006

<img src="http://piotrowski.smugmug.com/photos/98705942-S.jpg" align="left"

Mt. Morgenson from the summit of Mt. Whitney.

There is an effort underway to rename Peak 13,920+ (4245m) after Ranger Randy Morgenson. (See http://www.mt-whitney.info/viewtopic.php?t=1497 for a discussion of the topic.) I thought it would be interesting to be one of the early climbers of the "renamed" peak. This was part of "Around Whitney II."

Photo album is at: http://piotrowski.smugmug.com/gallery/1945182

On another subject, this picture raised a question for me: The lake at the left of the picture is Wales Lake. Is there an "easy" pass across from there to the Artic Lake drainage?

Moving this back up.

Richard

About 8 years ago I did take a route from Artic Lake over this pass to Wale Lake. My recollection is that this route had some class 3 scrambling just before the ridge. I also recall having to take the pass indicated rather than the one you would get to by taking a straight line up from Artic Lake. We did try that first and after looking at the down climb from the ridgeline went back down a bit and headed over to the other pass. Hopefully someone with a more recent memory can help out.

<img src=http://img.clubphoto.com/jerboa/183697008/hi/null/image.jpg>

This was pre digital camera. I will see if I can dig up some photos to scan.

Thanks!

Something to add to the list of things to do next summer. I've been wondering about whether it would be possible, since I'd like to spend some more time in the Wallace/Wales Lakes area. Heading all the way down to the JMT/PCT, and around, means you don't have much time for exploring/climbing when you only have three days for the loop.

That topo makes it look so easy..yeah..just stroll up there..drop down..

We all know the truth.. :p

-Chris

refer to the 3 most underrated words in the secor manual "gain the ridge"

My uneducated eye tells me that the "south" side is at least twice as steep as the "north" side.

I looked down from the summit of Morgenson and thought it would definitely be a technical climb down to the "south."

If I ever get around to pruning and posting the "Around Whitney II" photos (or review the photos from AW I and OV to WP), I may have some decent pictures of that cliff. I know I took at least a few of the south face of Morgenson.

tomcat_rc, does Secor have something specific to the ridge between Hale and Morgenson, or are you just making a general comment about how difficult it may be?

mine was a general comment not a specific - although since I am now reading "The Last Season" - next years season will hold lots of new callings for places to go and see - including 13920

I am very uncomfortable referring to this peak as Mt. Morgenson.

There is a well-established procedure for naming geographical features in this country. In short, it involves making a proposal to the US Board on Geographic Names (http://geonames.usgs.gov/bgn.html); the BGN evaluates, concludes that the action is warranted, and so decrees.

There are other ways. One is for a name to become established through common usage, with the BGN ultimately recognizing what has been in practice for some time. Another is for a naming to be attached to a bill in Congress. The latter is not common, but Crooks Peak (a renaming of Day Needle) is an example.

From what I read on http://www.mt-whitney.info/viewtopic.php?t=1497 some backcountry rangers recently decided to name Peak 13,920+ after deceased ranger Randy Morgenson. They placed a register on top, hoping that in time most people would be referring to it as Mt. Morgenson, and eventually the BGN would make it official through the common usage avenue.

I don't know how many backcountry rangers were involved in this decision, and I don't know the full worthiness of Randy Morgenson. According to the link above, the summit register reads: "Randy Morgenson, as a Wilderness Ranger in this park, spent more time in the Sierra's than John Muir himself, and has touched countless lives." There has to be more justification than spending time up there and touching lives to name a major Sierra Nevada mountain for a person.

Don't get me wrong. I am not claiming that Randy Morgenson is unworthy of this honor. He may be. From what I understand, he was a fine man who loved the Sierra and cared for it with a deep conviction for many years. Rather, I am questioning the approach that has been taken to name this mountain (or any mountain) Mt. Morgenson (or Mt. Anything Else). I have absolutely no problem with anyone going through the established procedure to see if it flies.

In a list of California's highest mountains ( http://www.vulgarianramblers.org/ca13ers.html ), Peak 13,920+ is number 18. Of the unnamed mountains, it is the highest. It is also fully inside a major national park. Peak 13,920+ is arguably the most significant currently unnamed mountain in California!

Believing that special honors should be saved for truly deserving people, I object to this casual proposal naming Mt. Morgenson by some backcountry rangers. I have the utmost respect for all the rangers I have met, but the image here is of a handful of them making this unilateral decision.

Was this action approved by their superiors? If so, it smacks more of a National Park Service decision, and I am even more upset. If not, they have no more right to take this action than a handful of backpackers, say, or hunters or fishermen or anyone else. These are our lands. People who happen to work there are granted no special authority in naming our mountains.

My own rescue group submitted Peak 13,211, near Mt. Williamson, to the BGN, proposing that it be named Mt. Carl Heller after he died. Carl was an outstanding mountaineer, having climbed all over the world, and he created and led the China Lake Mountain Rescue Group (which, incidentally, has saved many hundreds of lives in the intervening 48 years). He was an outstanding research chemist, with numerous patents including those for chemiluminescent light sticks. He served his country bravely as a Marine in WWII, landing on Iwo Jima and fighting from one end of the island to the other. He was an outstanding humanitarian. While he never married, his interest in furthering the experiences of local youths was extreme: His mountaineering exploits with his Explorer Scout troop were remarkable. Due to his efforts on a national level, girls are now allowed in Explorer Scouting. He was an important Sierra Club leader. He is the reason why so many people at China Lake and in Ridgecrest discovered the joys of mountaineering and had their lives significantly changed by it.

The BGN denied the request, saying that Carl was certainly a good man...but not worthy of a thirteener in the Sierra. They didn't elaborate, so there are no details. But by putting him up against all their discriminants—discriminants that everyone up for consideration must be tested against—they found him lacking.

I knew Carl very well. I never met Randy, but it is clear to me that Carl was the giant of the two in worthiness for such an honor. Reading a book can give you some good feelings about a person, feelings that say some sort of recognition is warranted. But the naming of a major Sierra mountain? In fairness to all who have been approved or rejected by the BGN in the past, I am only asking that Randy Morgenson be similarly tested to see if his qualifications pass muster.

In one sense, I am happy that the BGN has set high standards for positive rulings. Depending on how one defines "a mountain," there are as few as 18 unnamed thirteeners left in the Sierra. And they aren't making any more of them!

Indeed, Carl Heller is far more deserving, of having a Sierra Nevada peak named after him, than Randy Morgenson. But THE LAST SEASON, ia a good read. I can't believe the request for Mt. Carl Heller was denied.

Having read "The Last Season" I am not sure that a person who cheats are their wife,had a disdain for people in "HIS" wilderness and possible had mental problems deserves a mountain named after him, even if he is a nice guy with lots of friends in high places. If it is done thru the proper procedure, then so be it. Until then it should stay nameless.

Until I came on the board, I had never heard of Carl Heller. But, thanks to you, Bob R, I am totally convinced that Carl Heller is a giant among the mountain men--the mountaineers--of California. Any peak would be honored with his name, but the highest unnamed 13er would be even better. Thanks, Bob, for making Carl real to a whole bunch of us, and I hope all of us can see his name officially recognized on a worthy peak one of these days. (In the meantime, my current database shows Peak 4034 as Mount Carl Heller. If that is wrong, even though not official, please let me know.)

I was holding out but I can't help it. Why not name it Mt. Mendiola? Or better yet Mt. Rafael Mendiola? Truly, I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy! All kidding aside, I have seen and climbed all kinds of mountains that have names that are in no way related or significant to the area or specific peak. Here in my skyline we have Mt. Breckenridge and Mt. Adelaide which as far as I know either name has no real connection to Kern county. I personally don't see a problem with naming the peak after the ranger. I do have one exception. If the gentleman was indeed one of those wilderness elitist types that didn't feel that anyone should be out there in his wilderness, than in my opinion he is unworthy of the honor. I don't know for sure since I haven't read the book, met the man, or talked to any of his peers. That's my two cents.

Rafael...

Bob, thank you for your post.

As you might have inferred from my posts on the other board, I take the same position as you do: that the process, *especially* coming from a group of gov't employees, should be very transparent and above board.

I haven't read the book, yet, but will be doing so. I don't agree that if a person has not led a model life according to some set of moral guidelines, that would disqualify him/her. I doubt that most of the people after whom sierra mountains are named have had their lives under the scrutiny that RM has had.

Among rangers, RM may have been a leader among leaders....I don't know. There are people who knew him well, and I'm hoping to get to spend some time with one of them this year, George Durkee. Perhaps I'll know more.

I suppose the question should be, "what did he do that people should know of him, forever, by the naming of the mountain?" That is, indeed, a high bar.

I think that Carl Heller answered that question affirmatively.

One of my other favorites, who was also turned down, was Orland Bartholomew, the first winter ascender of Whitney, as part of his first winter ski of the JMT, solo, in 1929. He used garden rake handles for ski poles, a tarp tent, a down robe to sleep in, and cooked over open fires.
His life was documented in the book "High Odyssey", and there were other factors of public good that I would have thought would qualify him. There was a campaign, documented here:
http://www.fwsa.wbees.com/page/page/1180431.htm

Interestingly, "Bart" spent the latter half of his life as a ranger for the USFS.

The submission was here: http://geonames.usgs.gov/docs/dockets/docket386.pdf

Another thought: I don't think that the Board decisions are unreversable. I would think that in the case of CH, as time has gone by, that name for the mountain has become established by local usage, and it has been published in the major Sierra guidebook, Secor. I suspect that a well-orchestrated campaign, timed right, might succeed.

Since we don't know what the Rangers' efforts are, I still think we need to get in touch with them and have them comment before we pass judgement and claim that they are trying to "shotgun" the new name on the climbing community.

Ken, you beat me to it (computer was in the shop for some repairs and I couldn't remember my password): If fidelity/infidelity were a major factor in whether we name things after the person involved, we'd be hard-pressed... thousands of things would never have been named after JFK... and there are probably only a limited number of far-right wingers who think he wasn't a great man...

I was going to wait for the cheaper paperback version to come out next year, but since I seem to be into this a little deeper than I'd like to be, I ordered a copy of the hardcover book and it arrived today. (A run-on sentence, or what?)

Looking forward to seeing whether my opinion changes after reading The Last Season.

Also still trying to find the time to look into tracking down contact information for Rob, so we can get his side of the story.

Hey Richard funny you mentioned that book I ordered it last night along with Galen Rowell "Yosemite & the high sierra" 2007 calender for my dad for christmas...mark

I don't know that we were reading the same book...

I've made the same kind of rants because THERE ARE stupid, uncaring people who enter the wilderness and wishing that these people would stay away does not make one an elitist.

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I don't have the time to write something as eloquent as Bob has, but here are a few comments on why I intend to keep calling it Morgerson and hope that it sticks based on common usage (still assuming that this is the only path that the "Rangers" have in mind):

- he spent an incredible amount of time in public service
- he did his best to try and influence public policy in the handling of the wilderness
- he contributed to scientific research regarding flora and fauna in the Sierra.

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I've now got a new pilgrimage that I'm planning to add to things to do next year. The Bench Lake area is gorgeous and continuing on to where the accident happened... (Calling it an accident because I don't buy into the theory that he killed himself. Lots of people go thru "life sucks" periods in their lives and don't end it. And experienced, or not, snow and ice in summer can do anybody in. Just this past summer, I found myself backpedaling furioulsy to try and keep from getting dumped in a stream when a bridge started to collapse. And I consider myself ultra-conservative in my evaluations of whether a crossing is safe, or not, since most of the time I'm walking by myself.)

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You can now Google Mt. Morgenson. I'm proud of that!

I have to agree with you - I think it was just an accident - experience can give us better judgemnent - but sometimes sh*t happens - probably just a case of bad timing