Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board CLMRG 50th Anniversary Celebration

This is way off-topic, but several of you are familiar with the China Lake Mountain Rescue Group's activities in and around these mountains--as well as far afield--and may want to take advantage. It will be the weekend of October 25, in Ridgecrest, with the banquet and program on Saturday night. The public is invited; RSVP with your $40 before October 20.

The 50th committee has been working on this for over a year, and the program should be quite interesting to those who care about mountain SAR and its local history. Speakers include the sheriff of Kern county, me (the history of CLMRG and Carl Heller), the first woman on our team (now in her 90s), an old Navy helo pilot (exciting times on past CLMRG operations). Two past members will talk about the evolution of SAR strategy and of equipment over the years. There will be a couple of short humorous skits.

Go to www.clmrg.org to find out more. It's under "NEWS, updates," about 6" down on the first page. Links for details and the invitation are there.

If you can't come, here are some historical slides that will be showing off to the side during the cocktail hour.

Fantastic historical slideshow.That Rockwell guy was was quite a studdly looking young buck.

Happy 50th!!! The CLMRG has had a great reputation for a long time. Thanks Bob to you and everyone who has served in it through the years.

The CLMRG used to keep a litter at Iceberg Lake and I used it twice on rescues when I happened to come upon injured people during a climb. I wish it was still there.

Thanks for sharing the pics Bob and to everyone in the CLMRG keep up the great work!!!

Hi Got the first notice last spring and put it on the todo list, If there is a lull in the program Earlene can talk about the first night she meet Bob or we could talk about the night Tom S was going to sleep in the Bear Box. This will be a great chance to see the group in one place . Hope to see alot of the board there Thanks Doug

hey Bob R. the Over The Hill Track Club, Ridgecrest has changed the date of their KO Half Marathon to Oct. 25th. this was Joe Oliver's idea so that maybe folks coming out to celebrate your 50th anniversary can get in a little running and or walking that morning. check out: www.othtc.com for details.
sorry to say but I will be missing your anniversary and half marathon as I will be running in a 24 hour event in san fran.
have a great 50th celebration.
Chris

bob,
thanks for sharing the photos. how cool to see a chronicle in time of CLMRG's work in the Sierra and other areas of Calif. plus looking at the clothing, the packs, ropes, etc. of each decade was fascinating. what adventures you had and continue to have.

happy 50th to the CLMRG!! thanks for your dedication and hard work. keep it up!

bob,
i would love to be there. i've enjoyed hiking with you, al green, dennis burge and jim nichols. seeing the photo's of you all... young, tanned, and sitting on summits made me smile. on each hike i get to hear the stories of rescues, international hikes and climbs and i can't help but feel some envy.

it would be such fun to share an evening dedicated to sharing all those amazing adventures. i have a prior commitment but you never know, i might just have to tweak my schedule... the CLMRG only turns 50 once and it would be hard to miss all the history, stories and laughs that evening will hold!

bump

Thank you for this Bob...Well..I would love to go to this.I was mulling the idea over of coming down,but it is just not going to happen.. wish Tahoe was not so far North...Very cool 1958 the year I was born too...still have a few weeks before I hit the 50 mark!!!
I will enjoy the picture album
Congratulations to all at CLMRG.. for this service you do!
Have a wonderful evening!

Hi So how do you finish a great week, Monday I met with the USDA on a project we have worked on for several years and they plan to do a report how working together we can provide housing for 34 families, another start up meeting to see where the Alabama Hills can see some more funding and learned that Tuttle Ck. campground will be OPEN this winter. Got an Email that a study was funded(200,000) for the Whitney area to look at parking and shuttle ideals, this is a long term problem and the light may shine now on a solution.

Friday night drove to Bishop to listen and see Kurts slide show and hear the band, the house was full and one great night , if you get a chance see one of the slide shows down south ,very well done alot more than a show of the mountain.

Saturday night we then drove south to the 50TH CLMRG event I had tears from laughing how the members told stories of past failed great plans. The high point for me to see the female member recall her events she is 90 now .

Last Saturday several of us took a walk up to Trailcrest as you look around recap on the week it's the people, the time one spends traveling along, the relationships that bond us into a share point in time, and that may span 50 years or a lifetime ,what we share with each other adds to our strength and challenges us to never look back and say I wished I had ,life is a mountain that we climb everyday and the next mountain will be that much eaiser . Thanks to Kurt, and John the CLMRG and all that has pasted by the last many years . Thanks Doug

Bob,

Thanks for the pics. As someone who is also about to turn 50, these photos brought back many memories of hiking in the mid 70's and 80's with those "heavy packs" and "long pants". Thanks again!

A good time was had by all at the CLMRG banquet. It was fun hanging with Bob & Sheila, Doug & Earline and Laura, and paying tribute to the rescue group. I consider myself fortunate to have had the pleasure to hike and climb with this exceptional group of folks over the years, and have learned a lot in doing so.

Bob gave a great presentation on the history of the group and its founder, Carl Heller. Others spoke on the past, present and future challenges of the organization and rescue ops in general, with a fair amount of humor laced in as well! The Kern County Sheriff’s Dept. even had their brand-spanking-new Huey II helicopter on site (with a ceiling of 20,000 feet!).

All together it was a great evening and another reminder of how much we all benefit from the services of volunteers in so many different ways.

Dave

There were two DVDs made at the celebration. One is of the program on Saturday night, including the 90 y/o gal that Doug mentioned. It was done professionally, and the result shows it.

And earlier about ten "Old Timers" had gathered for a couple of hours to reminisce about and relive some of the more memorable rescues and searches--many of which involved Mt. Whitney--going back to the very early '60s. That DVD was made by a pretty darn good amateur. It also has the ~350 historical slides mentioned above, set to music, with artistic fades and other refinements.

We are selling the two DVD set for a few bucks more than it costs us, with "few" meaning the low single digits. Make your $20 check out to CLMRG (a 501(c)(3) charity, so you'll benefit at tax time) and mail it to me:

Bob Rockwell
1000 E Skylark Ave
Ridgecrest, CA 93555

I think you'll get a kick out of them, and help us in the process.

PS. Every current member except for one was at the banquet, and we took this group picture. My wife had to leave early, so she is missing, too.

Bob got the dvds in the mail today watched the "evening banquet" dvd lots of fun that night and great facts, stories and skits. thanks for taking time and sending these out...mark