Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board AsABat Memorial - October 13, 2012

Hi I would like Laura to take the lead on this and Richards ideal of peak bagging could be a nice trip on Friday or Sunday without the pressure of the potluck on Saturday night .

Kurt is right we should stay together and limit the disatnce , The example was the Thor hike about 2 miles and we had a very easy day that everyone was able to reach the end goal.

I dropped him an email today. I'll let you know what I find out.

Edge of the World (aka Edge of the Earth) has some fantastic views, is accessible from Horseshoe Meadows, is not very long (can be steep depending on route), and has more than enough room to accommodate many many people.

Hello everyone. I am Bill's son. He would like any place that had a view. He liked to get up high, enjoy the view, and what he called the "natural high". He liked to walk by meadows and lakes, but he liked to stop on the peaks and passes to take in the views. He also felt that on these higher points of land he was closer to God and that made him happy.

On a slightly different not I would love to attend, but I live in Tucson, AZ now and I am not sure I can get the time off. My dad loved the Eastern Sierras. He and I spent many many trips in the area. Including 3 trips with him up Whitney. (He had done it atleast 5 times that I know of, and I suspect the actual number is a lot higher than that.)One of the last overnight trips I did with him was from Horseshoe Meadow to Whitney Portal.

Maybe your employer should read this thread and maybe things may change for the better.



My and our condolences to you and your family during this most difficult time.

Mark, thanks so much for replying, and thanks for your input. Based on this, I might suggest Trail Peak, above Horseshoe Meadows. I'll check the mileage and stats when I get home tonight, but it's not far, and a gentle walk up to the pass, weaving through some boulders on the way to the summit. There's a nice plateau for gathering at the top. In terms of continuing on, we can also walk the PCT between Trail Pass and Cottonwood Pass and descend to HM from there.

It's been a while, but here are some pics from my trip up there:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moosepics621/sets/72157604896665613/with/2466975187/

I do hope, Mark, that you can join us in this celebration of Bill's life.

Robin, let's also discuss Edge of the World!

-L

Trail Peak would be perfect.

Rough estimates for Trail Peak:

Approximately 3 miles from trailhead to summit, gaining 1600-1700 vertical in all. Only about the last 3/4 mile is cross country, mostly Class 1 with maybe some Class 2 around any rocks/boulders.

From Trail Pass to Cottonwood Pass is around 4.8 miles, with an elevation gain of 600-700 feet.

Cottonwood Pass to the trailhead is about 3.7 miles.

The entire loop would be approximately 11 miles, with about 2.5K vertical for the day.



One could also return via the Trail or Mulkey Pass trail to keep that loop around 6-7 miles.

I have also had the suggestion of "Flat Top", which would follow the south fork trail to Cirque Lake, then up from there, but I think we would be getting into a mileage issue again.

-L

I received word last evening that Wayne Pyle passed away on Friday (Aug 24, 2012). Upon asking whether I should post a note here, his son Mike wrote:

We would appreciate that a great deal. He definitely had a great affinity to Mt. Whitney and enjoyed the forums as well...living vicariously through everyone's adventures.

Wayne's major quest in the Sierra was to be able to identify all the peaks visible from any other mountain peak. He created detailed charts showing the precise direction and vertical angle of all the peaks visible from another. Along this line, he tried to identify the record distance one could see another peak from the top of Mt Whitney. (The record is written up somewhere in the forum.)

More specific to Mt Whitney hikers is his often used map image of the 97 switchbacks, which he meticulously counted and plotted on a map. When we established the Whitney webcams, Wayne was instrumental in identifying all the points and peaks visible in the webcam view.

Wayne moved to the east coast, but he kept in contact with our community. When the origin of the name of the Ebersbacher Ledges came up, Wayne did some research, and located Dale and Frances Ebersbacher, and even posted pictures from their first climb where Dale discovered the route on the ledges. Since Dale and Frances were living in North Carolina, he contacted them.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the Pyle family, as well.

Trail Peak would be a nice destination, w/ options for many likes.

May be in the area Oct 13 so may join. Is hike likely to be dog friendly?

I will be there +1.

Shouldn't be a problem for ze doggy, Akichow, since the whole hike is on Forest Service land. Leash laws may apply, I dunno. I don't have a dog.

Don't know who else may show with a pooch, either, but you can work that out.

-L

Thx! I hike with my pup leashed so no problems there. Have business trip to LA two days before, so may do grand loop.

I will be there.

Joyce

Here's a updated list of people attending as of 9-12-12.


Participants:
Kurt Wedberg
Richard P.
Rosabella
Richard, Rosie's Family
Ken, Rosie's Family
MooseTracks, Laura
PhilB
GreenMountainBoy
JamesL
trail bud
Tracie B
Chris Jeffrey, Bill's son
Hikergirl76, Joyce
AKAChow,
Spinefixer, Richard plus 1

maybe's
Ranboze, Robin
Ridgeline, Dave

Count me as a definite "maybe." The deciders will be the final choice of route/destination (and the weather, of course). I didn't know AsABat but I enjoyed reading his postings and I would pay my respects to him based on that. Also, I would like the opportunity to meet or meet again some of the people who are planning to attend.

So, for me, it would be important that it be group activity scaled to many people's abilities (the kind of people who read this board) and not just those who eat Whitney for breakfast. (For me, 17.4 miles in the mountains isn't 7 hours.)

Burt, we've changed the game for precisely that reason. We are headed for Trail Peak. See earlier posts and a map I posted with stats. I think it's about 3 miles or so to the peak, <2000 vert to get there from the Horseshoe Meadows TH.

-L

Thanks Laura. I saw that post but I thought it was still up for discussion; I didn't realize it was a decision. That moves me into the "Planning to Go" column.

Here are the stats from my groups' acclimation hike last month
Trail Peak, Aug 19 2012