Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Death or rescue reports from Saturday 10-2-2010

On Saturday October 2, 2010 me and 5 companions came across a group of 6 or 7 young men (early twenties?) at Trail Crest. They were seriously under prepared for the journey up to this point much less continuing up to the top. Several of them were dressed in all cotton, shorts, no gloves, no poles, bad footwear, etc. a few of them were wearing USC logos, another with UCSD or maybe UCSB. One of them had on a white "Jefferson" wig. I tried to talk to them - wish I had said more. We had already yelled at them earlier on the switchbacks for breaking trail. At this point it was already snowing hard. Half of us continued (succesfully!) and the rest of us descended. We asked many people along the way about these boys - apparently they continued making their way to the top. The other half of out group saw them continuing upwards. We continued to ask people about their welfare but heard nothing. I can't imagine that any of these boys made it home with no problems - iam guessing hypothermia at best. I can't stop thinking about them and wish that I could have done more. Looking for any information as to their well-being....

Hello Jamie,

My girlfriend and I summited on Saturday at 12:30. We saw the group you were referring to but did not see them at the top. We also saw many others that appeared under prepared. We were the last to leave the summit around that time as nobody else was on the top or in the hut. We saw several more people coming up as we were descending but saw no one in trouble or heard that anyone was hurt. The visibility up top was near zero with maybe 3 inches of new snow and some loud thunder. Other than that we had a great time.

Thanks,

Keith

A mountain is always a fair fighter, the climber only has his ignorance, his lack of skill or judgment to thank for what he gets.

RLG Irving, Ten Great Mountains

Well stated ! (and oh so true ...)

Oh well is all I can say only the stupid survive. Look at the world.

Say what?

So, I/we am/are stupid? Well, pal, welcome to the/our "world."

You left yourself wide open on this "classification," Nextdrink. I didn't read the previous posts.

Survivors in our unique sort of way, but not stupid.

Survivors...hmmm...let's see victims of crime (i.e. gunshots), war wounded, cancer, illness...they/we are not "stupid."

I am sure you have "survived" something in YOUR life, and I am sure you learned something from it no matter how "trivial" it was.

The only "stupid" thing I have done was to father two kids...I repeated my parents' "mistake." Yes, that is the way I look at it. Yeah, I contributed to the gene pool. I lost one of them in September 2005. But I can say that...been there...done that...that's the price I paid for being "stupid" for allowing one of my offsrping to join the military. Oh, well, life goes on for + @ti2d! Can't spell "s-t-u-p-i-d" without "positive attitude."

Life is a lesson...everyday...I hate what I have done...but I keep living...guess that makes me a "survivor" in my unique sort of way...positive attitude...yep, that is all I need right now.

Maybe I am taking this too far with this "stupid" thing, but let me tell you this, Nextdrink...

Since I am "stupid," I'll teach you a thing or two on how I have/can survive/survived anytime/anywhere.

Enjoy life, and most importantly...

Have fun!

To A Dear Gold Star Parent(@ti2d):

Wow, what you wrote was heavy.....I could almost feel your pain and burden. You're definitely not stupid, but you've definitely been affected deeply from the loss of your son or daughter. Thank you to your child for their sacrifice and service to our country and I'm sorry for your loss and I thank you for your sacrifice....your beloved child.

Sincerely,
Lynn

Please forgive me if you have already read my post when I made a huge mistake by saying that I could almost feel your pain and burden. I know better than to say this to a Gold Star Parent, because no one can know the pain and suffering you have endured. May I offer the suggestion of a wonderful book which is written by other Gold Star Parents called "Surviving the Folded Flag". www.survivingthefoldedflag.com Again, thank you for listening. May God Bless America, May God Bless Us All