Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Shin The Samurai

Much more later....
Just wanted to tell you all that Shin did the MR in Friday a d then the 24 mile hike out to Rae Lakes and back.

Very nice! Were you guys heading down from Kearsarge Pass around 12pm on Saturday? I think we might have run into you on our way over the pass from the JMT.

We got back to OV at around 1:00, so probably 11:30 at the pass.
Saw Walter Runkle and Bob R on the trail.

Ahhh... okay. I thought we might have see you, but I might have been a little delusional thinking about finally being able to take a shower and eat real food after nine days.

Great job Richard and Shin! You guys are truley modern day Mountain Men!

Shin! Congratulations and I look forward to hearing your side of the experience. Miss your smile!

Richard changed his plan of hiking from OV/Whitney to Whitney/MR on Friday if I am interested in. My answer was 'YES'.
Then I joined with him to hike from Onion valley to Rae lake over night hike on Saturday and Sunday.

Reason to hike with him:
1) I can learn some new from Richard.
2) To give a real test to my right knee which has been giving me problems for last 8 months.
3) To be able to see mountains north of Mt. Whitney.

Preparation:
Tested all hiking gears including tent and stove by camping out on Mt. Baldy two weekends.

Aug. 2nd. at Portal:
Spent time with Portal crew and had fun time as usual. They made me feel welcomed.

The highlight of the day:
I met Davey and Tracy and enjoyed listening to their project Whitney 3X.

Aug. 3rd. Whitney/MR:
Things I learned from Richard:
1) Hike very slowly first 20-30 minutes till your body warm
up then maintain the speed with well controlled breathing.
+ We didn't have any break or long resting at all except
Richard wanted to talk with hikers or his friends on
the trail or taking pictures.

2) Keep eyes on the direction where you are going once in a
while so you won't add unnecessary distance to your hike.
+ Richard let me wonder around till Iceberg lake and later
he pointed out that I was rather off his GPS reading.
I tend to hike looking down position in order to ignore
distance ahead of me. There were many used trails besides
cairns. I hike just like a snail. I meander around.
If I hike directly form point A to B,I can save the
hiking time and distance. Richard knows every possible
way to hike smart.
The highlight of the day:
I got up the summit without any issues and enjoyed the climb very much. Our very first real stop was at Notch for lunch after came down from the summit.

Aug. 4th Onion valley to Rae lake:
We planed to meet Rosie on her way to finish JMT project at Rae lake area but her plan was modified and she left earlier in the day. We started around 9:30 a.m. No chance to catch her.

The highlight of the day, they are almost miracle:
1)
We ran into an operator of Sequoia Kings Pack Train with three mules. He dropped off her stuff just 15 minutes ago.
Richard told me to wait at next junction then he started to run.
When I got to the junction,I found his pack along the side of trail and he was gone. I waited for him over 30 minutes. It felt a very long wait for me.
He came back saying nothing and braced me hard. HE MET ROSIE!!!!
Good running ability of Richard. He trained hard for this.
What a way to start our hike.
2)
On the way to Glen pass,I saw a hiker I have seen him somewhere
before. I said "Abbas". Yes,he is a regular on Mt. Baldy. A few minutes later Abraham showed up. Masood just passed us a few minutes ago. All three are Mt. Baldy regulars. Richard,Masood,and Abraham climbed Pico de Orizaba in Mexico together last year. What a way and place to meet close friends in the middle of nowhere.
3)
The weather was started to change slowly late afternoon from Glen pass to Rae lake area. We settled down and set up our camp. My JetBoil fail to ignite. It worked just fine on Mt. Baldy summit. Rae lake is just over 450 feet higher than Baldy.
We got very disappointed about the situation after the long hike.
No hot meal or hot coffee in the morning.
I met a angler from city of Orange enjoying catch and release by the lake side. He walked by an offered me a lighter to ignite. After boiling what I need and shut it off. I tried to ignite again. Nothing happened. Richard had a Subway sandwich to survive and he can eat anything any way. I decided to buy out
the light at any cost from him and I cashed him. I met a young man crossing the lake crossing and asked him "Do you have a match or lighter with you?" He said "YES". He pulled out a match from his pocket and handed over to me. I told him that I will pay for it. He said "NO. Take it". He was looking for the information about Glen pass so I gave him everything I knew. He and his group was hiking around Rae lake loop.
What a way to get what we need most in the middle of nowhere from someone who we don't know at all.
4)
After securing the warm coffee next morning,I tried to secure my camping arrangement by looking around the sky.
Two weekends at the summit of Mt. Baldy,all my sleeping set up didn't work well so my wife encouraged me to buy a waterproof bivy sack for this trip. After I put all stuff in the bivy,the sky got dark and thunder,wind,lightning,and RAIN. I zipped up hanged in there for over hour or so. After rain stopped,I heard "Mr. Nimura". It was Richard. We made sure that we survived all right. I have to thank my wife to buy this bivy. If I didn't I would be soaking wet and spent a miserable night.

Aug. 5th.
We enjoyed a beautiful morning with spectacular views of Rae lake. After a nice hot breakfast,we slowly hike back out.

I hiked very slowly from Rae lake to Glen pass but we made a very good time for me. We kept on going on the trail with nice and cool breeze with spectacular views along. The trail was moist from the rain last night. Richard let me hike my own pace entire way down to Onion valley. I was a bit tired a mile before the Kearsarge pass area. We didn't take any rest stop except taking pictures. After the Kearsarge pass is all down hill.

The highlight of the day:
1)
We met Mr. Bob Rockwell having a lunch break at below Gilbert lake. I really wanted to meet him for a long time. Finally, I met the legend of Whitney zone face to face. I want to meet him
soon. What a way to meet someone just along the side of trail
eating tuna sandwich.
2)
BBQ party at Curt & Stacy ranch in Bishop:
I had to get a ice cream cone at McDonald so I did.
I wanted to eat ice cold water melon so I went to Vons and got it. When we got to Curt & Stacy's home,I asked them to let me eat the water melon right away. What a rued guest am I. But I had to eat now. I ate a small amount of soup and coffee around 6:30 a.m..
No lunch or rest at all except visiting Mr. Rockwell.
Curt and Stacy made a special plan for us to join their BBQ party at their new home in Bishop. They prepared a fantastic BBQ dinner for everyone. I went back to the kitchen three times.
Later Jeff,yes my adopted Yeti son,and climbing friend showed up. Curt & Stacy's best friends joined us and we had a fantastic
dinner and visit together.
What a way to end my weekend.

Richard and I left the party around 8:40 and stopped by at Lone Pine and dropped of Richard. I drove home and got to Seal Beach
1:15 a.m. and went to bed around 3:30a.m. and got up 6:30 a.m.
I need some sleep after finishing this TR.

All of this didn't happen if Richard didn't invite me to hike with him. I am glad that I did.

Lastly,thank you Thompson family,Myles and Amy and hostel crew.

See you again.

Pictures are in album link.

Good night.

Dear Shin,

Nobody in this country writes letters anymore. After reading your post, I almost felt like I had just opened a letter from an old friend. Thank you very much for adding some warmth to the evening.

Get some sleep!

Sincerely,

Bee

Shin, I was a little concerned about your safety on Sunday night... a LONG, HARD drive after a LONG weekend of fun.

We ran into April and her clients at LBSL... that break could have lasted for hours...

Glad the knee is up for more than Mt. Baldy... you need to get to the real mountains more often.

When I climb the MR, the GPS is usually reading 4.2 - 4.5 miles... Shin lead and it was reading 4.7 at the summit. Don't blame me if you were tired.

Now that I've had my fun... It was a really fun weekend Shin. You need get up here more often.

Here are some photos:


Alpinglow on Shin as he climbs towards the Elephant's Ear.


Shin approaching the Iceberg Lake headwall.


Shin exiting out of Wayne's Chimney.


The eagle has landed...


Down-climbing the right-side rib.


Back at the Center Of The Universe.


Shin on the west side of Kearsarge Pass.


Shin above Bullfrog Lake.


Doc Abraham on the JMT! Had the pleasure of telling him Doug is joining us for some more Mexico Volcano climbing in a few months.


Shin on the north side of Glenn Pass.

[img]http://piotrowski.smugmug.com/Whats-New-1/Rae-Lakes-August-4-5-2012/i-BJ2Pdjh/0/M/DSC03621-M.jpg[/img]
Shin having breakfast.

[img]http://piotrowski.smugmug.com/Whats-New-1/Rae-Lakes-August-4-5-2012/i-5r7v43G/0/M/DSC03671-M.jpg[/img]
Almost finished.


The rest of the MR photos: http://piotrowski.smugmug.com/Whats-New-1/Mt-Whitney-Mountaineers-Route6/24604994_NVhtr5#!i=2010424245&k=JxzcxtV

The rest of the Rae Lakes photos: http://piotrowski.smugmug.com/Whats-New-1/Rae-Lakes-August-4-5-2012/24604766_dsmxvt#!i=2010863780&k=3chTx9n

We were at the Pass at a little before 11:00am...

Don't want to slight Chuck Faris who was also out on the trail with Bob. (Sorry, I'm terrible with names, but finally remembered when I saw an e-mail sent out by Bob this morning.)

Great story Shin, sounds like a fantastic adventure. Was good to see you on Baldy summit before one of your overnights.

Gambatte!

Shin, it's GREAT that you could visit "The Lakes"! (And you proved that our "better half's" are right about what we should carry every once in a while )

Richard, thank you for showing that, once again, you care for the "People of the wilderness" and not just the summits.

BTW1: great pics from both of you

BTW2: still say you both need to get up to 60 lakes basin (beautiful area)!

Great pictures, great story, great adventure! Looks like you guys had a great time, the rain just makes it all the more interesting.

Good stuff Shin! Nicely done. You guys have me realizing that I need to start diversifying more and getting out to new places, or perhaps I'm just bitter the day after yet another slog up Shepherd Pass :-)

Shin I'm looking forward to #300 in the next few months.

Nice pictures Shin and Richard, what a team..Glad you got to get out there Shin, amazing who you see out there! See you on the trail...

mark

Thanks for the compliments Todd... it's an Olympic Year... maybe that's why all of us are trying a little harder...

Thanks everybody. It's definitely going to happen again and again.

BTW: it's never, ever, been about summits for me... it's something that I've enjoyed since I was a little one and it continues to be about living a healthy lifestyle.

Edit Reason: Although some may question the comment about healthy...


Just when we see that you survive on McD burgers for the full-day journeys.