In 2009 I promised myself that I was done with Whitney. I had tried and failed to summit that year and the year before.* At 72, I figured I was just too old for this game anymore. Besides, I had a .500 batting average, 3 summits in 6 tries, and I didn’t want to sink into negative numbers.
Well friends, I lied. Yesterday (8/16) I broke my promise and hauled my (carc)ass to the top. I even felt pretty good while doing it. I knew from the trailhead that I was going all the way.
Along the way, I had the chance to talk to David from Denver, another geezer who summited yesterday. We agreed that it was great that we run into old folks in the mountains so often these days. I know I often meet graybeards on top of Mt. Baldy. (“Greybeards” is a gender-neutral term; some of these graybeards are women.)
There are a lot of reasons why I decided to make another go at Whitney. For one, because of a thread on this BB about the importance of cutting pounds from your load I replaced my almost 4 pound Asolo clodhoppers for 2 lb.,4 oz. Vasque Scree lo-tops. I also replaced my beloved Osprey Atmos 25 daypack with an REI Stoker 19, saving another 6 oz. directly plus the weight of all the stuff that I used to throw into the Osprey that won’t fit in the Stoker. (And the Stoker is the most comfortable daypack I’ve ever worn; try it.) With those changes it almost felt like I was flying up trails.
Two, I’ve had 2 operations on my right foot in the past year. It still isn’t great and it sure won’t win any beauty contests but it’s a lot better than it used to be.
And three, I’ve had a wonderful hiking summer: the Baldy Ski Hut trail almost every week, a 2 days in the Canadian Rockies, 3 long hikes in Glacier N.P., and summiting a 14er in Colorado on August 7th. (OK, it was only a little 14er**, but still….) By the time I got back home on the 9th I was dreaming of Whitney. I did the Mt. Baldy Death March (the Bear Flats trail to the top and on to the Notch and back down to Manker Flats) on the 13th as a test and it felt good. So, on Wednesday I drove up and snagged a walk-in permit for yesterday.
Doug, when I walked into the Portal store and you greeted me by name that really floored me. It may be the highest honor of my life, in more ways than one. Thank you.
*Jim Coughlin, if you are reading this, “hello.” It was fun hiking with you in ’09 and it was great that you made it to the top then. Have you been back?
**Mt. Handies, in the San Juan Mtns. About as easy as a 14 can be with an incredible view from the top. The only problem is the drive to the trailhead. But there are 2 other 14ers you can get from the same trailhead to sweeten the deal if you have time.
I agree with you on the "Baldy death march" that is a good training hike, but I do the round trip and don't go down to Manker.