Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board 12 16 02

15 years ago today we switched the message board from a homemade patch system part 395.com and a software used by a hockey team. Before that we were on GORP and now the rest of the story...

Bob R , Burt, Richard P ,Jim F,Jack and Betsy Jeff M, and many of the first years members check in, Many of the members were hacked several years ago and their member number/user names were changed and they could no longer log in .

I am writing the third edition of the book and will take much of the material from all the post, around 500,000 views for the Mountaineers route , 2,000,000 for Mt Baldy with great reports from the Baldy clan Shin, Burt , Mark and many others.

The reports from first timers are still very helpful , us old duffers can see the conditions , talk to the infrastructure but how we see the Mountain isn't like the person that climbs it for the first time . Hey they will be the next generation.

Thanks everyone for being a part of our 30 years on the Mountain and hope to see everyone next season!

I remember that day...

I was out of the country for a LOT of 02/03, but was at my Mom's for Christmas... I checked the new board and could have had a member number in the top 10, but didn't join until the following summer...

The early days of this board were like the Wild West with all the trolls... I even had an AE so I could be really mean...
(Talking about prior to the upgrade...)

The recent problems are a shame, considering where they came from...

The typical final comment...where did the time go?

Thanks Doug... and Crew.

The Whitney Portal Store Message Board has certainly played a valuable role as a focal point for discussions, insights, conditions updates,...and has promoted safety on the Mountain. Doug, thanks for all the work you have devoted to the Message Board over the years. We wish it many more productive years!

Looking forward to the Third Edition of Mount Whitney: Mountain Lore from the Whitney Store.

The Second Edition is a highly recommended resource. We note on page 1, "The Mountains remind us of our insignificance, and our brotherhood. Visitors realize more clearly how dependent they are upon each other, and strangers become friends easily and quickly."

I appreciate the lessons I have learned on the Mountain and the diversity of people and experiences encountered.

Seasons Greetings to Doug, Doug, Earlene and the Whitney Portal Store Message Board Family.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on the Mountain in 2018.

Jim

Where has the time gone indeed. I vaguely remember clicking around the board close to 20 years ago not really sure (saw a few Whitney-related boards back then for beta). Echo the comments made on this thread so far. Thanks to the board moderators and to all the contributors.

Who knew Conditions on Baldy would pass 2 million! But hey, hope to see whoever is up there up there (hopefully old Baldy will get some snow and rain will quell the fires). 2017 was an epic Sierra season with the snow and varying conditions. Super fun and super challenging.

Thanks Doug and crew for taking the board from it's roots to it's fruition. And to the next generation always going forward.

LOVE the site Doug...very helpful!

Who knew my one little question as a newbie about Conditions on Baldy would launch such a plethora of chatter.
Doug, thanks for the message board, your site is far and away the most informative site for us hikers.
Have a Merry Christmas and a Great New Year.
Rick

Rick You know today I thought I should see who started the Baldy thread!I saw Rick and thought I may or may not know you but one of the self rules I have had since the start of all the boards I would not micro manage or edit a post unless it was offensive. So you started the Baldy post and I always felt the topic was and is a natural fit .Thank You

Doug, All the people who have made the WPSBB and the Mt Baldy thread so useful and enjoyable, and especially you, have added so much to my life!
This past summer was my last season backpacking in the Sierra. I just can't drag a full pack and heavy boots up a steep trail anymore. (I turned 81 in November.)
On my very last Sierra trip, in October, I got back up to Lake Reflection on a perfectly still day and it is as I remembered, one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.
Since October I've been hiking Baldy at least once a week but I can't be sure of reaching the summit every time. When I do make it someone will usually ask how old I am, and then want to take a selfie with me. I guess they go home and tell their friends about the living fossil they met on the mountain: Home sapiens pre-digitalis.
Talking about old geezers, I miss Sam Kim.
Thanks again, friend.

Hey, you forgot to mention Crystal! (Funny, I was trying to remember that troll's name and then it came to me---and then I put the pieces together and only now realize who it most likely was. The posts disappeared around the same time as the physical person. Geez, seems like last week...)

And Burt, what I'm hearing is that it's time to switch to some lightweight gear and trail runners. I'm sure you've got a few more years of overnighters left in you. (Unless "pre-digitalis" means you never had any fingers & toes or you haven't discovered heart medication. Not sure which.)

Crystal! I miss her well not much but that period was very exciting checking the board about every 5 seconds to see what was going on.
Burt like Jeff says go-lite My plan this Hero's hike is the tram up and down ,and wait for the Crew ! That's how we still get on the mountain.
I hope we can repeat last season with very few rescues .I know all your reports help keeping the rescues down , Jim F for his early back country conditions helped many plan for later hikes this season.
James and Calico for early North Fork adventures and snow bridge travel tricks.
The years of experience shared over the years may have saved a few rescues and helped people change some faulty plans . Thanks everyone for being a big part of our 30 years on the marble.

I have a bulletin from the future for all you youngsters (sub-70 year olds). Being 80 is not like being 65 with the addition of a few more wrinkles and a few more dribbles of pee. You are probably not going to hike the Sierra until you're 99 then lie down and quietly pass away one night ("surrounded by loving family and friends" as it always says in the obits).

Not only are there changes at the cellular level that cause you to produce less energy (Thank you, Dr. Lankford, for helping me understand this), if you're like me you will have put some dents and dings in your body over time. I had a hip replacement 15 years ago and a new knee 2 years ago. If you still have a perfect body, congratulations!

I've gone about as light as I can given my less-than-perfect body, and my pack leaving the trailhead is about 4 lbs lighter than it was just a few years ago. My trail pack is a Lowe Alpine, which is a full pound lighter than my previous pack and lighter than anything I've found that's not labeled UL. (I first met the Lowe Alpine brand several years ago when I had to buy a day pack at the hostel store after my Osprey day pack was stolen. Thanks, Doug, you don't carry a big selection but what you carry is the best.) I can't go for a UL pack, like Granite Gear, because my back has been screwed up for years and I have to have some structure if I'm going to carry significant weight at all.

My feet make podiatrists dream of new Mercedes. I've had 4 operations on them and they don't look like anything human. I have to have a stiff tread and ankle support if I'm going to carry a back pack at all. My day hikers are Garmont Draggin'Ass - they have the stiff tread I need without the weight of high tops. I could not do Baldy with trail runners.

The only way I could cut some significant weight is to cheat and not carry a bear can (I have a Wild Idea canister) but then how would I protect my food from the chipmunks?

I hike for the pleasure and beauty of it and also as a way of meeting myself and checking up on what's new with the old bod'. I accept that age = diminished ability. If you don't accept that eventually, you will be very disappointed.

I appreciate your concern and suggestions and my holiday wish for you all is for many years and miles of trail ahead and that you treasure the memories more than you concentrate on the losses.

Not dead yet.

As to why I go into the mountains, Anatoli Boukreev said it best -

“Mountains are not Stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion.”

Burt your post reminds me of the dog story a few. years ago ,blind ,missing rear leg, ear chewed off in a fight can't make it outside to go to the bathroom ,on and on Dogs name Lucky.

Arf!

Wow I think I am old-timer enough that I was here for the "Crystal" thing.

FB changed some things internet & whitney-related, but I prefer this board.

Really, isn't it time for an Alabama Hills hike?

Im still here. Pretty much just a lurker though. Bad knees have screwed me from any serious hiking. I still make it up at least once a year for breakfast or lunch coming back from Mammoth. Still make me laugh every time Doug runs my credit card. The look he gives me when he see's my name. Have a great holiday all. Bob Whitney

Has all my original body parts back then, but took some of those artificial ones up Whitney again this year.

My all time favorite quote by Joe Tasker in Savage Arena:

In some ways, going to the mountains is incomprehensible to many people and inexplicable by those who go. The reasons are difficult to unearth and only with those who are similarly drawn is there no need to try to explain.

I’m only 68, and all of the original parts still work. I’m not as fast as I once was, but I expect to finish the year with a total of 140 summits. I stayed in shape by doing repeats on nearby easy 10K peaks and then ventured south of Reno for 28 more interesting summits.

I forgot that '02 was the height of "fanny pack" summit wear. Haha, oh the trends---maybe we can bring it back for '18?