Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Moose's Grand Adventure: The Lost Photos

With all this talk of trail ethics, stolen gear, and missing items, I wanted to share a bit of good karma. Last summer, on day 5 of my trek, my camera walked away. It completely deflated me, and I almost ended the trip over it's disappearance. On my return, DougSr insisted that it would show up at some point. I wasn't sure if it had walked via bipedal critter or if a smarmy-looking marmot had taken an interest (i carried it on my chest strap, so it could have been salty).

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, when my buddie Paul sent me a frantic e-mail and text message saying someone had found a camera at Hamilton Lake and posted a notice on summitpost.org. It took them a week to get back to me, but since then, the camera, and the 4GB card with photos from the Big Arroyo to Hamilton Lake, have arrived home. (The guy said the case had a big hole chewed in it, so it gives a bit of creedence to the marmot theory!!)

Seeing the pics again made my heart soar, and if you are interested, the set is here.

A few highlights:

Above the Big Arroyo:


Headwall to 9-Lakes Basin (Kaweah Gap to the left):


Me at the Kaweah Gap:


Precipice Lake:


View into Valhalla from Precipice Lake:


Mmmm... dinner...


Enjoy! I know I have.
-L

Laura,

Wow!!! Lightning strikes twice!

Needless to say, given my similar experience last autumn, I fully understand "Seeing the pics again made my heart soar"!

Congrats on getting your camera and chip back, and to the person who returned it!

CaT

I love a happy ending. Now this is karma working overtime! Your memories of a special trip have returned home.

Photos are stunning...

I'm anxiously waiting for the Hermit TR. The anticipation is killing me.

Great job grunting up the Hermit summit block. Thanks for the stay at the Moose Lodge.

Great photos to go along with a great story. Now Ineed to do a search for your trip report and read it again. Makes me want to start planning for next year. Thanks for posting.

Congrads on recovering your photos! What's this I hear about the Hermit?

Matt, here's the link to the TR from last August. It was a life changer for me.

Awww... Rickers, I was thinking of you this weekend. Somehow those antlers managed to stretch over top of my helmet! And mostly how in the HELL do you day hike that beast??? TR to follow, stay tuned y'all. It was a big one.

-L

That's a tough one. As you know Lamarck Col is not my favorite place (mainly because it denotes merely the halfway mark to/from a more distant dayhike destination). Did you go in over Lamarck Col or elsewhere? Ok ok ... I'll wait for the report.

That is fantastic that you got your camera and pics back. That wise old sage Doug was right again.

Hey Laura,
C'mon, 'fess up. This photo of yours below - you actually cut and pasted it from an Ansel Adams album:



Just kidding. As an old camera buff who played with black and white as a hobby in my carefree days, I am quite envious of your work.

-Emory

Getting your pictures back, priceless and downright exciting, congrats! And again thank you Laura for sharing your always great adventures and pictures!

Laura:
Congrats! Well I was planning to make a detour and look for your lost camera next month!!! Excellent pics and its amazing that not a single pixel was lost!!!
Krishna

Thanks, everyone! It was indeed a treat to see the pics. Emory: I had the AA shot of Precipice in winter in my head as I was shooting there. A regret was not taking more color photos of the lake! The colors of blue, black, and green in the water were so intense!

Cheers to Russell Blauert of Coronado for returning it to me!

-L