Ok folks we're back..told you it was a "quick trip"
We arrived at Whitney portals at 1:00 p.m. yesterday after a quick lunch in Lone Pine. Yes, the kids chose McDonalds. We topped off the camelbaks and the kids Jansport hydration packs and hit the...bathroom of course! Then, at about 1:20 p.m. we hit the trail. It was a beautiful day with a little breeze, after about 1/4 mile they both said, "can we go back and leave our packs at the car"? I then reminded them that they wanted to carry there packs and it was to late.
The 1st stream crossing arrived...after all the great impute and photos from the message board I thought no problem.. I was wrong, the six year old thought it would be easier to step on the rock that had the 1/64" of water on it rather than the dry rock sticking up 3 inches. Yes he slipped, then slipped again, then stepped into the 6" of water which of course got his boots and socks wet. Then while regaining his footing he slipped all the way to his bottom so now his shorts are wet. So much for the weeks of preparation and talking about taking your time and selecting your steps carefully.
So one creek done ?? to go, things were starting out just fine!
We did run into several hikers and the boys did remember to step aside and let them pass. They were amazed at how nice everyone was and how they offered encouragement to them or told them how well they were doing.
SO they next mile went off without much drama, the nine year old settled into a nice pace for everyone and the 6 year old plugged along with not much of a whimper.
After a couple of stops in the shaded areas we made it to the log crossing. Having survived all the crossings after the 1st spill things were looking up. But, I thought for sure the logs would be intimidating to them but no... it was "ah cool, logs, do we get to walk on them"? Nuff said, another crossing without a hitch.
Lone Pine lake turn off came up and we took the trail down to the lake. What a beautiful little spot. The boys dropped their packs and took off to see the fish. They found one, it was dead.
Linda and I talked to some folks who were there and waiting for some friends to join them. They were heading up to Outpost camp and planning to run for the summit on Thursday. One of them was kind enough to take a family picture of us with the lake in the back ground.
After an hour or so of exploring and a quick snack we headed down. The creek crossings were a breeze, now they were old pros. They enjoyed the trip down, stopping to look at lizards and spiders. But the mosquitos were eating us every time we stopped so we kept going.
We go to the portal at almost 6:00 p.m. and walked through the portal store and the boys got to see the bear canisters that had been put to good use. They thought that was pretty cool.
We left the portal and had dinner at The Pizza Factory. All and all we were very proud of them. They both did real well and didn't complain....much. I know it wasn't far but for them it was quite the adventure and as far as I could tell they had no issues with the altitude.
The next morning we got up and hit the Alabama hills, we got the picture of them with the painted face rock and let them climb around for a few hours. We did find about 8 arches and were lucky enough to find the Lathe, and Mobius arch. Both framed Mount Whitney very nicely. Amazingly they look alot bigger in the photos.
We left for home about 1:00 p.m. and were home unpacking by 3:00. The boys were in bed asleep by 8 p.m.
Another great adventure had by all!! Next time maybe a little higher up the mountain....
Thanks for all the info and help from the board!!
Ron
Last edited by No Handle Newbie; 06/22/07 04:45 AM.
