Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board WPSMB group hike 2009

For several years now Paul and Phil have done some great planning and coordination for a group hike. This year has been a rough year and I had a report they would not be able to handle the planning of a group hike. We had discussed some options earlier in the year, but never finalized any hikes.


So here it goes:

Any interest in another group hike this year?
Small peak - big peak - trail / lakes hike?
Hike and BBQ - like last year?
Want to make it in September again - or try something later in the year that has cooler weather conditions?

I saw a querry posed by Hypoxic Zombie yesterday.
Thanks for reminding me - I had forgotten and do not know how time gets away sometimes.

Thanks for starting this post, Tom. I, too, saw Hypoxic Zombie's enquiry yesterday and was about to do the same. I will do my best to plan a Sierra trip around the group hike. The idea of later in the year is intriguing...

Consider me on board as well!!(Schedule permitting) I've attended both of the last two hikes and it really is one of the high points of the year for me. A great time with great folks in a great setting!

Yeah, later in the season with the MR as one of the choices...

Thor again in memory of our good buddy Kent Ashcraft...

Wotans Throne...

Candlelight...

Lone Pine Peak for those who want to suffer...

Mallory, Irvine...

Lets keep it to a Portal Trailhead this year.

Thor and Wotan would involve coordinating permits(unless the hike was after November).
Although I do like the idea of a Thor memorial hike for Dr. Ashcraft - his passing was a tragic loss to our hiking family this year.

Im down fer whateva wheneva,LETS DO THIS. (no team fubars)

Greetings Tom,

If you all organize it, I will sure try my best to be there. I have some scheduling challenges - the next 17 Saturdays are tied up. Maybe there's a holiday and I'll get a day off. I kind of like the idea of a late hike as well. And, I'll bring a special dessert if there's a potluck afterwards.

So here's my suggestion:

- Thor Peak Dr. Ashcraft Memorial Climb

- Bob or Doug invite the Ashcrafts up

- The Moose carries up a case of Ginger Ale (Mormons don't drink and come to think of it, neither do I.) for the toasts at the summit.

- I'll talk to the FS about getting an administrative permit. If they say no, I'll camp out at the VC and get the required number of permits. October won't be busy.

- Early October, so hopefully the weather won't spoil it.

- Split up into manageable group sizes. We've got the choice of at least 5 routes: Secret, Smiley Face, Mirror Lake Approach, SE Couloir, East Couloir

(It's fairly low elevation, so acclimitization shouldn't be too much of an issue.)

Anybody else willing to buy in to this?

OK - planning sounds like it is ok to proceed.

So far I am seeing the most input for Thor Peak
We can proceed with this as our destination unless I hear more input for an alternate.

So now we need to pick a weekend.
Time to start getting input to choose.
I can do most of Sept, October, and November
Will probably leave the first weekend in October free so that I try for a Whitney hike around my birthday.

"open mic for input"

My choice is a bit self serving, but what the heck. I am taking a group of friends up the MR on the 11th and planned on hiking Thor as a warm up on Saturday anyway. So my vote would be Thor on Saturday the 10th. Right now availability for Whitney Zone dayhike permits are 73 on Saturday and 100 on Sunday.

If you pick a Saturday in October, the unused day hike permit numbers show this:

                      2007    2008
     First Saturday    31      35
     Second Saturday   45      57

And for the majority of those days, the week before there were zero available (all slots were reserved). The reality is that there are a lot of people who get the reservations that never show up that late in the year. So several people coming into the Visitor Center on Friday afternoon should be able to pick up enough no-show permits for everyone.

Just make sure someone coordinates as to picking up permits for the group. (Don't pick up more than you KNOW you need.) The Inyo NF people got really alarmed the year the Mountaineers Route permits were non-quota but required. Several people walked in and picked up as many as they could get, which shot the usage numbers sky-high on the group-hike day. While they are on-quota (the Main Trail day hike permit also is the permit for the MR ), there should be plenty available for a group hike.

Thor Peak, in honor of Dr. Ashcraft, gets my vote but I'm open to whatever the group ultimately chooses.

I'm leaving my calendar open from September through November. The MR would be sweet! However Thor would be more meaningful and appropriate. The pot luck after the group hike is a must! If there is any way I can help out, I'd be happy to.

I think we share a birthdate

Hi The second weekend in Oct is the the three day weekend and Film thing in town we have a cookout at the hostel and town is full so we are tied up that weekend , before or after works fine, Thor Peak can be climbed by almost anyone from several routes and it can be made a little harder on many routes so it is a good selection. Inviting the Ashcraft family would be an honor, on the mountain or at the Portal or Hostel to make it easy for the family . Doug

Thanks for the reply Doug.

It looks like:

Sept 26

Oct 3(flex weekend)

Oct 10 - out

Oct 17(flex weekend)

Temps will probably be cold at the Portal - so maybe the Hostel would be good for after hike.

Would someone please like to be a contact for the Ashcrafts - I would think we would like to get some feedback from them before finalizing anything at this point.


feedback welcome at this point

Hey all,

Is this a hike that is open to all on the board? If so I would love to join.

Blooty - getting permits for South Fork on Sunday 8/23/09 will have an extra if you want it.

Mouse

Hi M. Mouse -

This hike would be open to all WPSMB registered users and their guests. The only thing is that as we set a date and get closer to the actual hike date - we will need an accurate head count so that we can obtain the proper permits.

ammendment - I would recommend some comfort with easy class III scrambling. There will not be a screening process and we would rely on individual responsibility for this decision.

As time gets closer we will probably also start a separate thread for "pot luck" bbq.

I'm in

Cool!!!! Thanks Tom.
I'm in if it is not on Oct. 3 weekend. I'm doing Whitney that weekend.

I will look into the class as well.