Sierra Rendezvous 2005

“Yeah...does that mean it's going to snow on us again Pepper? ;)”

“Yep, I'm a year older today. We'll have to celebrate at the trail head.

I'll bring the extra bear cannister just in case someone needs it. We can leave it in the auto if not.

Gem, I take a snack bar for each day while hiking. I also take extra crackers or those little goldfish crackers to help fill the void if needed. Chocolate for the Whitney climb to help with altitude sickness.

Creekjumper, 39# + w/o water. Ouch! How old is your daughter? I would be splittin up that gear with her for sure. I'm hoping to keep mine below 35# with water. We'll see. Like I said before-- lots of food!”

“WW - anything is possible.....”

“Yeah Songbyrd.....my plan was to keep mine below 35#, so I don't really know what went wrong there!!!! My daughter is 19, young and heathly, so oh yeah.....we WILL be doing some shifting of pack contents. I'm also going to go back thru everything and reevaluate it's need. This is my normal routine, but I do tend to lean more towards over preparing for situations. ;0 We'll see what I can do. Hey...if I play my cards right, I could just carry my cannister and tell my daughter that it is perfectly normal to carry 50# in her pack. LOL!”

“Don't despair (ha), you'll get your present one day.”

“really now guys... are you taking an extra pair of pants, shirt, etc???”

“RE: the spreadsheet!! I revised it and sent it out via email to the group. There are some cancelations and some switching around on permits is necessary. If you didn't receive it, please email me rosenkrantz@csupomona.edu

creekjumper - I won't have enough room for Dutch oven stuff this year. Was planning on just having a "potluck" on Saturday night at the campsite...everyone just share stuff. We've done that the past two years and it was a blast...will keep the Dutch ovens in mind for a later time.

Gem - My clothing list included what I will be wearing. I don't take as much extra clothing as I used to and wash selected items every two or three days.

My backpack will probably start out at 44 lbs including 3L water/gatorade.

I played around with my Stubai crampons in the snow on San Gorgonio yesterday and I love them. I think they will come in handy on the passes and just above Guitar Lake as we start up Whitney.”

“gem, I am taking one set of clothes to wear on the trail and one other set to wear at night.

I think in Nav's and Phil's clothing list their items included what they are wearing.

I can't even imagine what it is going to feel like to hike in no humidity”

“"I can't even imagine what it is going to feel like to hike in no humidity."
Ewker

It's freaky man!!”

“Ewker - my list also includes my sleeping/night clothes.”

“Phil, I knew that just didn't say it..lol


no humidity is freaky eh”

“Ok who's camping at the trailhead Friday night? I need to bum some space off of someone...if I can't get a spot.”

“It's easy to dehydrate in dry heat, because you don't realize you are sweating so much. It evaporates so quickly. So be sure to keep drinking your water. Specially with the high altitude.”

“Oh, I don't know.

Lack of humidity is different if one is from the tropical east.”

“I'll be there Friday night, WW, but won't have any room in back of truck- two of us sleeping in there now. I don't know if any of you are staying in the actual campground or just all sleeping in vehicles. I would like to know who's gonna be there Friday night, too, just so I can meet some of you guys FINALLY. Might be getting up early and do University Peak before heading down to the Lakes Sat evening. How will I find you guys? We'll be in a slightly beat up green Toyota p/u, I have short blondish brown hair, 20 lbs heavier than the last time I saw any of you, John is tall, light brown hair.
What time are y'all heading up the trail??”

“Thanks! I guess my clothing list is fine than.
The NO HUMMITITY: Woahh...it's awesome. Here we die in 90 degree, over there 100 degree was actually not bad at all. [at least not for me and ruby]

it would be great to finally meet ya trailtrekker. I think i'll be there Friday.”

“Cool, Gem. Try to find me - is WLD bringing ya in? If so, I'll find you guys no prob. See ya then!”

“trailtrekker, you gonna be at the campsite Friday night. A few of us are staying at the Dow Villa Friday night but will be going up to the campsite, not sure when though. I will be with naviguesser”

“I'll be sleeping in the TH parking lot in the back of John's truck (we may bring my truck instead- not sure yet-either a green Toyota p/u or White Ford Ranger Edge with a NOFO sticker on the back glass). Campsite just a hop from the TH , so if ya know the site numbers, I'll go find ya. Whaddaya mean your staying at the Dow but coming up to the campsite??? TH is outside of Independence, Dow is in Lone Pine. E me Eddy. What time are you guys planning to be on the trail Saturday morning? 6? 7? 8?”

“Sooz, you have mail”

“Eddy- no I don't! :(
sbcglobal.net??”

“I replied to your email”

“okay, got it- will get back to ya later today...”

“Does everyone have a permit? I'm going to cancel mine out and free up 3 spaces because I'm going to day hike University Peak on Saturday instead of doing an overnight trip if I feel up to it (not feeling to good the last few days). Hopefully, I'll catch a few of you at the trailhead either in the morning or in the evening. Is anyone that's going in on Sunday camping at the trailhead on Saturday night or are you partying somewhere in town on Saturday night???? I'd like to stop by and say hi if I can find you.

Trailtrekker - I think I'm going to plan to go over University Pass to get to the peak. I'm going to try to start out by 6 am on Saturday. Maybe if I stay low until I get to the chute that leads to the pass I'll have better luck this time. I hear there's a moraine before University Shoulder, so that way doesn't sound a lot better.”

“Trailtrekker...it would be nice to finally meet you.

Wingding is your permit for the whole trip or just the Kearsarge area?”

“Songbyrd - You've got mail”

“Got a new digital camera for by BD today. Casio camera not much bigger than a credit card. Wooo hooo!! New toys.

Gemini, I bring one pair long pants that convert to shorts, extra pair of shorts so while ones drying I have another to wear. I bring 2 tanks to alternate, long sleeve shirt and thermals for night to layer with, my suimsuit for bathing, vest and jacket, raingear,3 pair socks, 2 undies. I'm debating if I should just use my rain jacket over my long sleeve shirt & thermal & vest and leave my hooded jacket at home. Decisions, decisions. I could always use my sleeping bag as a jacket at night. That would save me some room. Yada Yada Yada, Sorry to raddle on. I'm excited”

“Oh yeah, don't forget the mosiquito head net. I have an extra if anyone needs it. I hear it's really bad this year.”

“my permit is just an overnighter”

“windwalker, I'm with you! What do we need stinkin' clothes for? At night we could all huddle together to keep warm. Wow, what a picture that would be!

happy birthday songbyrd! Yes, we'll celebrate on the trail.

wingding & trailtreker, for sure meet us at the campsite Saturday night.

I read the high sierra thread but no one mentioned if crampons were actually needed. I didn't buy any. I'm taking my chances because 1. I don't want to carry them. 2. I don't want to spend the moulah on them.”

“What do we need stinkin' clothes for? At night we could all huddle together to keep warm.
hikerchic5
9:28:33 PM
7/11/05

I like your way of thinking =)”

“Anyone have word (or photos) about what the South side of Forester Pass looks like?”

“this was 12 days ago....

http://www.pct2005.com/dispatches/conditions/”

“Paige, how are you feeling about your upcoming JMT with all this snow?

Hikerchic, I used crampons on the HST. Not using them works -- unless you slip and slide and, well, you get the picture.

Trailtrekker, we get to meet Sat night at the campground. Cool!”

“Tek, we on the HST, encountered a couple finishing up their JMT hike. When asked to compare the snow on Whitney vs. Forrester, they said the Whitney descent might as well not even had snow compared to Forrester. It sounded like Forrester made them pray to their god. :)

They had axes and crampons.

I'll try to post a pic of the area north of Whitney so you guys can judge for yourselves.”

“Songbyrd, take a look at the 'Eugene needs a ride' thread. Could you help? We forgot to bring him home with us.”

“

Not the best representative photo but here goes.”

“It's not the night before, but I'm going to start packing anyway! I'll be bringing the laundry baskets for sure! (Do you miss me yet, Hodge?)

I haven't had a chance to keep up with all of this sooooo... What is the name of the hotel at the end of the hike? And the phone number? Hopefully, they still have a room or two left.

Hikerchic - I'm planning on driving down Friday night as far as your place. Are you still driving down Saturday? Can I hitch a ride with you? Or, if the laundry baskets take up toooo much room, you can ride with me. Who else is riding down with you? Email me @ anne2500@yahoo.com

Windwalker - Are you bringing Pepsi this year?

OK... back to packing... wait.. maybe I'll have a glass of wine and think about it some more.... :-)”

“Thanks Rockman. Paige, very good link.

I'm concerned about that chute on the South side. Can you imagine hardened ice build up in there throughout the path down? Even if you cut steps, it's dicey. Rather be tied off on the descent. Not worried about the snow field on the Northern approach. Keeping an eye on that pass and the temps.

Other hazards to consider:

1. Mosquitoes
2. Stream-Crossings
3. Skeeters
4. Rock Fall
5. California's National Bird
6. Thunder-storms (late in the day ascents)
7. Zancudos
8. Dehydration / AMS
9. Musketas
10. Avalanche
11. Culex”

“Then there's the: Asian Tiger Mosquito

PHEAR!”

“Tek, I think the snow crossings should be after the sun has warmed the snow enough to kick steps, the do a side to side traverse. Not everyone is bringing crampons, almost no one is bringing an ice axe. Keep in mind -- I have no idea what I am talking about........”

“That shot of Evolution Basin from Muir Pass on July 6 was interesting



Here's mine from July 14 last year

”

“ladyhiker! There you are. Ok, I'll send you an email. Great! We can go party at the local pub that Friday night. Bring the laundry basket! We're gonna cause some trouble down at Moody's local lounge. Woo hoo!

yo Rocky! I can't open your picture! It's giving me the little red ex! I don't like the little red ex.”

“I'll be at the TH friday night and try to find you guys Sat night at the Lakes. That's a large area, so someone come up with some kind of sign so we can find ya!!”

“ooops- that should be wannAbp”

“Quite a difference...eh Hodge ?”

“Ya, and I don't care what you've got strapped to yer feet, those sun cups are a pain in the a$$.”

“so what is in the 1st picture are sun cups?I was wondering what a sun cup was. Can you tell we don't get a lot of snow in Tenn ;)”

“It's going to be over 100 degrees in the Owen's Valley this weekend. Don't forget your sunscreen.”