Great Seats for a Padre Game

courtesy of my company, I had two first row seats today for the Padre game. We had to be careful of foul balls and broken bats. Only one foul ball came close to us.

More Alligators Bites

Now the alligator is attacking Eileen and Tony is trying to save her. When I took this photo I had no idea that Steve Irwin,the Crocodile Hunter, was killed by a stingray. So lets say that this photo is in memory of Steve Irwin and the adventurous life he led.

Weekend in Mexico

I spent the four day weekend at a resort south of Rosorito in Mexico. This is our first night there as we walk on the trail above the ocean. The path down to the beach is now blocked by a large pile of dirt, but it is easy to walk over. It looks like they are going to build houses there, but nothing in Mexico happens to quickly. It may be years before they actually start building, and then it might take years to finish.



Another photo opportunity of me with an interesting statue.



Steve is horrified at the site of Woody being bit by an alligator.

Weekend Getaway to Needles

Most people don't think of Needles, CA as a place to visit in the middle of the summer, but that is where I ended up this past weekend. A friend of mine was going there with some friends and didn't want to drive, so I said I'd be happy to drive my Mustang. We didn't leave SD until 4PM on a Friday, so we hit traffic everywhere and it took six hours to get there.

We were staying at a house that belonged to John Lee, the man who died in a plane crash last month in Needles. John Lee's girlfriend had some stuff to take care of in town and she invited people out. The first place we went to once arriving was a bar called Red Dog, which John Lee recently bought and was in the middle of renovating. Needles isn't a big town, and there aren't many bars, or any non-abandoned building, around. The Red Dog bar is not like bars I'm used to. They allow smoking inside, the beer is very cheap, and people are there to drink lots of it. I referred to the clientele as "fat, stupid people", which I know is not very nice, but I couldn't believe just how stupidly drunk people were getting. When we went back on Saturday night it was even worse, with fights almost breaking out and one drunk man started yelling at drunk woman accusing her of spilling his drink.

The house was located on the banks of the Colorado River. John Lee had a boat and it was docked below the house. Some people got up early Saturday morning and went water skiing. I hung out at the house during this time and went on the boat later with everyone. The boat had room for about 15 people and with only 9 of us there was plenty of room. We started by speeding down the river to get to the "sandbar", which was a sandbar in the middle of the river where everyone anchors their boat and walks around drinking and who knows what else. It was quite interesting. This was actually my first time doing anything like this, so it was all new to me. After about an hour we headed back to the boat and hung out a little longer. Then it was off to Topack, a bar/restaurant located just off the river, where you dock your boat and walk up a ramp to get to.
We had lunch and drank some beer, including the Topock Swordfish Amber (which I called the Toprock by mistake). We where sitting in the bar area and noticed a TV above the bar with photos being displayed. We soon realized that the photos were being taken of people in the bar when we saw pictures of us! There was a man walking around with a digital camera taking photos and then downloading them to a computer to display on the screen. It was actually very amusing to see peoples reaction when they saw themselves, especially when they were caught in a "compromising situation". As the sun was setting, we headed back to the house to relax before hitting the town again.

On Sunday we woke up early, once again, and ate breakfast at the "usual" place, Jedro's Wagon Wheel. Lisa, who was John Lee's girlfriend, knew the owner and we were treated like royalty, with at least 5 people serving us and making sure we had enough coffee and food. I ate the chicken fried steak for some reason.

After the meal, we made one more river run on the boat before most people had to head home. I wish I had been out to Needles before John Lee's accident. People say he made sure everyone had fun. He bought everyone's drinks at his bar and let everyone stay at his home, which had beds for at least 16 people.

Steve and I left around 4PM and ended up taking a short cut home. Traffic was really bad on the I40, so we took back roads down to the I10, only making one wrong turn in 29 Palms. It still took almost six hours to get home, where I slept like a rock after spending the weekend in a 110+ degrees desert.

I almost forgot to say what a fun, relaxing weekend it was and I hope I have a chance to go back there again.

Old Man In Needles, CA

Topock Swordfish Amber on The River

Topock

Colorado River in Needles

American Airlines Follow-up

After my flight got underway after a four hour delay in Miami, they announced that headsets would be free. Wow, that is a $2 value! I had my own so I didn't take one, but when they asked what drink I wanted I asked for a rum and Coke. Turns out that was free too. A $5 dollar value. Now today I got an e-mail from American telling me that I'm getting 7000 free frequent flyer miles. Much better. I didn't even have to ask.

Back to the Gym at Last

After a six month hiatus, I finally made it back to the gym for a light workout. I took it easy so I wouldn't be in too much pain this week. I stopped going to the gym back in March because I was spending so much time hiking, and the hikes were a way better workout than I was getting in the gym. Then after my big hike, I got sick and it took me over a month to recover. After that I went on the two week trip to Key West where I was so busy working I didn't have time to visit the so-called hotel gym. But now I'm trying to get back into a normal routine since my travel is over for now and I feel semi-healthy.

Travel Delays in Miami

Well now it was my time for some travel delays. My flight from Key West to Miami was on-time. Then in Miami everyone boarded the plane and after ten minutes the pilot said there would be a delay while the automated landing system is checked. Then, after another 15 minutes he said they were checking the engine. Then after another 20 minutes he announced that the plane was being taken out of service but the flight wasn't canceled. First they told us to stay on the plane until they determined if there was another plane available, then they made everyone de-plane and stand in a very long, slow moving line to re-book. The plan was to get another plane to take us to Dallas, Tx. I called the airline and got booked on another flight just in case. I ended up staying on the same flight which left four hours late. This flight was supposed to continue onto San Diego, but once in Dallas they said the flight to San Diego was out of a different gate. So I called the airline again and found out I wasn't booked on that flight, so they booked me and I got to the gate in time to board the plane. I have a AA Advantage Gold card and there is a special number you can call and talk to some without being put on hold or going through an automated menu system. Once in San Diego, now four hours late, I waited for my check-in bag and was surprised that it arrived too! Another 20 minute wait for the shuttle to take me home didn't make my day any better, but at least I'm home.

High Wire Act

Pigs in a Window

Street Performers at Sunset

I had to help him with his performace. Hold a chain, lock him up and help him up.

Snorkeling in Key West

We went out on Skip's boat and he took us to an area with colorful coral reefs and fish. This is Ricardo after exploring a reef with Skip looking for a lobster. We also took the boat under US1 to a small island and walked around a bit. I got a little sunburned, but not too bad. Time for some diner and beer, now.

Lobster Fest in Key West

I ended up at the Lobster Fest three times and nerver ate any lobster!

My Nose Again!

Welcome to Key West and please watch your nose! Well, I didn't. I got off the airplane and as I was walking along the sidewalk looking for my rental car. I walked full speed into a post and smashed my nose and knees. I hit my nose in the same place as I did last year and put another cut in it. After the bleeding stopped, I drove to the hotel and put it one ice.

So for the last three days I have been working long, late nights. Tonight is the first night that I left early enough to stop at a bar and have a drink and listen to a singer at an Irish bar insult patrons as he sung, including my two co-workers. But the money in the parking meter only gave us one hour, so back in the hotel and I am ready for tomorrow where we hope to finish our work so we have a free weekend (is that a run-on sentence?).

Beer Tower

You know it must be late when someone builds the "beer tower". I spent Saturday night at a house in Desert Hot Springs that my friend was house-sitting at. Just relaxed in the pool and spa, drank beer and took strong pain killers for my tooth. Wait, that sounds like a bad combination. Guess that explains why I don't feel so good today. I'll feel even worse after waking up at 3:30 in the morning to catch a flight to Key West, which is where my next blog post will be from.

Mt. Whitney Video

Yes, more Mt. Whitney. I finally found a program to convert my camera's video files to a format that most people can view and with a smaller file size. I shot this video kind of by accident, as you can tell from my wonderful naration, but I'm glad I did because it really captures what was happening as we were climbing the switchbacks into the storm. If you have trouble watching the video, let my know and I'll try converting it to a different format. This movie is a Quicktime format.

Pizza all Weekend

Since I was supposed to be on vacation this week, and traveling for work next week, I ate all the food in my house leaving me with nothing to eat this weekend. So I ordered a X-Large pizza from a local place tonight and it was much bigger than I had expected. Looks like I'll be eating BBQ chicken all weekend long.

Root Canals and Tropical Storms

While frantically getting ready for my trip to Key West, which luckily has not been postponed because TS Chris faded away, the tooth I just had a cavity filled in started hurting more. A few hours later I'm in a chair having a root canal! Not much fun, but at least the pain is gone. Until I get a crown on the tooth, I have to chew only on the left side of my mouth to prevent the tooth from cracking. Yes, my stress level just went up one more notch.

Tropical Storm Chris

This just figures. After canceling my vacation because of a work trip, I might have to postpone my work trip because of a hurricane. Tropical Storm Chris formed yesterday out in the Atlantic and its predicted course has it hitting south Florida on Monday, the day I'm flying to Key West. Why didn't anybody tell me last week that this was going to happen? Hopefully it will not strengthen or stay on its current path. It would make my life much less stressful if it does, and stress is one thing I need no more of.

New Engine and Little Italy

My brother's custom built engine for his mustang finally arrived after one year and is now installed. This car will be fast!

I drove to Little Italy today just to walk around and get a feel for the neighborhood. I just happened to walk past an open realty office and stopped in to ask a few questions. I was there for over an hour talking to the realtor and now I have an appointment next week to look at a few condos in the area. We'll see where this all goes.

Ramblings

For the first time in months, the temperature has cooled. It never got above 80 degrees outside today, and my condo isn't so hot that I feel the need to move away to a cool place. Actually, I still want to move. I drove around the 4S Ranch development today and and was shocked at how many new houses are still being built in the area. Since they have a mello roos, I won't consider living there. I continue to think about moving to downtown San Diego near the Little Italy area. Prices have actually fallen recently and now looks like the time to buy. All I have to do is sell my condo and take the plunge.

Last night and today I received a phone call from my friends vacationing up in Lake Tahoe and they said they miss me there and think I should leave today. I'd like to, but work stops me. I'm still looking for a way to get rich quick so I can quit my job, even though I enjoy what I do, and turn my life into a non-stop vacation. But aren't we all?

My Vacation to Lake Tahoe is Not to Be

It is official - I'm not going to take vacation at Lake Tahoe this year due to work. I tried really hard to to make this trip a go, but it wasn't meant to be. I'll just save my vacation for another day. Now I can spend the weekend in my hot house cleaning up months worth of neglected chores.

John Lee

The man on the left holding a martini glass, early on a Sunday morning, is John Lee. I took this photo during my camping trip to Auga Caliente this spring. This was the first time I had met this person that everyone was talking about. He was described as a fun-going party-animal. He was happy that not everybody left Sunday morning, so he walked into his big motor home and brought out some expensive tequila for everyone to share, and share we did. This was the kind of person John Lee was. Generous. He lived in a nice house in Orange County, owned a bar and houseboat in Needles, CA on the Colorado River and had his own plane which he piloted. Two weeks ago I went to a party in O.C. with some friends and John Lee let us spend the night at his house. Except he wasn't there. He said the front door would be open so just walk in. We did just that and then played pool in his basement before passing-out a 5 AM. What a nice person he was to let us use his house. Well, I just found out yesterday that John Lee died in a plane crash. He was co-piloting his plane when it crashed and burned during take-off in Needles. He and one other passenger died - the pilot is in critical condition. Even though I had only met John Lee once, I was shocked and sadened. Here was a person with everything, including two young children, sadly enough, who everybody liked and respected, and now he is gone. Very sad. So have a drink in his memory - that's what I'm doing now.

Comic-Con 2006 Day 4: Final Day

I actually put in a full day today at the Comic-Con. I wanted to get there to see Walter Koenig, who played Chekov on the original Star Trek series, talk about his life and what projects he is working on. It was kind of funny, he just sort of walked into the room with his wife not sure what to do before someone led him to a waiting area. I'm not sure how old he is, but he was very articulate and didn't have any trouble walking up the stairs to the podium or showing the audience a dance some crazy fan dressed as Underdog did in a show. He is working on many small, independent projects, including Star Trek New Voyages, an internet show that continues where the old series left off. Then came the questions. Most were really good, but one woman asked "Just how much trouble are tribbles?". His response: "Isn't too early in the morning for silly questions?". Even I was embarrassed by this question.

After a fish and chips lunch, I briefly listened to five voice actors, including Billy West, who does some of the voices on Futurama, perform some of their characters. I left to walk around the exhibit hall one more time, hoping to find some last minute deals on actions figures. I lucked out, stumbling upon a Once More with Feeling Dawn. This is a one-per-case figure that is really hard to find. The price was much less that I expected so I bought it quickly.

I was sticking around to see one last presentation: Robot Rumble. Since Starship Smackdown is over, all we have left is robot battles. This is one of the nerdiest panels at the Con, and can also be one of the funniest. The panel and audience choose 16 robots from movies and TV shows to go one-on-one in hypothetical battles until there is a victor. I was rooting for the Buffy-bot, but she was defeated by the robot played by Yol Brynner in Westworld. The winner was actually the two robots from MST3K. This was definitely the end of the Con.

Final thoughts:

I had loads of fun and the long weekend went by quickly. It was like taking a vacation in my own town. I had fun not only at the Con but also eating at restaurants downtown which I don't do that often. My only major complaint is the over crowding. I think the solution might be to scale back the convention, starting with the Hollywood movie studios. Their presentations are wildly popular, but I think they'll try to use their money and influence to bring the convention to Los Angeles. Without them, fewer people might attend, plus Hall H could then be used for the other popular panels such as The Simpsons and Stargate, freeing up ballroom 20 for the next biggest shows. You get the idea. Bigger isn't necessarily better. I think the true fans would enjoy the smaller crowds and being able to attend any panel they wish. See you next year.

Comic-Con 2006 Day 3

Well, it may have finally happened. Comic-Con (almost) got too crowded to be fun. The day started out with an early walk down the streets of downtown in search of breakfast in what must have been the hottest morning temperature ever in San Diego. By the time we sat down for breakfast, I was dripping with sweat. So why I ordered a coffee I'll never know. However, the Ploughman's Boxty hit the spot for a hearty meal.

My sister and I then walked towards the Convention Center, but waited in the shade across the street until they opened all the doors. People were flowing down the streets of downtown towards the center like the flood gates had busted open. Once inside the main hall, we walked around for a while before I journeyed up to see the Simpson's panel. I got in what I thought was the line just to find out that the end of the line was way back around the corner. Since I didn't want to wait, I checked out the art show and then walked back to ballroom 20. The people who had left after watching the Lost panel had cleared out the room, but they were not letting people in yet, even though it was 15 minutes past the start time for Matt Groening to speak. What is their problem at Comic-Con? Just let everyone in and keep the show running on time! Well, I had seen Matt Groening talk many times before, and even though they probably showed a preview of a new episode, I didn't want to waist my time in a ever-growing line that might never move. So I went back downstairs and walked around some more until I realized that I needed to sit to rest my legs.

Sometimes the best presentations are the ones you catch by accident. There was room in 6CDEF for the Quick Draw event. They had three comic artists that were drawing sketches as quickly as they could, either as a contest to see who could draw the best in a short time or they had to draw pre-chosen words that a special guest had to guess, such as "you", "quick" or the toughest was "Styrofoam". It was all very amusing and I'm glad I was there to see it.

One of the artists was Scott Shaw, who every year has his Oddball Comics slideshow. I had seen him years before and even though I don't collect or even read comics, I found it funny. So after a late lunch at Rock Bottom Brewery, I found a seat and even though I was falling asleep in the beginning (thanks to the beer - again), I was soon laughing my ass off. Not only are the comic book covers he showed really strange, but his take on them made them that much funnier. His show ended at 7, which is the end of most events at the Con. Nothing was happening until 8:30, and I knew there was no way I was getting in to watch the masquerade, so I left and hopped onto the trolley.

I do plan on coming back on Sunday, where I might buy a few more action figures and catch one or two more panels.

Comic-Con 2006 Day 2

Day 2 of the Comic-Con started out hectic because I wanted to park at the convention center and I tried a new way to drive there. It seemed like a good plan, plus I left my house early enough. However, traffic control around the convention center is really bad. I ended up driving past a line of cars that was not moving and at the light there were two left turn lanes, so I entered the right-left lane, without cutting anyone off. Then the light turned green and I would have gotten through the intersection had the car in front of me not stopped to let every one else who did not have the right-of-way through. So the light turn red and I'm still in the intersection blocking all the cars on Harbor Drive. Honking the horn never helps but eventually the person in front of me moved and I got into the parking garage.

Once in the convention, I walked around a bit before heading up to the Family Guy panel. It was actually combined with American Dad, since they share writers and directors. Seth MacFarlane, the creator of the show only made an appearance by cell phone, but he did do the voices of Stewie and Quagmire, enough to satisfy the audience. The eight or so guests talked and answered questions for one hour, plus they showed a short preview of upcoming episodes of both shows.

The next event I attended was Battlestar Galactica. Four of the main actors made it this year, including Edward James Olmos, who claimed that this was his first convention. He did pretty well considering the large, rowdy crowd he was speaking to. The cast, which also included Lucy Lawless, seemed to be having as much fun as the audience. There was a montage of clips from the upcoming season but no specific scene was shown. They said that season three will be the "darkest" season yet.

Right after that was the Bones panel which consisted of just David Boroanaz and a producer. It would have been better with the star, Emily Deschanel, but David Boroanaz was still entertaining, for at least a while.

More time on the floor and somewhere in there I ate lunch and then dinner, with a couple of beers each time. Hoping for a second wind, I stayed for the SNL: Saturday TV Funhouse with Robert Smigel. This panel stated out different with Robert Smigle in the audience with his dog puppet, making fun of people and SNL. Then he ran out the door to attack the Klingons in the room next door, but they had already left. That was really funny and unexpected. The camera stopped working as he left but the audio was still on. Once he made it to the stage he showed a bunch of clips from DVDs of his works, including some that were banned from TV. He also showed a clip that included Jesus Christ watching Linus give his speech about Christmas on the Peanut's Christmas show (which was actually very serious and touching scene), and after the short cartoon was over, Robert Smigle pointed out that Jean Schulz, widow of Charles Schulz, was in the audience. She stood up and everyone clapped.

I thought about staying for the Spike and Mike Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation, but I was getting tired (thanks to the beer) and called it a day. After all, Saturday is the biggest and busiest day of all.

Comic-Con 2006 Day 1

I just got home from the first day of Comic-Con 2006 here in warm and sunny San Diego. I arrived around 2PM after ditching work (not really). Since I picked up my badge the day before I didn't have to stand in any lines, allowing me to walk in and start wandering the endless exhibit hall. After about an hour I head up to room 24A to hear Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry Jr., the son of the creator of Star Trek, talk about, what else but Star Trek. I arrived about 10 minutes early just to find out that the room was full and they were not letting anyone else in. Apparently they are enforcing the "no standing in the room" policy this year. There seems to be more of those clueless Elite Security personal this year, who are about as useful as an extra wearing a red uniform in the original Star Trek series. I guess Comic-Con planners didn't expect so many people to attend this panel so they held it in a really small room. What were they thinking? It is Star Trek!

So back to the hall I went, where I ended up buying some action figures, including two new Buffy/Dawn figures, a Lean-Luc Picard Comic-Con exclusive and the entire set of Homies series four. Yes, my taste in collectibles is all over the place. As five approached, I went upstairs to attend a panel on action figures, appropriately enough. There were representatives from about eight different companies there and they responded to all questions with both serious and humorous replies. They were going to raffle off some actions figures, but due to time constraints they just gave everybody in attendance a free figure! You had no choice what you received, but like the guy said - they are free. I ended up with a Halo 2 Heritic Elite figure, which I don't really want. Anyone want it?

From there I headed home to recover for the next three days. This will be a long and fun-filled weekend.

Comic-Con 2006 is Coming to San Diego

It starts tomorrow, and I'll be there all four days. So stay tuned for my daily blog reports with photos and more!

Alabama Hills and Manzanar

After driving down the nerve-wrecking road from Horseshoe Meadows I had hours to kill before I could check in to the hotel in Lone Pine. As I drove passed an area called Alabama Hills I decided to drive in and take some photos. I was here once before and probably took the exact same photo, but one can never take too many pictures. Alabama Hills is famous for being used as a filming location for Hollywood movies. Once you have been there, you'll recognize the location by the unique rock formations in various movies, especially westerns.



From there I drove up to Whitney Portal just to get a preview of what it would be like the next day. I was surprised at how uncrowded the parking lot was. Last time I was there the parking lots filled up quickly, forcing you to park down the hill along the road. I found a spot right near the store and walked around, taking more pictures, including this one of some people fishing.



After only 30 minutes I drove down to the hotel to find out when I could check-in. They said come back at 1PM. So now I had two hours to fill. I drove up and down the main road a few times before deciding to head north to Manzanar Historical Site. Once again, I had been here years before with my brother. Back then, all there was to see were a few old cement foundations scattered along some dirt roads. Since then they added a visitors center. I was really surprised at how nice the center was. They have a huge room with dozens of exhibits that explain the history of this "relocation center" as it was used during WWII to house Japanese Americans. There was almost too much to see and read. I was actually "moved" as I walked around, thinking how bad it must have been to live there. This photo of a wall with all the names of the "residents" (and an exit sign) was very touching. I would recommend to anyone that they stop there next time they drive up the 395.

Mt. Whitney Photos by Chris

Just in - Mt. Whitney trip photos taken by Chris using his Nikon Coolpix 5700 camera. There is a non-Flash version here, and a Flash version with relaxing background music here. Chris took hundreds of photos, and theses are some of his best. Looking at the pictures I don't even recognize some of the scenery. He took the time to stop and photograph what most of us walked by without noticing. There were lots of shots I didn't take because I was too worried about the snow, weather and falling down a hill.

Mt. Whitney Reflections and Photo Gallery

I have posted my best pictures from the Mt. Whitney hike here. These have been slightly enhanced in Photoshop, where I also used a feature that Chris told me about to create the photo gallery.

Reflections:

After we finished our hiking trip along the Whitney Trail, we realized that had we got started hiking the second day at 5 AM then we would have been much higher up the trail, perhaps even to Trail Crest, when the lightening storm hit. This would have put us in even more danger. I guess it was a good thing that we only got as far as we did.

I wonder if I would have made it to the summit if the weather hadn't turned bad. Hiking up the switchbacks I was feeling fine. It wasn't until we stopped to discuss our situation that I started feeling the symptoms of acute altitude sickness. We were at 13,000 feet, the highest I've ever been (except for in an airplane), and I should have eaten more food. Water wasn't a problem - I drank plenty of that. The only way to feel better at this point was to head down, so if I continued up, I would have felt even worse, in theory. Maybe more food would have helped. I will never know. If the altitude hadn't affected me, and the weather was good, I probably had the physical strength to make it all the way. However, then I would have to hike back down, where my knees would have taken a pounding during the 11 miles return trip. My knees barely held up with the seven mile trek they endured that day. I won't even talk about the blisters on my blisters.

Talking about this now I sound like my body is falling apart. I'd like to think I'm in pretty good shape. During the training, I was hiking so much that I lost weight (and some of my beer belly) and reduced my body fat to 12%. I could not have been in much better shape. That is why I can't figure out why I got so sick upon returning home. What started out as a sore throat the day I drove home, turned into the worst sore throat of my life! There was one day last weekend that I could eat or drink anything because my throat was so swollen. Plus I was coughing all day long, making my throat even worse. I saw the doctor and he was stumped - didn't know what was wrong with me. So he sent me to the lab for some blood tests. They all came back negative - there was nothing wrong with me. Even now, a week later, I still feel weak and slightly sick. I hope that next time I go on a strenuous hike that this never happens again. In fact, I'd like still like to hike San Gorgonio later this summer.

Hiking Mt. Whitney

The time had come. Time to conquer Mt. Whitney. It was 1993 when I hiked the Whitney trail for the first time. I was with my sister and we hiked up to Outpost Camp - a relatively easy day hike. Since then I have always wanted to hike to the top but never thought that I would have the opportunity or ability to make it. So here I am, thirteen years later carrying a 35-pound pack ready for this anticipated and challenging trip to the summit.

Steve, who organized this trip, got the permits and gathered eight people to make this two-day trek. Our goal the first day was to hike up to Outpost Camp. We got started late in the morning, knowing that even at a slow pace it would only take us four or five hours to get there. We all weighed our packs at the scale and I had the lightest. Some of the other packs weighed almost 50 pounds! Turns out my pack should have been heavier because I needed to carry more water. I had a water filter, but since it takes time and effort to take off the pack, set up the filter, pump water and put everything back, I was reluctant to keep using it. It also seems that I drink more water than most people. I was drinking about 1 liter per hour of hiking.

We started up the trail after a taking a group photo, winding up the trail towards Lone Pine Lake. We had to cross several small streams along the way, and the spray from the running water felt good in the heat. Once we arrived at Lone Pine Lake, everyone took off their packs, had some food and relaxed. A few of the guys even went for a swim in the cold waters, and one tried his hand at fishing. After about an hour, four of us packed up and headed to our camping area. It is only a one-mile hike from the lake to Outpost Camp, so this stretch didn't take very long. Once there, I set up my little tent. About this time the weather rapidly changed.
The sky got dark, the wind picked up, the temperature dropped and it started to rain. It wasn't raining hard, but it is no fun cooking food and pumping water in the rain. And did I mention that there were more mosquitoes? This time I had most of my skin covered except for my hands, and that's where they were trying to bite me. By the time everyone ate and got their food placed in the bear canisters, it was time for bed.

The plan was to wake up at 4:30 AM and start hiking by 5:00. Good luck! Well, at 4:30 my alarm went off. I hadn't slept too bad, maybe five hours with three trips to the "bathroom" during the night (where I once again scanned the area for bears - there were none). Somehow I became the human alarm clock, walking to everyone's tents and saying "4:30, time to get up". No matter how hard we tried, everything took longer than expected. We didn't start hiking until after 6:15. People were probably getting annoyed at me as I kept saying "we need to get going!". I couldn't wait so I left on my own.

I was full of energy and made it quickly to Mirror Lake. I was following the trail and soon realized I didn't know where to go. The trail ended! I wasn't lost, because I knew how to get back, but then I heard Jim's voice from way above telling me to turn around. Seems I missed the turn at the Mirror Lake sign. So much for my head start.
The next milestone was Trail Camp. It is about three miles from where we camped. This part of the trail was very steep, it had fewer switchbacks and much of the path was hard rock.
It also had our first snow crossings. Most of these weren't too bad, but one in one spot the trail was only one foot-width wide. Hiking poles weren't much use here - just careful steps and good balance (on the way back it was icier and I slipped and stopped from falling a great distance down a steep, snowy hill by leaning into the snow). It was along this trail that the group started to spread out, with some people walking faster and other stopping more often to eat or take photos. Eventually we all made to to Trail Camp. I had never been this far along the trail before, and didn't know what to expect. We were already passed the treeline, and this area looked like a Moon-scape. There weren't that many tents set up. In fact, I couldn't even see where there was room for many tents with all the rocks. We stopped here for some food before we headed to the dreaded 97 switchbacks.

As we got closer to the switchbacks, we realized that we didn't know how to get to them. There was a huge snow field in front of us with what looked like several paths that had been created by previous hikers. Up to this point, we were surprised that there were so few other hikers on the trail. We were hoping to follow others who knew their way. So we decided to follow the most worn path across the snow. The snow was soft and required lots of work as we went straight up the side of the hill, with our legs sinking deeply into the snow. We finally got to a point where we could see the trail in the dirt off to the right. These were the switchbacks. Once on the trail, the hiking was much easier. I was told that there was a spot coming up where I could filter water. I had already drank most of my water, once again. I finally got caught up to the leaders and we stopped to refill our water. This is the last place to get water, so I filled up 4 liters worth. This took a long time, plus I was sitting uncomfortably on a jagged rock. By the time I finished, everyone had left me behind, except for the brothers, who were slowly making there way up behind me. I wanted to catch up to everyone else, so I skipped eating, which was a big mistake.

I continued up the switchbacks, meeting up with Mike. There were several patches of snow to cross, making the trip slow and tedious. We then made it to the famous cable section. The snow was so thick here, that the only way to get by was to go on the outside of the cables, in the snow, and then back inside and up a 6 foot rock. We helped each other out here, but even so, this was the scariest part of the hike. One slip and down the snow covered hill you go. Once we all passed this section, we continued up. The whole time I noticed clouds forming to the south and west. I knew this wasn't good. If my sister was with me she would have had us turn around at first sight of any clouds. She is smarter that us - we kept going. After all, is was only 10:15 AM - thunderstorms usually happen after noon. The higher we got, the colder the air became. I put on an extra jacket and kept hiking. Then it started to rain. Then the rain turned to hail. Then the hail turned to snow. At this point the eight of us were widely scattered along the trail. Chris was the highest up, then Steve, Mike and I and the rest were somewhere below. We were discussing what to do. Mike and I both agreed that we should go back down. Steve said "Maybe it will just blow over". Storms on Whitney never "blow over". Just as somebody asked "Should be go back?" there was the loud clap of thunder. At that point we all quickly turned around and headed down to safety.

At the time I didn't realize what had happened to Chris. Just before the thunder, he saw or heard an electrical arch between his hiking poles. Wow! That is too way close. Turns out that there were other hikers on the top who also got caught in the storm and had to run for their lives as they heard the static electricity in all the rocks and their hiking poles. The trip down the trail wasn't to difficult until we hit the cable section. The snow was more icy and I had to hold onto the cables to keep from sliding away. Good thing the lightening did not strike then! Further along the trail, I heard someone yell and saw Erin lying on the rocky ground writhing in pain. He had twisted his ankle and fell over. We didn't know that to do. His brother Tony said "Come on, get up. You can't stay here". Typical brother. Well, he wasn't going anywhere for a while. After about 20 minutes, Erin was able to stand. They gave him painkillers, carried most of the stuff in his pack and he was somehow able to walk on his own. We didn't know what to do if he could not have walked.

We later found out that there was a woman higher up on the trail that needed more help than Erin. I read on a forum after getting home that this woman was rescued by a man who we passed on the switchbacks. This man was on a ten day hike with his sons. We passed them on the way up and down, talking to him briefly, but enough to learn his pack weighed 70 lbs. The man ended up carrying this woman who was soaking wet, delirious and probably ready to die if she didn't get medical care, back to Trail Camp. He had a satellite phone and called for help. A helicopter was later sent to pick her up. She was lucky he and other hikers helped. We had no idea this was going on behind us.

The three of us in the lead took a different path down the long snowfield below the switchbacks. I don't know if it was a better route or not, but as we watched the others behind us, suddenly one of them started sliding down the snow. No, he didn't slip, he just wanted to slide down. Turns out it was Jim and he said he had the ride of his life. Glad that someone was having fun for all of us.

By the time we all got to Trail Camp the snow and rain had stopped, but we still heard thunder rumbling above. The skies were very dark so we kept up our good pace. Hiking down the trail we walked faster and took very few breaks. We just wanted to get back to the cars as soon as possible. At one point I ended up alone, between the faster and slower hikers. I suddenly started feeling very sad and depressed. I guess the realization that I wasn't making it to the top finally set in. I wanted to make it so bad, that the disappointment was very hard. Then I remembered reading the night before we left about all the sicknesses you can get from hiking at altitude, and depression was one of the symptoms. So I quickly turned my thoughts to happier times and preceded on.

I seemed to take forever to get back to our camp site, where we still had to pack up. The camp site was now very crowded. The night before there was only one other tent besides our six. Now it looked like a small city, with people running everywhere. As we gathered our belongings, Steve, who started feeling sick eariler, got worse. He had to sit for a long time before feeling well enough to walk again. I too felt somewhhat sick, probably from the altitude and also not eating enough food, but not so sick that I couldn't get ready. I think it took us one hour to pack up all our equipment for the final leg of our journey. The other five hikers who were not injured (or me), agreed to carry much of the equipment for Erin and Steve. Jim also wanted to carry some of my weight, because he knew how bad my knees were hiking down San Jacinto. I ended up giving him my tent poles, which weighed about 3 ounces - at most. I also want to mention that Jim was very helpful with getting ours packs adjusted correctly, and he cracked my back several times relieving my upper back pain. In fact, everyone worked well as a team, helping each other out.

Jim, Darin and I were the last to break camp. I tried my best to walk fast with my full pack, sore knees, tired muscles and blisters on my toes. I know, sounds like I'm complaining. Darin set the pace for me, but it wasn't until it started to rain that I sped up to his liking. I was basically the last one down. Even the two injured hikers beat me. How sad. We arrived at the parking lot around 5:15 and were back at the hotel by 5:45. After a shower I was ready for pizza and beer - and so was everyone else. We were all feeling better by dinner time, completely forgetting how bad we felt as we hiked down. We all agreed that the hike was a success, even though we didn't summit. We all had fun and survived.

It was a learning experience for me. Now I know what to expect and I know what to do differently next time. I needed a bigger pack, poles that don't collapse, broken-in shoes, bigger variety of food (I don't think I can eat another Clif Bar), more warm-up hikes, and if possible, camp at Trail Camp for a shorter trip to the summit. Also, hiking later in the year with less snow would be better. My knees aren't getting any better, so I can only hope I'll have another opportunity to make it to the summit. In fact, Darin and Steve are already talking about trying the Mountaineer's Route up - which is shorter but much steeper.

Sister's New Home and Beer

The traditional shot of Karen in front of her new house. Look how happy she looks.


Her fully stocked new refridgerator.


Turns out I didn't miss out on the Karl Strauss beer after all. This is my first real beer in over a month.