Wed, June 4 - Sierras

Gary Dunkley (Dunk), a good friend, flies into San Jose with all his climbing kit. We drive through Yosemite, over the Tioga Pass, and down #395 to the Lone Pine ranger station, arriving 5:30PM, 30 minutes before closing time. Other than being a bit cool over the pass, it is ideal "top down" weather and we enjoy a good chat and a few rays on the drive.

The ranger has just done the mountaineer's route on Mt. Whitney and explains that the main chute has unconsolidated snow which could avalanche, while the upper portions are mixed rock and ice with significant vertical exposure. In contrast, conditions in a chute adjacent to the standard route are excellent. We take the permit for the standard route, which will have us camp at Trail Camp (12,000 ft) tomorrow, and summit the following day. The other three members of our party, Alex, Eric and Arnaut, leave the Bay Area at 6PM and do not arrive till the wee hours of the night. 

Drive to Whitney

Dunk and I spend the night on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land, sleeping under the stars. BLM land is very lightly regulated. The good news is you can camp wherever you like at no charge. The bad news is you sometimes share the land with kooks having guns, motorcylces, jeeps, booze or combinations of all the above. We are fortunate and have the place to ourselves, enjoying a beautiful starlit evening.