EISPIRATEN

Cool hike and ascent Sam and Ryan! congrats on coming up with the idea and finding the way (this time!) though the first attempt looked fun too. do you have any desire to go back and do it again? i would like to give it a go if you do.

i didn't bring my camera but used my friends. if she sends me the pix i will post a TR. for sure, we should get out and hike together.

Johanna,

i hiked up Santa Paula Creek to the saddle below the summit yesterday with Ron H and a friend and there were bear tracks everywhere! Big ones too! we saw more bear tracks than any other animal. i thought for sure we would run into one, but didn't.

Thanks all! the weather was the antithesis of when i did the MR eary April. it was spectacular to climb in it and enjoy the summit for nearly an hour. Vitaly (i know i spelt your name wrong, there's another vowel in there i believe), i still have the Trango's for day snow hiking, but i bought double...

Hi Bradley! Long time, no see. :D Excellent TR. Really enjoyed it! Glad you both got out of there safely. This must have been the hike you had mentioned to me about using bikes to speed up the distance traveled. Now that you are familiar with the hike, do you think you could shorten the time it take...

You've got some awesome photos there Mitch! :D I like the one looking down at the climbers at Echo Cliffs. Glad you and the kids had such a good day and that they enjoyed being able to claim a summit. The views from there are awesome, especially after a storm when the islands feel so close you can t...

:D Beautiful photos Patrick! Glad you had such a good time and got to see so many things. Isn't Death Valley beautiful? I loved seeing your photos of the ridge from Bennett to Telescope. I always thought that was such a pretty view since you can see the peak before you clearly. DV holds special mean...

Hi Patrick! The plan is to head back to the Sierra with Split Mtn in mind. The weather will dictate if it is a Go. You know, i DID look at Telescope and pointed it out to both Paul and Andy who were not familiar with the peaks in the distance. I'm sure you had a great time! Did i miss your TR? i bet...

I had not done a snow camp of Mount Whitney via the Main Trail so when Jim (Calicokat) invited me to join him and two of his friends, it was easy to say "Yes!" :D On Friday 5/14/10 we had a nice relaxed hike from the Portal to Trail Camp via the Main Trail to Outpost Camp where we filled u...

beautiful photos Elwood! i went up IHC last Tuesday to Bighorn and was the only car in the lot at 6:30 am. like you, found ourselves the only ones on the summit. i always love the beauty of that canyon and especially when it is so quiet.

do they come in bright Green?

This was certainly a change from all the snow climbs of late... I asked a friend of a Facebook friend about info on Santa Paula Peak and before you know it we made plans, he invites friends, i invite friends and we have a whole lotta hikers making their way up this great little peak. I have been eye...

James wrote:Dave, besides wind, what conditions did you encounter that steered you away from the Jepson chutes?

Norris!

sorry i could not resist! you know i love you Norris!

what a photo! thank goodness they didn't kill him like the poor bear last year in Ojai. they shot him while he was up in a tree. very sad. nice to see Oxnard work to save the bear and relocate him instead of killing him. the Los Padres Forest is teeming with wildlife since there is little encroachme...

Dave G wrote:...Thanks Tina, glad you like it! FWIW, I didn't inhale.

I did! and even blew a mighty fine smoke ring, in the rain! some rarely used skills stay with you forever!

thanx Kit Fox! i joined. look forward to their help with ID'ing.

Nice day hike Dave & Norris! A two'fer. Extra points for not getting blown away! Boy, that north side of San G and Jepson sure is pretty, isn't it?

Some view!

Hamik, capitvating TR! I enjoyed the traverse through your voice. Nice, spontaneous Plan B.

Yes, it's getting warm Sam, but we will have hazy/gloomy days to come that will keep the temps down for a comfortable traverse.

simonov wrote: Heart breaker!

no axe envy Mitch! i remember your axe as being very handsome too!

Nice leg stretch Mark!!

The handsomest ice axe i have ever seen belongs to Cy Kaicener.

He said it was circa 1960.

zach,

glad you all had an awesome climb and nothing tops the euphoric feeling of a hard-earned summit! sa-weeeeeeeeet! damn, i wish i had better foresight, but there is always next year...

cold and windy but it was a damn good time! a couple more pix from our Baldy Bowl attempt the other night... Wind and snow at the hut on our retreat http://lh5.ggpht.com/_tLZpFwoRpyI/S9xSgLfgLqI/AAAAAAAA3G8/ZmJ5acFGwAM/s576/P1030744.JPG Bat Zach http://lh3.ggpht.com/_tLZpFwoRpyI/S9xSjHh6fxI/AAAAAAAA...

Great group shot Taco. we kinda make it look cold. i guess i did take it hard when Patrick broke his crampon and our Baldy summit was aborted. hope i didn't leave any marks!... on your gortex.

Hey "Famous Dave" i hear you got a nice bbq going too!

the orange tags i think were from the CMC. we met them one weekend in IHC when they said they were scouting FRC for a hike the following week. next time i went up FRC, there was the tape.

nice pentarock. good find!

cool! did it catch the Atherians on Baldy last night?

Awesome! thanks for sharing. Split is on my to-do list for this year. your TR just kicked my excitement level for it up a notch! glad you had a great time.

PackerGreg, thanks for the link from me too! i did not know about that one and i have a whole Favorites Folder tab on my pc dedicated to flowers since i love trying to ID them.

awww... Spring is here!

almost forgot to post this...

this is for you Taco! Dave channneling his inner warrior.