EISPIRATEN

. . . it might be slightly faster . . . to hook your GPS up to the PLB via the cable since the PLB would not have to hunt for GPS satellites. As an aside, I cannibalized an "AA" battery from my Garmin GPS and didn't replace it for a couple of days. Consequently, my Garmin's internal clock...

San Diego is a bit south of Southern California.

Announcing a new "Hike San Diego" discussion forum:
http://www.hikesandiego.org

Apparently the Mt Whitney board admin is working on the situation.

http://www.mtsanjacinto.info/viewtopic.php?t=676

How do you organize your GPS track data? Under "My Garmin" I have subfolders for each hiking area, that is, a subfolder for each of the three saints, plus subfolders for other areas. After a hike, I transfer GPS track data from the handheld to my PC and save it in the appropriate subfolde...

Mike P, as you're troubleshooting, a few other possibilities: -- remove spaces from image link -- avoid special characters in image link -- shorten length of image link -- verify image source allows linked viewing (I've had trouble with Google Picasa, so I move target to different host) -- check syn...

Is the Mt Whitney discussion board down temporarily?

http://www.mt-whitney.info

this is quite an expensive hobby Friendowl, like you, I too am shopping to equip myself for my first winter season of hiking. As I shop I keep running cost-benefit analyses in my head. I hesitated on buying a marked-down pair of snowshoes and lost a great deal. My wife unselfishly sacrificed a Tupp...

Renewed Search Effort for Missing San Diego State Student Friday, December 28, 2007 (KUSI) - This weekend, a group of volunteers will search the Santa Monica mountains for signs of 19-year-old Donna Jou. Jou, who was a student at SDSU, disappeared back in June. http://www.kusi.com/news/local/129082...

Did your supplies include alcohol? Did you require a high-altitude stove to warm sake?

In the link code, maybe the BB does not like special characters.

Travis, thanks for testing the KMZ file. It works OK for me now. I resolved my Google Earth error message by installing the latest Google Earth update, purging Google Earth "My Places," and restarting the application.

Travis, I couldn't open your Baden-Powell KMZ file -- Google Earth gave me an error message. I'll try again later.

simonov, earlier this year I purchased a Garmin eTrex Vista CX (the same model that you have?) and included in the box was an installation CD for the Garmin program "MapSource Trip & Waypoint Manager." I use MapSource as the utility to transfer data between the GPS and my PC. As I reca...

simonov, do you have Garmin MapSource software installed on your PC?

Taco, thank you for allowing me a vicarious experience.

Concerning couloirs, Wikipedia says, "These physical features are popular with both skiers and climbers, requiring both stamina and skill, and are possibly fatal if either is lacking."

Studying Rick Kent's photos of his 12/1/2007 Mt Whitney ascent, I don't see much early December snow in the Sierras.

Judging by photo time-stamps, Rick K and his team appear to have trail camped.

luciano, nice photos. It's not easy snapping pictures when fingers work at 20%, and you're trying not to drop the camera, a glove, or a trekking pole.

Taco -- nice photos & video! Did you run out of battery?

Taco wrote:We had the chain-putter-onner dude at Angelus Oaks put our chains on, removing $200 from Fritz's wallet.

I'm in the wrong business.

Snowy Devil's Backbone photos posted by intrepid GigaMike:
http://www.mt-whitney.info/viewtopic.php?t=2164

Winter hiking lessons learned:

-- Consider switching Camelbak from water to something freeze-resistant
-- Snowchains for car
-- Double up gloves & mittens
-- Gaiters
-- Crampons
-- Know WalMart locations near trailheads

Other ideas?

If Hikin_Jim goes silent for a week, it might mean that he's workin' overtime. An alternative explanation is that he is struggling with a decision on a china pattern.

Kathy, are they house cats or free range cats?

This was a poll. These haven't been imported. Sorry.

Kathy, I would have waved a hello to you from one trail to the other, but for visibility in the a.m. . . . . . You may have been challenged keeping your group in sight on the same trail.

I stopped at Baldy Village Restaurant for an end-of-hike burger. Pleasant, seasonal atmosphere. Good hot fire burning in fireplace, Christmas tree & decorations in place, customers playing Christmas carols on piano, and looking outside I could see the first snowfall at Baldy Village this winter....

A hiking pair (who passed me on the way down BC Trail) reported that they u-turned (at perhaps 9400'?) when snow depth was 6 inches.

hvydrt, good TR.

Photos from Bear Canyon attempt on Baldy:
http://picasaweb.google.com/freeburns/2 ... rCanyonRob

KathyW, ditto on Bear Canyon trail. Executed U-turn at 9200 feet (just above the mini-backbones) when footing became treacherous. Saw 10 other hikers on BC trail: 4 Europeans equipped with crampons and ice axes passed me; 4 others (2 pairs) turned short of summit; remaining 2 (wearing sunglasses and...

Good story.