SWCAMBORNE

Nurit and I went walking in Sierra Madre last Saturday morning and were able to watch the finish of the Mt Wilson Trail Race. The fastest time was an hour and two minutes. Not bad for sixish miles on dirt in the mountains.

the finish line

For a few years I entertained fantasies of running in this race. But it was not to be.   When I was young and healthy enough I didn’t have the time. Now my knees are not very good for running. But I can walk so I’m still working toward climbing Mt Whitney.  It reminds me of a Bob Hope golf joke: “Someday I hope to shoot my age… of course I’ll have to live to be 120.”

Third Place

Did I mention that they are running in the mountains. See the picture above. This is the area that burned in the Sierra Madre fire in April and then had torrential rain in May. All of the weather caused the race to be rescheduled but not canceled.

Master of the Universe

Yes that is a picture of me at the top of Mt Wilson. On Friday the 31st of August I climbed to the top of Mount Wilson and back.

It was about 19 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 4750 feet.

The weather was perfect for hiking. I started out at 6am with my usual supplies for a walk to Henninger plus an extra 4 liters of water and some snacks.

Dawn on the trail

I had hiked about an hour above Henninger a few weeks ago and thought that I was within an hour of the summit of Mt Wilson. I was off by an hour or two.

Not there yet

The round trip took about 10 hours and at the end I was tired but still had enough energy to go over to Huntington Hospital and visit Gary D. More on that story later.

This was going to be my first of several full day hikes in preparation for climbing Mt Whitney in September but fate has intervened. Gary D’s illness and the delayed completion of our remodel mean that I have run out of time. I’m going to put my name in the lottery for next year and will keep working on this goal. Stay tuned.

I went on my longest hike of the summer yesterday. And I did pretty well. I left Eaton Canyon at 6am

Sunrise

and hiked up to Henniger Flats with a very nice young lady named, I think, Sheila (I didn’t write it down). On the way up we talked about the slide area and what we could do about it. She inspired me to do more than just work a little bit on the worst spots on the trail. See later entries. At Henniger Flats we got a short tour of the now closed museum by the helpful young ranger. She admired my Panama hat since she is from Ecuador like the hat.

At about 8am I left the Flats and headed up the toll road for another hour to the point where it looked like I was close to Mount Wilson.

Tower view point

I could have made it to the top and back if I had had enough time. It was a smoggy still day.

You can just see Downtown LA

I’m training to climb Mt Whitney in September. The Mountain itself is over 14,000 feet high but by driving to Whitney Portal and climbing the Mount Whitney Trail Route the elevation gain is about 6300 feet and the distance is about 12 miles round trip. September is a good time for the climb since the crowds will have decreased substantially. I’m planning to make it a two night three day trip.

Lee Summits Whitney

My friend Lee F climbed it a few years ago as part of his hike along the John Muir Trail.

On the trail

To train I plan to hike in the front range of the San Gabriels a couple of times a week until I can climb 5000 feet in a day with a 15 lb pack. It is a lot harder to climb at altitude but you have to start somewhere.  I’m looking for partners to train with and to go on the climb.