The process for obtaining a permit to hike Mt. Whitney is a bit convoluted, and relies on punctual form submission, proper request format, pre-payment, and pure dumb luck to come out a winner. The US Forest Service limits the amount of people allowed on the mountain each day, and because the demand for permits is extremely high a lottery system was introduced to be as fair as possible to all applicants. The lottery drawing begins on February 17th, with the winners and losers notified via mail in April.
As luck would have it, this past Friday I received an envelope in the mail containing one of these:
Awww Yeah! I actually won a spot on the mountain. Looks like my training won’t be in vain. I’ll see you up at 14,500ft in September! The plan is to run up and down Mt. Whitney Trail (22 miles) in under 8 hours. As you can see I have an extra spot open on my reservation. Want to come along?
UPDATE 9/9/09: I’ve successfully completed my Mt. Whitney run. See this post for details and photos!
Landmarks, Running, Sports
california, camping, Landmarks, Running, Sports
There’s a semi-secret primitive camping site that isn’t well known in Anza Borrego and those that use it are typically well behaved seasoned campers out to enjoy a relaxing time under a pristine evening sky. Last night we caught a break and had the entire campgrounds to ourselves. Luckily for us not everybody had MLK day off. With no fear of bothering anyone (we’re very considerate towards our fellow campers) we turned up the music, set up our tents, and fired up the grill. Once we were settled in I took some time to venture away from camp to grab myself a refreshing bottled water shower on a large flat rock overlooking the encroaching sunset. If you ever go camping I highly suggest you follow suit. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.
Cleaned and refreshed, I wandered back into camp and found a few empty beer bottles already littering the camp site, and Ron sprawled out on the ground peering through the telescope of his powerful spring powered air rifle loaded with pellets taking aim at our sole plastic bottle of ketchup, which I thought we were going to use for dinner. I swear I heard him softly mutter something about “death before dishonor” while slowly squeezing the trigger and fatally gutting the tasty condiment.
Stocked up with a cache of Monster I was ready to hit the road
It was when our driver began to throw back a few road beers that I knew this trip might at any moment go completely sideways. There was no turning back now...
My first order of business was to set up my tent...
Well armed, Ron takes aim at our only roll of toilet paper
The sun slowly sets behind our camp
When it was time to start the fire, it quickly became obvious that Paul was never a Boy Scout.
Camp fire and wine bottles
Two of the wine bottles Ron managed to knock back. After downing them he claimed to still be thirsty. Animal!
Personal, holiday
camping
Karin and I took a quick spin to Home Depot to pick up a new air filter for the house when we spotted this urban camper settled in for what appears to be an extended stay. Notice the satellite dish next to the camper door? The man must be on a serious shopping mission.
If nothing else you gotta admire his dedication to staying off the grid. It’s this type of person we’ll be looking up to when machines finally take over…
Unusual Sightings
camper, camping, parking
