climbergirl blog

On June 3rd, Charles, Mary, Jay, Petar, Dennis, and myself hiked up to the summit of Mt. Gould. The day was gorgeous, great weather, and the trail was quite dry. Previously, I had been to the top of Kearsarge Pass, but I had not gone the last mile or so to the summit of Mt. Gould.

The hike from Kearsarge Pass to the summit of Mt. Gould wasn’t too challenging. There was a trail of sorts that followed along side the crest, but I chose to boulder up the ridgeline instead of doing the slog. The whole day was a challenge as the elevation kept giving me fits…but just keeping a steady pace was the key. Eventually, my body adjusted and I felt fine-but that took a couple hours. The rest of the group seemed to be doing just dandy, so the hike went fairly fast. At the end of they everybody dipped their feet in the creek at Onion Valley Parking area, and then we went out for Burgers at the Whitney Portal Restaurant. Yummy for my tummy!!!

Walter & I welcomed the first day of Winter by ascending Mt. Jenkins. We left the car (@~5400ft) around 9:30am and got to the summit (nearly 8,000ft) around noon. Not bad for a leisurely pace including a couple stops for snacks and shedding layers. (more…)

Earlier this week, Walter informs me that they have permits available to hike the main trail of Mt. Whitney. It is another China Lake Mountain Rescue Group trip, but with vacancies, I get an invite! Happy to be included, I think for a nanosecond before responding, “YES, I’ll go!!!”.

I’ve heard from several people how demanding this hike is, but it just never registered. I’m excited, because I’ve only ever summited by 5th class climbs, so this will be a challenge. Since I’m not much of a hiker, the 11 mile one way trip up with 6k feet of gain is sure to push my limits! To see Bob Rockwell’s pictures, click on photo album. (more…)

Two years ago, my friends Evan & Rebecca recommended this hike as one of their favorites up in the Tuolumne Meadows area. On Saturday, Dennis & I finally committed to hiking Mt. Dana. We did it with Tom R.’s daughter Megan (a former Ridgecrestee) and her boyfriend Nick. We left the campsite sometime around 9:15am, driving 20+ miles back to Tioga Pass where the trailhead is located.

The Mt. Dana hike is a great half day activity. It took us approximately 2 hours 40 minutes to reach the summit and just under 2 hours to come down. From the top, you see Mono Lake on one side and the domes of Tuolumne Meadows on the other side. It is spectacular, and totally worth the effort! (more…)

Picture Above Left: Alisha & Mike, Justine & Rachel, Me in front.
Picture Right: Me, Rachel, Alisha, & Justine! Who let the babes out!?!

And here it goes!!!!!!!!!!

The cell phone was croaking, a signal that I was supposed to hop out of bed. At 4:45am, not much is happening by way of brain movement, but my body was going through the motions. Get dressed, grab sunblock, brush teeth, take some pills, put sandals on, bug spray, …

It was so quiet all around my campsite-FINALLY a moment of peace and solitude rare for such a popular campground. And yet there I was banging around in the back of my truck! Where’s my Nalgene water bottle? do I have everything? double and tripple checking my actions-last year I forgot my sunglasses-do I have them?

Clutching the Nalgene, throwing the 20+ pound backpack on my back, I walked over to the groupsite. Stoked I was ON TIME and READY to climb Cathedral Peak. It was 5am. (more…)