“Honey, That’s a great cup of coffee”

Good evening fellow hikers and mountain people, springtime is upon us here in Northern California, and I look forward to a wonderful season of hiking, both locally and in my beloved Sierras.  Today I enjoyed a wonderful hike to the top of  Mt. Tam from the Mountain Home Inn/Throckmorton Fire House. Then I continued on

Turlington vs Rossellini – A Battle of Supermodels

A rainy Bay Area day, excellent weather to catch up on errands, clean the house, and do some blog writing and more work on ‘The Mount Whitney Journals’. Today a return to 1998, trip #1 with Mike Gibbons and Mike Galli. On this first trip, we only acclimated for less than a day at our

Wasps and Spiders – The drive to the Whitney Portal

 I share an excerpt from my still in-progress book, ‘The Mount Whitney Journals’. Today’s  is from my first trip to the mountain in 1998. For those of you just joining the narrative, I took this trip with my good friends, Mike Gibbons and Michael Galli. This first trip planted the initial seeds of my long

Lone Pine, CA – A First Visit

An excerpt from my first trip. After our long drive from the Bay Area, Mike Gibbons, Mike Galli and I are in the town of Lone Pine, California. Lone Pine is a desert town near the southern end of highway 395. For those heading up the Mount Whitney trail from the eastern trailhead, the town

Damn the Mosquitos

Book I excerpt. Mike Gibbons, Mike Galli and I just left Yosemite Valley and are now headed to the town of Lone Pine where our motel room at the Alabama Hills Motel awaits us. Once on the road, we make better time, but we are still hours away from our destination. As for this excerpt,

Yosemite Valley in Summer: Glorious and Draining

Excerpt from Book 1 (1998). Although we were headed across Yosemite National Park on Highway 120 on our way to Lee Vining where we’ll then turn south towards Lone Pine, Mike Gibbons, Mike Galli and I took a side trip to Yosemite Valley. Initially, I was against the detour, wanting to avoid the crowds and

‘Old-School’ Travel Philosophy

Excerpt from trip 1, 1998. Mike Gibbons, Mike Galli and I are finally on the road, heading towards the Sierras, Yosemite and our ultimate destination for today, the town of Lone Pine, CA. If the Sierras are a spine, Lone Pine site at the base of the lumbar region, down near the bottom along Highway

Damned Newfangled Cupholders

Greeting fellow mountain people and happy Sunday. A constant theme in my 6 trips to Mt. Whitney is my coffee obsession/addiction. I’ve been drinking coffee since I was in elementary school. Back then, coffee was percolated and Starbucks and Peet’s didn’t exist. Today’s excerpt is again from trip #1 in 1998 and finds me, Mike

Upgrading to an SUV

Happy Easter everyone. Today’s entry from my first trip with Mike Gibbons and Mike Galli chronicles our morning visit to Thrifty Car Rental in Mt. View. At this point, none of us owns a vehicle reliable enough to get us safely and comfortably across the Sierras to Lone Pine and the Whitney Portal.  THE MOUNT

Shopping at REI

An excerpt from Book I. THE MOUNT WHITNEY JOURNALS – Book I – 1998 Monday morning,  AUG. 3, 1998 – 2 Days before the trip I’m at REI, the expedition superstore, in San Carlos for my major outfitting excursion. Since I haven’t done much camping before, I don’t own a lot of equipment. I own