Mt. Whitney Trail…a little motivation

Every year thousands travel to Mt. Whitney with their hearts set on attaining the 14,494 ft. summit, the highest point in the in the lower 48.

Whitney Portal is by far the most popular entry route to Mt. Whitney. Built in 1904, it’s this trail that myself and a group of friends have said we will hike in the summer of 2010.

This is an adventure I’m looking forward to. 21 miles round trip. 7 hour average time one way with a 6136 ft elevation gain for a summit of almost 15,000 ft. Wow!

As a reminder from a previous post…The inspiration for this extreme hike volunteered me as the Team Leader. No show of hands – No vote – No opinion pole – In fact, it was uttered as she was eating a handful of M&M’s casually walking past my desk.  Anyway…It helped  spark this post and hopefully a means of getting all involved to commit to a challenge that thousands have made before us.

For this reason alone, there is no way that we cant do the same. After all, if Hulda Crooks also known as “Grandma Whitney” could summit Mt. Whitney for her first time at age 65 and then 22 more times after that, then whats keeping us from summiting Mt.Whitney at least once?

Admittedly, Hulda Crooks generation was that of strong and hard working people that helped lay the ground work for much of what we take for granted today. Keep in mind that most all roads and trails in the National Park System were built by hand during her early years.

People today can be overwhelmed by there seemingly busy lifestyle and easily dismiss the better choice or decision for convenience, regardless of what that may be. Sometimes we need to stop and remember the people we came from for inspiration of what it is we can do, and simply hike the trail that they laid.

Hulda also climbed 97 other peaks between the ages of 65 and 91, including Mount Fuji.  When she died, at the age of 101 in Loma Linda, California, she held the record for being the oldest person to climb Mount Whitney and the oldest person to climb Mount Fuji. She also hiked the complete 212-mile high Sierras John Muir Trail.