Well, thank you for that, Joe, but there was no real sacrifice in parting with the permits. I knew when I filled out the app back in February, using a blanket "any type hike, any available date in July" strategy, that a really early July date would probably not work. Listing you on the app as the alternate group leader, and therefore capable of utilizing the permits if we couldn't, was the plan all along.
What Joe didn't mention in his narrative was that, after my first attempt at Whitney in the summer of 2009, he was the first person from the WPS board to contact me and offer his regrets (and his desire to meet Tucker some day!). That's really how we first became friends, and I'm very glad he took the time and effort to make that initial gesture.
Looking back, that was the spark that eventually led to my sticking with Whitney summit plans, and ultimately to making so many friends among the fine folks on these Whitney-centric boards (I'd never participated in a message board of any kind prior to deciding to try Whitney). My winter Death Valley getaways, and first Whitney attempt, were all solo before this happened. Now, these twice-yearly trips to Cali are as much about hooking up with the wonderful, mountain-mided people on the boards as they are about the mountains themselves. I've had the great pleasure to meet and/or hike with many of the board members, and that generates a unique sense of community I've never quite experienced before. I can't begin to express how cool it was a few weeks ago to start up Corkscrew Peak in Death Valley with so many great folks from the boards. Overnighting on and summitting Whitney with Joe last year was the first of what I hope are many such climbs with my bud from Murrieta, CA (I live in Marietta, GA - go figure).
It captivated my wife and daughter as well when they experienced it last year, and we now consider the Eastern Sierra our "second home" because of this. We greatly value these relationships, and are eager to get back out there this summer to reunite with existing friends and make new ones. Oh yeah - and climb a mountain or two! And gorge on pancakes, moose burgers, twice-fried fries . . .
So Steve, put us down for a targeted entry date of July 20th for the MWMT, preferably overnight, if we can snag the walk-in permits. We'll be in the area between roughly 7/13 and 7/25, so we're pretty flexible with what we can get from a permit standpoint. I hope these dates work well in order to get together with as many Zone and WPS members as possible.
Looks like Brianne's "Uncle Joe" will just have to make peace with the fact that he'll be doing Whitney twice in a two-week span. Get the Snickers ready, my friend!
