Much appreciated, and a great story, Joe. I understand I may see you up there with the Bulldog around the 20th. That still on?
Hey Peter, I've haven't been on the boards much in the past week, but I thought I had read that you were coming out earlier than originally planned from your JMT hike. The 18th, wasn't it? If that's not the case, then hopefully we'll cross paths on the mountain or at the Portal. We plan to head up with Joe on the 20th (assuming permits), and back down the morning of the 22nd. We'll be hanging around the Portal the 22nd-24th, wazzu, so would love to finally meet you if you make it up! I think Chris (SoCalGirl) plans to be there that weekend as well.
Re Cathedral Peak - I don't think Laura will be in for that as she just climbed it with Bob P. last weekend, but you never know. We'll hook up with her somehow - Bri would have a meltdown if she went all the way out there and couldn't get a Mooseback ride. She can't decide from moment to moment who she is more excited about seeing: "Uncle Joe", "Moosie" or Doug.
Catpappy and I went on another rock-climbing expedition last week and discovered that 5.7 is a helluva lot harder than 5.6. Only our second time in an alpine harness, so no big surprise, but it made me think: Cathedral is a 5.6 crux and 4 long pitches - am I ready for this? Talked it over with Bob, though, and he assured me it's "mellow" and within my skill set. Then Laura called last weekend's climb on Cathedral with Bob "fun and challenging". My exact response was, "'Challenging' for Laura = WTF for
me?!" Guess I'll find out in a couple of weeks how steep my mountaineering learning curve is.
Joe, I know that after this coming week's Whitney hike you'll be in tip-top shape for our MMWT backpack on the 20th, but we may have to slow you down some. Bri got a huge 2nd degree burn on the inside of her thigh today from a dirt bike exhaust manifold - probably 6 inches by 3 inches. Ugly. She insists it won't hamper her on Whitney, but I don't see how it can't. We'll know more in a couple of days when we go for a training hike, but just FYI. Hopefully youthful exuberance will override whiny tween mode . . .
