And this is Bob's first backpack since the Whitney trip in Feb, 2011 where he went up the switchbacks to prove it could be done in the dead of winter without technical gear. He doesn't backpack much nowadays and sticks to mostly day climbs and hikes, but he was really looking forward to this trip. When we were in Reno last month he had just bought a new overnight pack and assorted gear he was trying to get used to.
Bob's a machine when he's hiking or climbing. He's extremely disciplined about pace and breaks, and he can cover a lot of ground quickly with just a steady gait - he's 90% legs anyway, so one of his strides is about one and a half of mine. And he focuses intently on his goal. He's got a ridiculously long streak of consecutive successful summits going.
I'd love to see Bob, Richard, Jack, Doug, and Davey McCoy hike Whitney together. That would be one helluva pace, with maybe just a little competitiveness . . .
