Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Trans-Sierra Trek to Whitney: TSX Challenge

Hi everyone, I'm new to posting on this forum, but I spoke w/ one of your regulars a few days ago and he suggested I put something up. We're trying to get the word out about a handful of trans-sierra treks we are organizing this summer. They are all based off the same hike that Mike Murphy, a 5th grade teacher in Clovis, has taken students and community members on every year for the last 25+ years. Some of you may know Mike.

The trip had a huge impact on me when I first did it in the early 90s, and I think it has an incredibly positive impact on just about everyone it touches. The goal this year is to extend that experience to touch more people / extend the opportunity for kids and families to do something challenging, rewarding and inspiring over the summer.

You can learn more at site we just launched...

www.tsxchallenge.com.

Appreciate your interest, feedback, questions, or comments - please feel free to share the link (or like us on facebook). After reading some of the threads on this forum, I may ping some of you directly to bounce a few ideas off of.

Looks like a nice program.

One question, though. Is your description old, or are you really working on exiting to Whitney Portal. All the information I have seen is that if you start in Sequoia N.P., your permit is good to exit at the Portal, no special permit required.

Good luck with the organizing!

Thanks for the response. We have all our permits from Sequoia N.P., including commercial permit; but when we went down the commercial permitting process, they flagged us and noted that we would also need clearance from Inyo. We were told by Inyo that commercial groups weren't permitted to exit Portal. We're trying to work through Inyo's system to keep things clean, still waiting to hear back.

Welcome aboardand welcome to the "family," Chris.

To think there are people who have lived in the valley all of their live have no idea what is out there in the "Gr8 Yd Opn," but would drive 6 hours to Disneyland.

My wife and I wanted to take underprivileged children and families just like the one aforementioned to the wilderness.

We are having a Whitney Westend Wednesday get together on March 30, 2011, at the Sequoia Brewing Company (north) around 6:00 p.m. You and your associates are more than welcome to join.

Everything I have read (and am counting on for my HST hike, says you get one permit from the entry jurisdiction, even if you are exiting at Trail Crest, subject to the Trail Crest quota. Even what Inyo publishes says this. What's the story? Inyo is now requiring a separate permit for ENTRY AT TRAIL CREST????

Salty, Inyo's Trailcrest Exit permit quota is the ONE and only place I know of where you are required to have a permit to exit the wilderness ...at a certain point.

Until this thread, the rules had always been that anyone entering from another Inyo National Forest trailhead was required to also obtain the Trailhead exit permit (quota is 25 per day). And the rules had also been that anyone starting from Yosemite or Sequoia N.P. (anywhere outside of the Inyo N.F. jurisdiction) did NOT need the exit permit.

It sounds like the rules are different for commercial operators. But it seems like a pretty fine line to me that private groups can exit free and clear, but the same size group, because they are paying someone, cannot.

On the other hand, it also may be true that commercial operators are not permitted to take groups UP the main Mt Whitney trail either (I'm not sure.)

I'd agree, its seems to be a pretty fine line / bit of a gray area. As far as I know, Inyo's restrictions for exiting Portal apply to commercial operators only.

Steve: that has been my understanding and operating assumption for my HST trip.

Steve C, wagga, and I met Mike Murphy at the Sequoia Brewing Company last night.

We were outside preparing to look at a PowerPoint presentation when Mike introduced himself to us in his Mt. Whitney shirt.

We chatted for a while. Another member of the Whitney Zone family and another "Westend" member to boot! Neener, neener, neeeeeeeeeeeeeener!

We look forward to the TSX presentation at the REI in Fresno on April 11, 2011.

We promise not to heckle you, Mike.

Nice meeting you, Mike!

Awesome! Glad you guys connected. Would be great to see you on the 11th.... thx for spreading the word.

Update to this thread - Mike and I will be giving a talk at Fresno REI on Nov. 30th, at 7.00pm, and in San Francisco at Sports Basement on Nov 29th, 6.30pm. If you're in the area, everyone is invited to come share some laughs and take in the scenery as we narrate you through a digital presentation and 2011 recap of our week-long trans-Sierra journey to the summit of Mt. Whitney.

You can reserve your spot on the REI website - http://www.rei.com/event/31397/session/39251

You can RSVP for Sports Basement (Bryant St., in the Mission) here - https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=254402384612409

or checkout www.tsxchallenge.com

There'll also be a chance to win some cool free gear from JanSport. Hope some of you can make it!

Thanks for the note. I just registered. 34 slots left.

Chris, you and Mike have a nice presentation. We enjoyed it.

I hope you fill your trips this year. It looks like everyone on your trips has a great time.

Thanks Steve! Glad you and wagga were able to make it.

cmski11,

Was there a video recording of the presentation on 11/29, or of other like presentations of yours? I live too far away from any of the locations where the presentations occur. I would like view one if I could by other means. If you could let me know I would appreciate it, thanks.

Looky what I found! One of the TSX Challenge participants posted a YouTube video of their recent trip. Glad to see these folks continue to run their trips.

TSX: Trans-Sierra Xtreme Challenge website:

TSX on Facebook


Here's the video:

I saw their terrific presentation at REI up here, which gave me the HST bug (though I realize they do a different route). Sadly, just as my planning was to come to fruition, the Fish and Chagoopa Plateau Fires appear to be requiring deferral. Working on that silver lining!

Hi cmski11,

I really like this trek you have shared on the WZ. I am going to share this trek with my friends to see if they want to do it too. Of course we would have to wait until next year.

Steve C, thanks for posting the video! Delanie did a great job piecing that together.

We just released our trek dates for 2014 for anyone who'd like to join us next year.

2014 TSX Challenge Trek Dates

Or if your interested in the trail in general, you can download our eBook for free from Amazon this weekend (9/7-9/8). Its pretty simple, but will help familiarize yourself with some details if you'd like to try this route on your own.
eBook: Hiking Mt. Whitney, A Guide to the Ultimate Trans-Sierra Trek

Happy to field any questions about the trail if you're giving it a try.

If anyone is in Fresno on the 2nd of Dec or the Bay Area on the 4th of December Mike and I will be giving short talks on our past trips this year taking the trans-sierra route to Mt. Whitney. The talks are pretty fun, informative and hopefully inspirational. Good info if you're considering an approach to Whitney from the west next summer - where permits are easy to get. I know a few of you have joined us for talks in the past and we appreciate your support! ...and photo shop skills

Fresno talk at REI Fresno Dec 2 at 7pm - Free
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/rei-fresno-a...ets-13390745079

Bay Area talk at Sunnyvale Sports Basement Dec 4 at 7pm - Free
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/sports-basem...ets-13390149297