Whitney Prep Hike

Mt. Baldy, which is the local name for Mt. San Antonio, stands at 10,064 ft. The Whitney Team (minus Tina, who could not go on this hike) planned, prepared and addressed the mountain on Saturday morning with celebratory PBJ sandwiches in their packs for the summit. Here is how the summit looked that day:

What's that you say? The summit appears to have tiled floors, dining chairs, and air conditioning? Why, you're quite right. This is not really the summit of Baldy. This is the PX at Fort Irwin, California, which is quite a long hike from the start of the Baldy trail. At approximately 8am on Saturday morning we received a phone call from Litos :

who said that he had permission to receive visitors that day. Litos is shipping out to Iraq soon and this was a rare chance to visit with him. (He is regularly stationed at a post in faraway Missouri.) The hikers immediately changed plans and began a trek out to Ft. Irwin instead. Mike especially enjoyed all the road signs that said "tank crossing", but we did not see any real tanks.

Juliet and The Baker actually hiked Mt. Baldy and made the summit. If the Fates are not kind on July 10, they will be the only hikers to actually summit Whitney as well.

Zeke also made the very long drive to Ft. Irwin, and we all nearly died. Being in the car seat is not his favorite activity. Let's just say we had to sing "The Wheels on the Bus" more than three times.

Zeke's First Trick

Ta-dah! The promised video of Zeke rolling over. Okay, so it's more like he just falls to the side, kindasorta. It's better without the cheesy audio.

Zeke's Second Trick

   This particular trick is impressive because he is using his own muscles to hold his head up and to pull into the standing position.  He usually ends with a giant smile but didn't this time because he is suspicious of the camera.

   Yea Zeke!

Whitney Prep 03

   The hiking party has been finalized and the training has begun!  

   A huge thanks to Juliet for her motivating influence.  Juliet made a goal to get out and hike something - anything - every Saturday between now and D-day.  I could not go with her this last Saturday and, it seems, cannot go with her for the next two Saturdays.  It may be a good thing that I cannot go because I do not have the milk supply for multiple long hikes.  When hiking I will be forced to "pump and dump", which means that Zeke will be fed from the supply of milk I have accumulated in the freezer.  I will need approximately 32 oz. for D-day itself and my current supply is about 24 oz., so I don't have a whole lot of milk to spare for training hikes.  

   Instead of hiking, Mike and I have committed to running.  Tonight I ran 2 miles in the hilly streets of my neighborhood.  Mike is currently out running his route.  The goal is to run everyday and hike when we can.  It may not be ideal training for Whitney, but it will have to do.  

  The finalized hiking party is:

   Tina

   Mike

   China

   The Treat

   Juliet

   The Baker