[pct-l] hiking with dog

[gschenk1 at roadrunner.com]

---- Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes <diane at santabarbarahikes.com> wrote: 
> and invited me again to get warm. Now mind you, I'm 44 years old,  
> kinda small, just an old lady and these guys looked like football  
> players. I sighed in relief and said, "Oh thank god! Only 10 miles.  
> I'm so happy. I'll be there in no time." They looked at me like I was  
> nuts. They said, "You know, it took us all day long to get here." I  
> can't tell you how many times young bucks said stuff like that to me.  
> If I had a dollar for every time, I could do another thru-hike.  
> "You're going how far? You'll never make it! You'll be hiking in the  
> dark. I hope you have a headlamp." Ha ha ha. I was checking in to the  
> hotel on Snoqualmie Pass by 6pm and gorging on pork chops and hot  
> chocolate shortly thereafter. That's the thing I loved the most on my  
> hike. I was superwoman.

LOL. A couple of years ago, my girlfriend and I decided it was time to dayhike Mt. Whitney on the main trail from the portal. Starting at the switchbacks and up to trail crest and beyond, we leapfrogged a couple of times with these young guys who looked like linebackers. We are in our 50s.

I screwed up trying to find the spot to turn off to Muir Peak so we ended up making Whitney summit after these kids. As we walked up these kids started congratulating us, "Wow! You made it! Congratulations! You guys are awesome!" They were very excited for us.

I look at them and say, "Ok, thanks congratulations to you, too." We walk on and my girlfriend stops and says, "We're the oldest people up here." So that was it, those kids were excited that Ma and Pa Kettle actually made it to the top! Granny and gramps had wobbled and weezed all the way up!

It was the easiest Sierra Peak we've ever climbed.