The Magnifient Perry and I headed up Thursday afternoon to join other members of the San Jacinto Hiking Club for a Friday day hike of Mt. Whitney. Perry made the drive pass quickly by reading aloud from a geology book -- fascinating stuff. It was great to learn that the "real" name of "Boob hill"
is Red hill and how Johannesberg and the Rand mountains came by their names.
Once on the four lane section, we had an interesting experience where a dually truck made a U-turn directly in front of me, stopping so that his truckbed was obstructing half of the right lane
Fifteen minutes out of Line Pine, I saw that a southbound car was heading directly at me -- Perry looked up from reading when I hit the brakes and pulled onto the shoulder. Hmm...are these possibly omens 
We joined our fellow climbers for dinner at Pizza Factory and enjoyed a yummy vegetarian pizza before heading over to the Dow Villa for a pre-hike meeting. Indie Jack (our fearless leader) sat on a hobby horse while describing how to use the Wag Bag he held above his shoulder
As is typical with group hikes, there was some room shuffling. When one fellow noted that he could "handle" three women in one room, the woman who'd paid the room responded wryly "That may be part of your skill set, but you're still not staying with us."
Most of the group wanted to start hiking at 3 AM. As I was still had wounds from falling in the dark on the San Gorgonio 9 peak challenge, Perry and I opted to start around 4:30 AM. We headed back to our room at the Whitney hostel and tried to sleep. Got up at 3 AM and packed up for the big day. Perry got a "leading indicator" from his colon and headed into the bathroom while I tried to fill my Camelbak bladder from the sink. Unfortuantely, water shot out of the faucet and spritzed Perry's pack -- he thought his Wag Bag had leaked.
On the drive up, I had the misfortune of passing gas and nearly asphyxiated my passengers
We finally found a spot in overflow parking and stepped out into the pine-scented, star-filled night -- ahh... heaven at last 
Donned headlamps and started up the trail around 4:35 AM. Seeing the headlamps moving above and below us on the trail reminded me of moonlight Skylines. The sky started lightening in the Owen's valley before passing the waterfall and we were treated to alpenglow on the rocky crags of Whitney after we passed Lone Pine lake.
The weather was perfect -- not too hot, cold or windy. Met Jack and Kathryn just above Mirror Lake. I maintained a steady pace, knowing what lay ahead and settled in for the long climb up the switchbacks after Trail camp. Ran into Hengst Joe, Jeff and Terrie before Trai Crest. It started getting breezy on the ridge, so I kept moving towards the summit. I remembered how much better I'd felt on this section when I did the JMT and HST trail -- altitude acclimation makes a huge difference.
After what seemed like forever, I was finally heading up the final 400 feet. It was a relief to stop at the hut and sign in. Made my way up to the summit rocks and saw Ron huddled in the rocks to keep warm. Also met Lermo from this board
Found an empty rock and hauled out lunch -- I was famished and had a hypoxic headache. After I inhaled my chips and cheese and started working on my pistachios, an enormous marmot ran out from underneath the rocks near me and started harrassing me for food.
I've never encountered such an aggressive member of this species. I didn't want it coming too close, so I started tossing it shelled nuts -- the marmot caught them mid-air. Just as I got ready to share more nuts, the cunning critter ran over to my right side, grabbed Perry's bag of potato chips and disappeared under the rocks. The guys sitting on the rock above the marmot and I started howling with laughter -- we couldn't help it. I attempted to retrieve the chips with my hiking poles (no way was I sticking my hand under that rock) -- no success.
The rest of our group -- Hengst Joe, Jeff, Terrie, Cindy, Lindella and Perry starting arriving while I continued to hunt for those damn chips. Whitney was the second 14ner of the day for Cindy and Lindella -- they also climbed Muir. Terrie took great pictures of the chip thief (included one with his teeth barred) so we can post a BOLO. I had the unenviable task of informing Perry about the fate of the chips, though he took the news in good stride. His feet and knees suffered on the uneven, broken rocks on the ridge between Trail Crest and the summit. He commented that his version of Dante's Inferno would be to hike from Trail Crest to the summit over and over and over...
None of us looked forward to the descent -- I think it almost took me as long as the climb. At Lone Pine lake, we encountered the guys who'd seen the marmot steal the chips. One asked, "Hey lady, do you want to buy some potato chips that I scored off a marmot?"
My bad ankle was screaming for the last half hour. The seven of us (Hengst Joe, Jeff, Terrie, Cindy, Lindella, Perry and I) made sure everyone was back at the Portal before heading down. About five minutes into the drive down, my car started acting weird -- steering felt difficult as did braking 
I became concerned, pulled off the road, and stepped onto the brakes -- the car finally stopped 
Once I stopped shaking, we started down again without incident.
We had a great dinner at the Lone Pine Cafe, though we nearly passed out from hunger before the food arrived. Also enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at the Alabama Hills cafe before heading out. Just when Perry and I thought nothing else dramatic could occur, a northbound truck ran us off the road right after leaving the four lane section
From there on, the drive was uneventful.
Thanks to everyone (including Whitney herself) for a challenging and entertaining experience.
Miles of smiles,
Ellen
