campground to celebrate
Sue and Vic's accomplishment. The windy weather at the campground that
afternoon turned pleasantly tranquil by the time the climbers returned from
Morrison and from a refreshing swim in Convict Lake (Sue never misses a chance
to swim in a lake). As people arrived, food tables continuously appeared and
before you could say "Desert Peaks Section", food was displayed all over them.
Naturally, the sound of popping champagne corks, that unmistakable "whoosh" of
corks being pulled from wine bottles and even the sound of more than a few beer
bottle caps was heard to echo through the night... and that was just to
accompany the hors d'oeurves! As the evening progressed, the entrees started
appearing, including lots of salads, pasta, baked beans, fried chicken, chicken
"flautas" and even some chili (from you know who). Just when it was obvious
that no one could possibly eat another bite, out came the desserts. Did I say
desserts? Yes, there were some, by the tray full, as if we needed them by then!
In fact, there were so many desserts that when Sue brought out her famous, very
delicious, and very caloric "Kahlua Cake", only a small portion of it was eaten
by the next morning... a first, believe me!! (Rumor has it that she broke out
the cake the following afternoon for a small, hungry and select group after the
descent of Glass, depriving 99% of us of that savory delight, drat!) A little
while later, a delightful fire was lit and Sue got out her guitar and played as
expertly as ever, as if two years had not gone by since the last time she
played. We sang songs and were treated to Sherry Harsh's rendition of "The
Cremation of Sam McGee", the Robert Service poem that only she can truly do
justice to. Later, after begging and pleading, we convinced Terry Rivera-Turner
(maybe champagne had something to do with it) to sing "The Rose" and later on
"Amazing Grace" and "Summertime". George and Ira would have been proud at the
latter. In all, some 49 people attended the party. I don't really know what
time the festivities ended. I was in my truck and dreaming of desert peaks by
11:00.
Glass Mtn. Ridge
The following morning people slowly
started getting up around 7:00 a.m. (not Vic; he was at my truck begging for
hot coffee by 6:30 a.m.) and getting ready for Sue and Vic's DPS list finishing
peak, Glass Mtn. Ridge. Instead of having to drive all the way around to
highway 120 from 395 via the Lee Vining turn off, Campy Camphausen suggested
we |
follow a short cut on a
recently paved road to highway 120 which would save us at least 40 (?) miles.
The road he mentioned did indeed save us mileage, BUT a good portion of it
certainly wasn't paved. Not that dirt roads bother the experienced DPS'er too
much, but this particular road was made of fine and powdery dirt, and we had
around 12 vehicles, We kicked up a dust storm so big that it could be seen from
Manitoba! It was necessary for each car to turn on its headlights just to
prevent running into the vehicle directly in front or behind. We arrived at the
trailhead to Glass more than a little dust covered around 10 a.m. and
immediately headed for the peak with Vic and Sue leading. By halfway up the
peak the group had splintered into three groups. As per suggestion by Owen
Maloy, we followed some sandy washes from northeast of the peak biking in a
southwesterly direction which are located to the right of the usual route. It
was a very leisurely paced hike and we took various breaks along the way in
order to allow everyone to catch up. We were on the summit by 11:30 or so, and
once again the sound of champagne corks leaving their snug bottles could be
heard all over the mountain tops. Just what we needed, more champagne! Vic and
Sue celebrated reaching their second DPS list finish with a long kiss on the
summit as they also have the distinction of having climbed all the peaks on
both the DPS and the SPS lists together!! (Sue claims that it never would have
happened if Vic weren't such an "unrelenting and sadistic slave driver") One
climber was so overcome by the emotional moment and so inspired by their
accomplishment that she promised to make her list finisher just as memorable by
hiking her last DPS peak naked! (For her sake I hope it's not on Cerro Pinacate
with all that cholla ..(ouch!) There's more! We also had the opportunity to
celebrate with George Toby his 73rd birthday. We all joined in for a hearty
rendition of "Happy Birthday" to George.
After a suitable time on the
summit Ron Grau guided a small group down the easy, soft and sandy chutes that
led directly back to the vehicles. That group consisted of this writer, Mike
Lorr and three of Sue's colleagues from Santa Monica College who not only made
the peak, but returned to their cars safely, I think much to their surprise!
Meanwhile Sue, Vie and company biked to the n6rth summit where a relay station
is located and got that peak just for good measure ("someone might move the
register there someday!"). Afterwards, they descended Glass only to discover
that there were six bottles of champagne |