JULY 1997
by Cesar*

After a well deserved night's rest, we wake up to a beautiful bright blue morning.  Typically, BerrisBob also wakes up to a altitude-induced throbbing headache. We set about eating breakfast (BerrisBob manages very little success in this endeavor) and trying to dry the dew off our tents.

Soon we are packed up ready to hit the trail. Today's hike is slated to be about 12 miles, up and over New Army Pass, then along Rock Creek to somewhere in the vicinity of Guyot Flat. Funny, somehow the pack seems to have gotten a little heavier overnight.

Where are we? We have arrived at New Army Pass, at 12,400 feet our first real vertical challenge of the trip. It's all downhill for the next several miles.

Here we are at the top of New Army Pass, looking out to the south toward Cirque Peak. On our first trip to Whitney, we encountered a church group of 20 or so near the end of a two week trip at this spot. Today, we're all alone here.

Beautiful view from the top of New Army Pass, overlooking the cascading Cottonwood Lakes, our starting point this morning.

Tom plays 'King of the Hill' at the top of New Army Pass. To be honest, no one had the energy to challenge him.

New Army Pass takes its toll on BerrisBob, already trying to cope with a serious headache and some minor nausea due to the altitude. Even though the trail descends slowly from here, he's not setting any speed records. After only about 8 of the proposed 12 miles for today's journey, he is spent and can not continue. Reluctantly, the group picks out a nice camp site in a wooded area adjacent to a pretty little meadow and nice stream to supply drinking water. BerrisBob takes a little nap while the others make a small but nice campfire.

Just after dinner, the clouds move in and a wild hail storm ensues. We retreat to our tents to wait out the downpour of 1/4 inch hail, which lasts for about 20 minutes. Just as quickly as it arrived the storm departs, leaving a clear blue sky and extra crisp mountain air. We manage to get the fire going again, barely.  Apart from that, the entertainment switches to a large black beetle we notice crawling around. This critter is known as a 'Stink Bug', supposedly because it emits a particularly foul odor as a defense when it is attacked. We quickly test this theory by repeatedly prodding it with a stick, but all it does is stick its butt way up in the air as in a warning. Each time we prod and it gestures, BerrisBob expresses its thoughts: "DON'T MESS WITH ME... HERE'S MY ASS!". For some unfathomable reason, this is quite amusing to the rest of the group.

As darkness begins to set in and the lack of firewood emasculates the fire, everyone but BerrisBob retires to his tent. BerrisBob does his best to keep the fire alive, waiting for 9:59pm and the appearance of the Russian satellite Mir. It appears on schedule as predicted, and Phil is still awake to get his first ever sighting of the crippled vessel as it drifts across the sky. Then its off to snoozeland; due to the lack of progress today, tomorrow's hike just got tougher- a lot tougher.

Phil stands in the 'V-Tree', with Mt. Whitney and surrounding jagged peaks visible in the shadows, still about 15 miles away.

The camp site for Day 2 features a fire (center of photo), a rare but welcome event on these backpacking trips.Only problem- no one brought any marshmallows.

* This section was originally supposed to have been documented by Cesar. Apparently, Cesar had no thoughts on the subject which, it seems, would tend to make for a very boring travelogue. This chore has thus fallen on BerrisBob, who I dare say has performed splendidly in this matter.

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