| Oops! Due to circumstances beyond our control, we were not able
this year to honor the
tradition of climbing Mt. Whitney every 5th year. "Why", you ask?
The Sierra wilderness is so popular these days that there are now quotas in
effect limiting the number of people that can enter the wilderness at each
trailhead. Once the quota is filled up, no one else can get in. This has
been in effect for a number of years now and is common knowledge.
What is less well known is that there are also exit quotas on the trailheads. Our plan was to enter the wilderness at either Cottonwood Lakes trailhead or Shepherds Pass trailhead, and exit at Whitney Portal. Since neither trailhead had reached its quota, we thought we were good to go. Unfortunately, the exit quota at Whitney Portal was full for the day we wanted to leave. In fact, it was full each and every day of the month of August. So, in effect, we could enter the wilderness, but we could not get back out!
Instead, we returned to the Twin Lakes area - the location of the aborted 1995 trip - in hopes of completing it this time. Once again, we fell short of our goal. Yes, we are truly a disgrace to our gender. If you don't believe it (i.e., you're mentally challenged) then just check out the accompanying documentary as living proof. If you do believe it, then you're probably too smart to waste your time on it. I salute you. For those of you who just can't resist (and we're tracking your IP address so we know who you are), then proceed boldly ahead. And remember.. no complaining.
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