Introduction

My husband, sister, nephew and I are going to climb Mt. Whitney sometime in August or September of 2011. My sister and nephew live near Placerville, Ca. and will be training in the Sierras. My husband and I live in La Jolla, Ca. and will be training in the Cuyamacas and San Jacinto Mountains. This blog will be a record of our training hikes and what we learn along the way.

The challenge: I just turned 60 this month! I have wanted to hike Mt. Whitney ever since my sister and I hiked half way up about 13 or 14 years ago. I don't know why I didn't just do it! I think it just seemed so overwhelming to me at the time. I guess at some point the desire had to overtake the procrastination. Now that I am 60, I realize that I'm not getting any younger and if I don't do it now, I may never do it! Over the years, I have talked to many people that have hiked Whitney and now I'm thinking what's the big deal? If one prepares properly, there is a better chance of succeeding and what the heck? If you don't try, you'll never do it! Also, if we try and don't make it to the top, at least we will have had the joy of training and trying!

So, today I'm filling out the 2011 Mt. Whitney Lottery Application. It has to be mailed between February 1st and March 15th. The Lottery will be held on Feb. 16th and the remaining empty spots will be filled after that. The application and information on how to apply can be found at: http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5227396.pdf.

We're turning in 10 choices. I wonder if we should turn in more? This is the hard part, the part that has been keeping me from doing this all these years. So here goes!