Saturday, October 31, 2009

A Stop Along the Way

Someone asked me why Wade chose to climb Mt. Whitney at this time. This was a stop along the way to a vacation rental house in Green Valley, Arizona, and late October is a nice time to visit there. Wade and Jeanne had been through Lone Pine several times in past years, and Wade has had his eye on climbing Mt. Whitney for a long time. He applied for his permit approximately six weeks ago, and had been planning the climb with great anticipation. When he showed me the webcam pictures a few weeks ago, I never thought I would be here.
Posted by at

6 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 31, 2009 at 8:21 AM

    Michelle, did he carry a small day pack with him on occasion in case he wanted to drop part of his load to summit without the weight? It's not an uncommon practice, and maybe he couldn't find his main pack on the way down so he kept going since he knew it was getting to late in the day to go back up for it... Praying and remaining hopeful. Tanya

    ReplyDelete
  2. MichelleOctober 31, 2009 at 8:27 AM

    Jeanne says he has carried a small pack inside the big pack in the past, but she doesn't know if he did this time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousOctober 31, 2009 at 8:45 AM

    That could be good news. Are the helicopters able to get up today yet? T

    ReplyDelete
  4. MichelleOctober 31, 2009 at 8:53 AM

    On further thought, Jeanne thinks he brought a smaller day pack on the trip, but it's not here in the room or in the car, so it's possible that the big pack was getting too heavy and he took what he thought he needed, maybe forgetting to take his wallet out of one of the many pockets.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousOctober 31, 2009 at 9:22 AM

    Have they fully inventoried his pack yet? Just watched U-tube video of the climb you have a link to here. Trails are quite nice. I can see why Wade thinks doing this one solo is okay. The video of the hike was enticing to me... T

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousOctober 31, 2009 at 9:47 AM

    That's good news then...I was rolling it over and over in my mind last night why he would have just set his pack down - admiring views, taking pics, exploring a side trail without the added weight...ect. But it worried me that he was without supply - but if he has that small day pack that's great news. I know he was always extremely prepared. When he took us for that day hike he carried enough water and protein bars for all of us for a few days - even tho we all had brought water and lunch just for our afternoon. Wade planned ahead. :) I'm so very hopeful that they will find him today! Give our love to Jeanne and all of you. Leah, Angel and Brad Ryan

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)