High Sierra Topix

Sunday June 24 - 4 of us from Ridgecrest(Bob R., Tom S., Walter R. and Tomcat) drove up to Glacier Lodge to hike to Robinson Peak near Sam Mack Meadow in the north fork of the Palasade. We met Snow Nymph up there who stayed the night near the trail head. I think the combination of a late start(930) and slight miscalculation of best route from SM Lake caused us a good chance to make the summit. at 4pm we still had 1100 vertical feet to climb. we decided to turn around and try again another day. back at parking lot appr 7pm - nearly 10 hours. mixed with the 11 hours of yesterday - Snow Nymph and I had a 20+ hour weekend.

still had some great view of Temple Crag and North Palisade peaks. next time we start a little earlier and should not make same route problems.


Sunday morning as we headed out of the Parking Lot we ran into Fred Beckey as he was returning from climbing the Swiss Arete of Mt. Sill. Eighty-four years old and still climbing!
His partner in the parking lot told us they were headed for Tuolumne for some climbing before returning to Seattle.

Fred is not a man of many words. A couple of us said, "Good Morning, Mr Beckey.", but he
said nothing and just kept on walking. Several years ago Al Green saw him in the North Fork
of Lone Pine Creek and asked, "Climbing something, Fred?". He just said, "Not today" and
kept on walking. "Rock-on", Mr. Beckey. I hope you're still climbing when you're 100. :-)




pictures:
http://tomcat-rc.smugmug.com/gallery/30 ... 599#P-1-15

Those pictures are great.

Man, running into Beckey is priceless (and the pic of him too). "man of a few words" - classic.

Thanks for the report. The featured photo of North Pal below Beckey's photo is tremendous. Fred Beckey is indeed a marvel and an inspiration. I too hope that he's climbing at 100.

thanks guys - there was a lot of things to feel good about on this trip

often summiting a peak is not what it is all about - more of enjoying the moment, the time, and the place - words alone cannot capture all the wonderful things I have seen and enjoyed in last few year. if God can let my body hold together nearly as long as Mr. Beckey I will be blessed.

can you imagine talking to your Dad about climbing a peak - what would you say when he say "son - I am not a young man anymore" answer - nothing just look at that picture and smile. if you do what you love - passion can take you a long way.

Tom, that photo of Fred Beckey is priceless. No matter how many times you stand in front of Temple Crag its more magnificent than the last.
Looks like you had another great day.

My favorite photo
http://www.traditionalmountaineering.or ... Beckey.htm

Tom...those are very pretty pictures...it looks like a really nice day! About 14 years ago we did a day hike loop in that area..we had our 1st look of Temple Crag... I remember on the hike out we crossed paths with an older gentleman, he was hauling all this climbing gear all over him, he liked rushed right past us..I remember how he made an impression on me for some reason..just the fast glimpse we had of him..maybe it was because he was an older gentleman and he was climbing..just something very unique that caught my attention about him...later on we ran into some other people on the trail..they had told us there was an accident on the Palisades Glacier someone either got hurt or killed I don't remember for sure..but there were helicopters flying....they also asked if we had seen the gentleman..they did say a name..but I do not remember what name they told me..I am thinking the person they asked about and that we saw was Fred Beckey. Kinda cool when I think back at it. Thats such a beautiful area!
Thank you for sharing your pictures!

Dave - priceless views and priceless photos - they are memories that will last me a life time

Anite - thank you for sharing you story - now you get to hear one of mine.

about 10 years ago we hiked into Rock Creek Lake to do some ice fishing. it was a heavy snow year so the road was not open all the way to the top even 2 weeks after opening of fishing season.
about 3pm it started to snow so we figured we better bail out before it got bad situation for us(beer drinking fisherman)
on the way down - we met a gentleman skiing in - he looked to be about 70 years old. he was skiing by himself - with snow falling - into one of the most beautiful areas in the Sierras. he had a look of someone who knew what he was doing - did not look like some foolheated adventure.

I remember thinking "I want that to be me at that age" - to this day I have never forgot that encouter.

sorry to jump off subject.
thanks again - Tom

Tom..thats so wonderful! I Loved it..thank you for sharing your story.
It's interesting how some people come into our lives for such a short time..encounters where you don't even say one word to the person..yet they leave you a gift of learning something or just a good feeling.. you always remember & you probably will never see the person again in your life..but they gave you something that you will always remember...pretty cool I think

That was a FUN trip even though we didn't summit. Sam Mack Meadow is a beautiful area, and this was my first time to Sam Mack Lake. I'll be back!

My photos: http://snownymph.smugmug.com/gallery/30 ... #167680689

Beautiful pictures Snowy. Especially liked your zoomed in shot of Walter, TomS and TomCat going up the snow. The rock looks immense compared to them. Awesome.

It's so good to see the wildflowers. What a gorgeous area.