High Sierra Topix

Interesting story in the LA Times about a 13 year old who left a note on a peak on the Great Western Divide in 1972:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2 ... peak-.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Any idea which peak it would be - must be fairly remote given the general area?

From the L.A. Times Sunday, Oct 7

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2 ... peak-.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

assuming this is a similar post:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=8455" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The article mentions proximity to Milestone mountain, and the boys note states an altitude of 12785 ft. There is a bump on the ridge extending ESE from Table Mountain that is listed at that altitude on the old 15-min quads. I believe it is visible in the photo on the Wikipedia page for Table Mtn. (Upper center of photo) - looks pretty tough for a 13 year old!

On the ridge extending ESE from Table Mtn...

I found a note like that on top of Red Peak Pass in Yosemite this summer. It was in a small metal container and said it was from 1974. I thought it was interesting that it could have survived for so long being that Red Peak Pass is on a well established trail... but I don't know why anyone would bother to fake a note like that. Cool find but not sure I would call a newspaper.

Link to photo of note found on Red Peak Pass for anyone interested : https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/t ... directlink" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chris

Topics have been merged.

Just saw a news story on CBS affiliate in San Diego regarding this. The boy that wrote that note (Tim Taylor) has been located. Now around 53 years old, he is a Superior Court judge in SD. He was interviewed for the news piece - evidently he vividly remembered that climb back on August 1972, though he hadn't thought much about it in recent years until he got the call from the guy who found his summit note from Peak 12785. Pretty cool story.

I'm sure there are a number of threads on HST about encounters with old summit registers. My only personal "time capsule" moment came when I left a copy of the Facts About Caltech brochure in the summit register bottle on top of Caltech Peak back in 1979. I believe it is still there despite there being fairly moderate traffic up that quite easy climb...

ironmike wrote:My only personal "time capsule" moment came when I left a copy of the Facts About Caltech brochure in the summit register bottle on top of Caltech Peak back in 1979. I believe it is still there despite there being fairly moderate traffic up that quite easy climb...

hmmmm maybe mt. stanford could be next?

This is great. I have climbed around a dozen of the highest peaks in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Most peaks have a "register," which is a weatherproof metal tube with paper and pencil inside. Climbers that reach the summit write comments and leave them for later climbers. The Sierra Cub removes entries when the register is full and archives them. Most registers have many entries every year. The most remarkable register I encountered was at the summit of 12,600-foot Mount Goddard. We traveled mostly off-trail on that venture. He hiked 80 miles in, and 55 miles out from our trailhead on Bishop Creek on the east side of the mountains..

40 miles from the nearest road, and 10 miles from the nearest trail, this summit gets very few human visitors. This was in 1978. The register included only around 20 entries going back to 1952.

While sitting on the top of the mountain, we were buzzed by a hummingbird. When we stood up to hike down, we spooked a golden eagle that had been perched on the mountainside down the slope. We watched as it glided a full circle around the mountain far below us.