Achievement Unlocked

"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
07/31/2019 at 19:08 • Filed to: None

After 20 minutes at the top, my body said, “Take me down from here lest I give you headache you’ll not soon forget. Perhaps the most difficult physical undertaking I’ve ever made. Missus and I were here 25 years ago and the altitude got me. We were here two weeks ago and Missus’s knee got to her, and we got a late start. I returned and unlocked the achievement yesterday.

DISCUSSION (36)

ttyymmnn > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/31/2019 at 19:10

Congrats. What was the temp up there?

CaptDale - is secretly British > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/31/2019 at 19:11

Very nice! and congrats. Gonna have to talk to the partner about doing that.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn
07/31/2019 at 19:13

Maybe 50 degrees, with a strong breeze. UV level: extreme.

And thanks. I still need to review the rental vehicle, a GMC Canyon, which was stemundous . Perhaps my favorite vehicle I’ve ever driven. Unquestionably the best drive in any vehicle I’ve ever enjoyed. More about that later.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > CaptDale - is secretly British
07/31/2019 at 19:15

It’s a very significant undertaking. The last two miles are gnarly . Nasty. That mountain has my respect.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/31/2019 at 19:21

Congratulations, that’s a huge achievement.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/31/2019 at 19:22

Sounds like grueling fun/ accomplishment .

wafflesnfalafel > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/31/2019 at 19:24

nice - love the goat, (antelope?) pic, “what the heck you human doing here?”

boredalways > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/31/2019 at 19:33

Congratulations!!!

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/31/2019 at 19:45

Had to have been quite the temperature change from the bottom to the top! Especially this time of the year with 100F+ down on 395. I hadnt realized there were other 14ers outside of Whitney in California. I’ll have to look into trying this some day rather than trying to get in the lottery for Whitney.

Under_Score > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/31/2019 at 20:18

His is a four-cylinder, but my dad has loved his Canyon so far. It’s a great truck for the price. I’m glad you liked yours, too, and congrats on the climb!

DipodomysDeserti > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/31/2019 at 20:27

Whatcha doin’ there, buddy?

Kinja'd!!!

vondon302 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/31/2019 at 20:29

Congrats!

Higher than I've ever been.

gettingoldercarguy > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/31/2019 at 21:17

Well done old chap!

Nothing > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/31/2019 at 21:31

Congrats on the accomplishment! I don’t know if I’d be able to do a 14er today.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Under_Score
07/31/2019 at 21:48

Thank you. I’ll write a review in the coming days.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > DipodomysDeserti
07/31/2019 at 21:49

Yeah, I noticed that after I posted the picture. Tacky.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
07/31/2019 at 21:50

Yosemite NP is nice, but thronging with tourists. This place? I was one of maybe 10 people to summit that day. Butcha gotta work for it.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Nothing
07/31/2019 at 21:51

Wasn’t sure if I would make it, right up until the end. It was all I could do.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
07/31/2019 at 21:51

Thank you.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > vondon302
07/31/2019 at 21:51

Monarch Pass is about that high and you drive up to it.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > gettingoldercarguy
07/31/2019 at 21:52

I turned 55 two weeks ago!

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > wafflesnfalafel
07/31/2019 at 21:52

Mountain goat, I believe.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
07/31/2019 at 21:53

Not a huge difference, maybe upper 40s up top if the wind was blowing, but mostly radiant from the sun. Quite pleasant, actually.

gettingoldercarguy > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/31/2019 at 21:58

Well that's just amazing! Nicely done.

Thomas Donohue > DipodomysDeserti
07/31/2019 at 22:02

Came here to post the same thing.....pissin’ on top o’ the world.

WilliamsSW > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/31/2019 at 22:22

Very nice! Congrats on the summit - quite the view!

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > WilliamsSW
07/31/2019 at 22:26

Thank you. And I turned 55 two weeks ago. But I’ll be honest: it was all I could do. Took everything I had.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/31/2019 at 22:53

So Whitney is next? I used to climb, even in the Himalayas. I have it out of my system now!

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
08/01/2019 at 15:24

Uncrowded trails are probably my favorite trails. Just feels like you have the whole mountain to yourself at that point. Some of my favorite hikes have concluded with getting to the summit with nobody around and just enjoying the solitude of it.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
08/01/2019 at 15:24

Now that I think about it, the base of the trail was probably pretty high to start. At least 7k feet or so I would imagine.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
08/01/2019 at 23:58

10,000 feet. Camped night before at 8,500.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
08/01/2019 at 23:59

There were 7 people summited that day, including me, afaik. The place is not trampled like Yosemite.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
08/02/2019 at 00:01

Zero interest in Whitney. Too darned crowded. It's the thing that makes White Mountain appealing: unlike Yosemite, getting there requires some effort.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
08/02/2019 at 12:01

Ahh that is pretty high!

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
08/02/2019 at 12:04

Sounds like my kind of place. Thank you for sharing the secret to the Oppo masses. Any of the “big” peaks local to me in LA like Mt Baldy or San Gorgonio are massive shitshows of crowds. I much prefer the harder to get to stuff that are basically empty but still offer similar elevation changes and difficulty, minus the altitude. Altitude training is fun though, it has gotten easier with doing it more often. But 14k feet still fucks me up. Feel like I am drunk at that alt itude!

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
08/02/2019 at 12:08

This was definitely at the limit of my endurance. I was talking with Missus about it this morning, how seriously uncomfortable I was throughout, and how I yearn to go back.