BoSEHS - Mount Whitney and out (Day 8,9)

[Mark Walker]

Butterflies of the South Eastern High Sierra:
(a field report from the uppermost wilderness which follows a 9-day trek
shared by my son and I and BSA Troop 661 of Mission Viejo, CA)

Day 8 - Mount Whitney (8/13/99)

On this day, there were no butterflies to report.  The hike from Guitar Lake
up to Trailcrest was grueling enough to start before 8:00 a.m.  Most of the
hike was in full shade.  Once at Trailcrest, with temperatures close to
freezing, we headed up the long haul to the summit of Mt. Whitney - tallest
peak in the U.S. outside of Alaska.  The hike was not an easy one for one
particular over-40 person.

There is a cricket that lives on Mt. Whitney.  It's an odd looking thing,
rather fat and rather large (some bigger than 4cm long).  It was quite
common in and among the rocky terrain.

My son was quite an encouragement.  He stayed with his Pappy all the way to
the bitter end.  I enjoyed watching him sign into the logbook at the summit
- he's the 5th Walker in three generations to accomplish the feat.

Day 9 - Out Whitney Portal (8/14/99) with side trip to Round Valley

Our hike out on the 9th day was nothing short of glorious.  There's nothing
like hiking out after a long time in the backcountry.  Your legs are strong,
your lungs fully inflated, and your hips terribly bruised from the rubbing
of your backpack.  But there's no dragging of feet on this day.  Everyone is
in high spirits, and the thought of an ice cold beverage and some French
fries is enough to pull you out of your bag extra early.

On the steep hike down to Whitney Portal, I enjoyed seeing more of the
dotted blues I had seen on Kearsarge Pass.  They were common at about 10,000
ft.  I also saw a really large Lorquin's Admiral (Limenitis lorquini).  This
would be my last butterfly of the High Sierra's for 1999.  

After prying off my boots from my bloody feet, I couldn't resist a side trip
up to Round Valley to check on the Nokomis Fritillary.  I was pleased to
find it doing very well on this Saturday, with one in five being a glorious
female.  It's not S. diana, but it's equally gorgeous.  You really must see
one in person.

Mark Walker.
Back in San Jose.