Tribute to my friends

The friends

Larry

Bob Bolton

Dennis

Jerry & Matt

Bruce

Eric

Bob & Dennis

Kadee

Greg

Mike

Jim

Ken & Sacha

Friends, the cornerstones of being in the mountains

I have been fortunate to have great friends that have made my love of the mountains even better as these folks have the same passion about being in them as I do. This album will be a work in progress as I continue to add friends, some newfound. In addition to the pictures themselves, I will put captions that explain a bit more about them. Friends are the lifeblood of this "hobby" and interestingly enough, so many of my mountain friends have been met right here on Summitpost. I will try to highlight each of my friends in the pictures I post. This will be a work in progress. Before summitpost, there was my brother Bruce, Jerry Watt of Seattle and Larry Fenton of Auburn (WA). Three better hiking companions you could never have. All three were the best and we did many trips together.

Of course my greatest friend is my wife, a special lady who has understood this "addiction" I have for the mountains and who is still my greatest supporter and cheerleader. She cannot hike much due to a foot problem anymore but she is still willing to often go sit in the vehicle and provide support for mountains I go after solo. Our first summer together was spent going into the Cascades every weekend. She is still willing to sleep in a tent and endure some primitive conditions, she is the best. My best friend and wife for 48 years. Recently she got her first 14'er, Pikes Peak, even though the car did most the work, it was a thrill for both of us to get that one together.

A bit of history

I was 16 when a brother in law came into my life and took my younger brother Bruce and I into the Sierra's with his L.A. fire department team. That was a life changing event and I have been hooked on the mountains ever since. That brother in law, Bill Porter, has now moved on to that special "fire department in the sky" but I will always appreciate and be indebted to him for getting us into the mountains and saving us from becoming surfers and spending all our time at Malibu. My brother Bruce was the first of my greatest hiking friends, we have shared many wonderful adventures together, especially in the Enchantments. Other non Summitposters who have been huge friends are Jerry Watt of Seattle, Larry Fenton of Auburn (see above pic), my sons Matt, Lane, Brad and my daughter Melanie who dayhiked into the Enchantments and outfished the boys and my wife as mentioned above.

Summitpost friends I have hiked with or met in person

In no specific order
rfbolton (Bob) We've done close to 100 peaks together
Dennis Poulin We've done many week long trips that netted lots of peaks
EricNoel Over 20 peaks together and many more to come
Duane Gilliland (can't find his SP profile any more) - many peaks together
Cornvallis (Tom & Shelby) Met these two on Mt McGlothlin and have done a few peaks since
ericwillhite Washington transplant here in Utah - Did Mahoghany & Sabie peaks together
oldadit (Andy) 7 peaks here in Utah
Tazz- Mt Aix (she deleted her SP profile)
Don Nelsen Mt. Defiance in Oregon
CP0915 (Courtney) Hayford Peak
Dayhiker(Mike)Hayford Peak
Redsplashman (Sacha)Hayford Peak
JDrake(Jim) Swasey Peak
gjagiels (Greg) 7 peaks here in Utah
Kadee 9 peaks here in Utah/Nv
Idahosummits (Dan)Rhodes Peak in Idaho
Surgent (Scott) Signal Peak AZ
theplugger (Jay and Roberta)Gypsy Peak WA
mfox79 (Mike) Hyndman Peak ID
Keema (met on Lola Peak trail in Calif)
Spengy (met on top of Santaquin Peak)
KirtDavis (met at Dollar Lake/Gilbert Peak-he and friends were there for Utah completion)
Holsti97 (met at Kings Peak)
Corey Bigler(Enchantment Traverse)
SassyApes (my dental patient)
Bill Jacobs (can't find SP address) Many peaks together in Oregon, Washington, Arizona
Chris Doig Little Blue Peak
MikerHiker Stansbury Island Peaks
Robbie W. Black Pine range Idaho
Dan Baxter Little Blue Peak
derbilly (Eddy Peak summit and Santa Cruz cohp)
calebEOC (Caleb)
Greg Slayden (SP member?)
Ken Jones
Adam Helman (SP member?)
deltaoperator17 (Steve)
splattski (John)
imontop (Eric)
Aldo (aka aldocious)
Victor Zhou castlereagh
Tracy Foutz
John Roper (a day in the Richland Alps)
Jeff Howbert (a day in the Richland Alps)
Mark Nichols (George Hansen and Graham Peaks)
Richard Joseph (George Hansen and Graham Peaks)
Grant Meyer (several in E. Washington)
Al Sandorf (Miller, Piper & Blue Dick in Nevada)
Eric Kassan (Spirit Mtn)
Brett Hathaway (Lewis, Hot Springs, Blue, Eugene, Majuba)
more to be added...

I could add a special section for Arizona friends Rick Hartman and Bill Jacobs as well as Bill Bens who accompanied Rick and I up Mt. Wrightson.
In fact, in a later edition of this page I will provide a list of friends and the peaks we have done together but Bob Bolton and Dennis Poulin are two key friends who have accompanied me on about 100 peaks each with Dennis now the guy I've done almost 200 with. Ken Jones and I have done close to a 100 together, with the majority of those in Nevada.

Good friends in the Salt Lake area are Greg, Kadee, Imontop, JDrake, Eric Willhite, and a few more. Eric has since moved back to Washington state but his legacy of good Utah hikes remain on his webpage with good trip reports to many that I've been fortunate enough to visit myself. Special thanks go to an Arizona friend Rick Hartman who took time to join me on three Arizona peaks earlier in 2008 and again who spent a week traveling with me in 2013.

Of course this list would be incomplete without adding my sons to it or my two son in laws. My daughters married men who I enjoy being in the mountains with and I've had some great trips with both Jeremy and Andrew, Jeremy to the top of Mt. Timpanogos and the Enchantments, Andrew to the southern parts of Utah to explore and climb in the Red Rock country.
More on family later but I didn't want to not mention how important
family is and what great friends they all are.

Friends made at Summitpost

Not all SP friends are people I have met in person. In fact, I feel like I have a wealth of friends made here at SP via comments, emails and some who are kind enough to vote regularly on my work. The list is too long to create but a few that jump quickly to my mind are rpc (Radek), klenke, mountaingazelle, HenryK, Anya Jingle, Tracy, rmjwinters, SoCalHiker, d_shorb, Icarreau (Larry), Marcsoltan, Romuald Kosina, calebEOC, MOCKBA, Wasatchvoyage, Maurice Ravel (Eric) and so many others that it is impossible to list you all. Don't worry if you don't see your name on this short list, you are all special and thank you for being there.

Age not always a factor

I look at my profile and see my age as 73 and that is sometimes a bit of a shock to me. How come I still feel and think like I'm 25? Its only when I look in the mirror and wonder who that old person is that I realize that I am "starting to get old".

Half of my hiking companions have been half my age or less and yet, when we get on the trail, the age difference seems to disappear as we share the same passion for being there on that trail (in the mountains) While I am not as fleet of foot as I once was, I will still almost always get to the top. Of course going downhill, I am generally almost as fast as my younger counterparts.

I have appreciated those young hikers like Greg, Kadee, Brett H. and Eric N., who have slowed down to accomodate me and those older hikers like Bob, Dennis, and many others who have done likewise. Ageing sucks but yet, nothing can diminish my love for the mountains and the adventure each peak brings into my life. Thank you to all my special friends, you have a place in my heart.

Dean

Images

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