The time off is my main problem as well (and not being able to do a 10k gain day). I was already tired after day hiking University Peak last year LOL My knees wouldn't agree either.

If you make the challenge really hard you will not find many hiking the peaks. See last year for example. The four days of 15+hr hiking was really pushing the limit and only very few people even attempted the hard peaks such as McGee, Charybdis, Marion, Deerhorn. Everyone else was looking for easier alternatives.

Michael Graupe wrote:If you make the challenge really hard you will not find many hiking the peaks. See last year for example. The four days of 15+hr hiking was really pushing the limit and only very few people even attempted the hard peaks such as McGee, Charybdis, Marion, Deerhorn. Everyone else was looking for easier alternatives.

Correct! The only day I could come up last year was Caltech Peak (20mi RT and 9800 gain). So, I did a solo hike up Uni peak instead since I would've died trying Caltech.

Michael Graupe wrote:If you make the challenge really hard you will not find many hiking the peaks. See last year for example. The four days of 15+hr hiking was really pushing the limit and only very few people even attempted the hard peaks such as McGee, Charybdis, Marion, Deerhorn. Everyone else was looking for easier alternatives.

Agreed. This year's easier agenda was far more enjoyable than last year's.

From the south, Feather Peak has a distinctive orange swath across the upper slopes of the SE Face. I'd heard that a plane dumped a load of fire-retardant across the summit sometime in the past, but thought that might be more fiction than truth. Upon closer examination, one can see that indeed something was spilled on the rock that doesn't wash off:



I'd have thought that the fire retardants would be more environmentally friendly, that is, would degrade with time - otherwise we'd have a bunch of orange-painted trees out there, no? Does anybody know more of the story behind this? Just curious...

Dougb wrote:Okay here it is, the 2011 Challenge:

Day 1: Picket Guard Peak
Day 2: Devils Crags 1-7
Day 3: Foerster Peak
Day 4: Kern Point
Day 5: Tunemah Peak
Day 6: Ericsson Crags 1-3
Day 7: Scylla
Day 8: Mt McDuffie
Day 9: Black Kaweah
Day 10: Tehipite Dome

....lol. I hope Bob makes the 2011 Challenge sufficiently difficult, though- a little more demanding than this years challenge.

btw Did Feather have a summit register when you all were up there ? I couldn't find one in 2005.

Darija wrote: ....lol. I hope Bob makes the 2011 Challenge sufficiently difficult, though- a little more demanding than this years challenge.

hardcore...

Michael Graupe wrote:If you make the challenge really hard you will not find many hiking the peaks. See last year for example. The four days of 15+hr hiking was really pushing the limit and only very few people even attempted the hard peaks such as McGee, Charybdis, Marion, Deerhorn. Everyone else was looking for easier alternatives.

yea....like Bob doing Marion by himself you mean?

I think the peaks offered by last years challenge were great, I just wish I could have participated in the difficult ones instead of opting out for alternate peaks-(I did some good peaks and got long days in, but I had to scale down a little bit due to not optimal conditioning and various other life issues that were cluttering my brain.) Some of the peaks that were on last years challenge I'm now doing as solo day hikes this month.

Bob Burd wrote:From the south, Feather Peak has a distinctive orange swath across the upper slopes of the SE Face. I'd heard that a plane dumped a load of fire-retardant across the summit sometime in the past, but thought that might be more fiction than truth. Upon closer examination, one can see that indeed something was spilled on the rock that doesn't wash off:



I'd have thought that the fire retardants would be more environmentally friendly, that is, would degrade with time - otherwise we'd have a bunch of orange-painted trees out there, no? Does anybody know more of the story behind this? Just curious...

Rocks with that colored stain are all over the San Gabriels, too. I always thought it's the fire retardant the planes dump during our annual wildfires I've never seen it fade or disappear though

Bob Burd wrote:I'd have thought that the fire retardants would be more environmentally friendly, that is, would degrade with time - otherwise we'd have a bunch of orange-painted trees out there, no? Does anybody know more of the story behind this? Just curious...

More magenta-orange?

Often the coloring is hematite, Fe2O3, and it doesn't degrade with time -- it's thermodynamically stable.

rhyang wrote:btw Did Feather have a summit register when you all were up there ? I couldn't find one in 2005.

No, but we left one there in a glass jar I pilfered from Camiaca Peak - for some reason that peak had three containers.

butitsadryheat wrote:
Here is a thread about it

http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=34289

Thanks biadh, I missed the earlier thread. Or perhaps I read it in its entirety and this was the source of what I'd heard but only vaguely recall. The ol' noodle isn't what it used to be...

Dougb wrote:Hey man, Bob is the decider of your fate, I was just making suggestions for those who think it was too easy

The long hikes are fun on their own, but not so much during the Challenge. Once you're out for more than 14hrs in a day, then you start on sleep deprivation and more serious recovery issues. The point of the Challenge is to make it fun, not hell.