BOUNDARY PEAK (NOT!)
Get Lucky! Sharing lessons learned....

It was a matter of spending down many accumulated UA air miles. But, reserving too late meant enduring 4 flights to reach Reno from Harrisburg, PA. Ditto on the return. Aarrgghh...!

It was a 2-week trip, the focal point being to bag BP, but the lack of a crystal ball resulted in the unexpected - a cold weather aberration - 6 weeks early low temps for the west and southwest. When we finally spied it, the day before the planned climb, BP looked like a snow cone from Rt6. 7Oct was chosen as a climb date but the window couldn't have been wider to secure a laid-back, up/down Lanny Wexler day (see previous post).

Yeah, it's fair-weather climbing for this gang. We prepped as best we could here on the east coast then spent time at the 9-10Kft Whitney Portal, hiking to Lone Pine Lake as well. We have high regard for weather/trial conditions/elevation, and expect the pleasure of the questing experience, views, pics, etc., NOT more chest hair from macho-killer uphill struggles. Negotiating the airports to reach Reno was hair-raising enough.

Once back home, this blurb found on Peak Bagger said it all:

Get Lucky!!! - Mountain conditions
Just like any other desert peak, the conditions on Montgomery (Boundary) are difficult to determine. Many times lesser storms are trapped by the Sierra and fail to make it to the Whites, but use your head. This extreme northern end of the Whites is often beset with ferocious wind conditions, especially in the saddle and ridgeline areas. The nearest towns for web weather checks would include Bishop & Mammoth, CA, along with the modern ghost town of Montgomery Pass, NV.

Research, plan, prepare, train, spend, travel and then...get lucky! And, remember - the hills are alive. As for high point #43...maybe next year. Yo!

Pic: Boundary Peak, NV, 14140' (ctr); Montgomery Peak, CA, 14441 (rt).

A STATE LINE CURIOSTITY
And fickle history...

TTS was due for another Geo-Glitch posting like that odd arc at the top of Delaware and SE PA forming the state line.

Back in early New Castle, and obsession with possession and boundary lines, the Duke of York decided that the top of Delaware would be defined by a 12-mile arc projected from New Castle. So the DOY commissioned a team to procure a huge drawing compass and strike the arc. Originally, the compass point was placed at the old courthouse spire but later, it somehow happened that Broad Dyke, about 2 blocks northeast, was designated as the center of this unique line. As well, the arc is not a true circle segment, having been fudged to suit various boundary/land agendas over time.

The historical marker pictured is at 3rd & Chestnut & Wilmington Sts. where one can stand and muse over how that gigantic compass was hefted into place and rotated from the Delaware River to the Mason-Dixon Line. Also, visit all the other sites of interest in quaint New Castle. Rife with history, it was founded in 1640, the first state's capitol (1664). Here, in 1682, William Penn first set foot in America on the west bank of the Delaware River.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Castle,_Delaware
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMAAN_BROAD_DYKE_DE_NC_22
http://www.howderfamily.com/blog/?p=475

Meanwhile, here's another: Keep busy and take a turn by Googling the "Southwig Jog," go there, then report back here w/pics and on-site story.

ANOTHER BOUNDARY PEAK SUCCESS
Long Island highpointer bags a new one...

On September 14, Lanny Wexler bagged his 42nd state high point - Nevada - certainly a desolate one. The drive from Rt 6 to the Queen's Mine parking and camping area is 7mi+ on a rustic dirt road. From here a 4WD is called for to cover an additional steeper and rougher 1 1/2 mi to the trailhead at 9.9Kft. His guide had recommended that Wexler leave some backpack contents in his rented car. So, off he climbed at 7AM, 10lbs lighter.

Lanny describes a trail that is well-defined and straightforward with a memorable 700ft steep section before glimpsing BP. Some suspicious clouds had gathered but proved to be nonthreatening and served to block the hot sun.

At 1045AM, summit was achieved though a cold wind was reason not to linger long and begin descent. A stop for lunch at Trail Saddle afforded a glimpse of wild horses, ancestors of those which escaped from Spaniards after being brought from Mexico in the 1500s.

The guide's truck at the trailhead was reached at 145PM. Total trail time: 6hrs, 45min. Wexler owes this achievement to losing the pack weight for light travel and fun as opposed to an uphill struggle. He also credits short stops, not breaking momentum, and pressure breathing.

Note: In the upper photo, that's Montgomery Peak in the background, the same as in the snowy May 17 post photo. MP is 13441' or 300' higher than BP. And, it's it California. The 2 peaks are under a mile apart and the CA/NV line passes though the saddle. Both can be bagged on the same trip. White Mtn., the 3rd highest in CA (14,252'), can be seen to the south as well as the Sierra range, more SW.

MORE T-SHIRT WISDOM
In time for Halloween?


Another shirt for the collection. Couldn't resist glomming onto this one on a recent trip to NV, CA, and, of course, Death Valley.