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OK, Jim. . . here's a shot of that WildEx frame pack you turned me on to when I was an OutwardBound Instructor. . . (may I say I was Officially Sponsored?)

:-)



When: October 1984

Where: Top of the Zodiac

Wherefore: Meeting Blanchard after soloing it

WhatAreYaKiddinMe: That pack was HEAVY, Jack!

Although all Blanchard wanted was water and clean underwear, a number of my girlfriends (who were also in love with the dad) sent me up there with all kinds of treats. . . ChocolateChocolateChipZucchiniCake, PeanutButterCookies, a Goddamned espresso maker, my Optimus stove, a Sigg bottle full of fuel, bananas, dinner, breakfast, sleeping bag, ENSOLITE (when have you heard THAT term last?) and. . . of course enough survival stuff to outfit the entire rescue site. . . (Dill would be proud.)

Well. . . to make a long story even longer. . . I humped those loads up that frikken FallsTrail fully expecting to camp out on the summit, as planned.

Hump

Hump

Hump

And I don't mean THAT kinda hump. . . get your mind out of the gutter!

:-)

Well . . . . when he topped out, Blanchard was ten kinds of wiggly. . . WAY OVER THE TOP HYPER and all he wanted to do was distance himself from the sucking breath of ElCap as far as he could.

He wanted to RUN down the trail . . . back to camp.

HohMahn!

It was early enough in the love affair that I went along with the idea, even though I was pretty well COOKED. . . (in retrospect, I guess I should have seen it for what it was. . . the beginning of the end. . . it just took 25 years to sink in) . . so. . . with every modicum of my cumulative nordic ski marathon resolve, I focused on the FINISH LINE being my 1953 Chevy Sedan Delivery parked in the C4 lot.

I willingly took an additional 30 pounds of hardware, put it in a sleeping bag stuff sack and strapped it to the "Expedition" extention at the TOP of my pack and started hip hoppin' through the deep, sticky wicket infested forest.

Well. . . somewhere between bone tired and darkness I quietly stopped plodding down the trail, spun on my heel, looked that sweet little man in the eye (through my CatEyeVuarnets - and into his) and said. . . ya know. . . you started this thing as a solo. . . you should finish it as one. . . I'm COOKED. . . I'm stoppin'! I'm campin' right here. . . IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GODDAMNED TRAIL. . . (guess I wasn't so quiet by then). . .

And, fully expecting said CuteLittleMan to keep on truckin'. . . I hefted that WildExLoad off my worn out spent self and let it pull me to the ground as gravity had its way with me.

There I sat.

A lump on a frikken log.

P-R-E-T-T-Y!

I had even worn my special, brand clean, PURE WHITE, Vuarnet SHIRT up there. . . in an attempt to woooooo the living socks off this guy. . . and here I was. . . callin' it QUITS.

Oh well. . .

I was going no further!

WELLLLLLLLL. . . much to my surprise, said MonoManiacalSoloClimber followed suit and let his homemade haulbag drag his weary soul down to my level.

It was COLD.

We put on WOOL.

We ate the treats.

We drank the water.

We did NOT fire up the Optimus!

He did NOT put on the clean underware.

We bundled up and slid our sorry selves into our bags and rolled around until they rested themselves in the well worn trough of the trail.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Morning. . .

SNOW!

Covered with it.

HOH MAHN.

No breakie.

No nothin'!

Just start humpin'!

FallsTrail descent in early season snow.

NICE.

Separated at Columbia Point.

NICER YET! (we both knew Jack Dorn pretty well!)

Finally, reunited at the '53 back in Camp, we were met almost immediately by MisterHiskes, asking us to join in on a big El Cap rescue.

Seemed there was a solo dad stuck on the NA, a team on TheZodiac and. . . as we learned later . . . a couple of guys from Japan frozen on the summit slabs of the Nose.

With no sleep at all, we staggered toward the SAR cache, signed in. . . and the rest was history.

And. . . the rest is history.

And. . .

oxoxo

eKaterinaBallerinaCoolitaOrcalitaHumpBackValdezOldDadBrockmanTheUnBlinny

Here's a couple pics of Steve McKinney I took during our Wings over Everest expedition in 1986 for you Jim. Wilderness Experience was the clothing sponsor. Since I'm the one who took the photos your welcome to use them as you like. Also, I can tell you some stories from the expedition if you like... Craig Calonica

Steve McKinney on the west ridge of Everest getting ready for take off...



Steve McKinney in flight, Hornbein couloir in front of him...

Werner in his Tri Blend Wilderness Experience pants. He seemed to have worn them forever.
Saw a lot of those Guide Jackets around the Valley back in the day also

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