After an active summer climbing
in the Sierra my first SPS
trip lead rolled around sooner
than expected. This
trip was filled with SPS
all-stars including two list
finishers (Greg and Mirna
Roach), the chair (Patty
Rambert), two up and coming
leaders (Jeff Dhungana and
Ed Cottone) as well as several
WTC students attempting their
first SPS peak. With
such an excellent group of
people and a rather mellow
trip ahead, the goal for
the weekend was to have fun
and spend some time reflecting
on what the 50th anniversary
of the SPS means to us while
also climbing a beautiful
and historic peak. Upon reviewing
the trip reports by Andy
Smatko in 1961 and John Robinson
in 1962 the historical significance
of N. Maggie was apparent
to me. Now, it was
time to take action and climb
this historic peak!
The trip included leaders
Jennie Thomas and Greg Roach
along with participants Mirna
Roach, Patty Rambert, Kirt
Smoot, Ed Cottone, Ghislaine
Stuart, Sandra Nakamura,
Dave Haack, Daryn Dodge,
Nikol Ketterer, and Jeff
Dhungana. We met late
on Saturday morning and left
from the Hidden Falls Campground
around noon. After
a short hike, we approached
Long Meadow and arrived at
an established campsite by
early afternoon. This
was a nice time of year to
do this peak because the
weather was cooler and the
mosquitoes were gone.
We set up camp and sat to
share stories about our SPS
experiences. This
trip was an opportunity to
bring together some extremely
experienced SPS members with
a new generation of leaders
and participants. For
me, the SPS has meant mentorship,
training, and sharing my
mountaineering experience
with some amazing people. We
reflected on the past and
future of the SPS. Looking
forward we all agreed that
there is a bright future
with so many young leaders
and participants involved
in the section.
After a wonderful campfire,
lots of wine, and even some
chocolate fondue we headed
to bed in order to prepare
for our attempt on N. Maggie
the following day. Sunday
morning we woke up and again
gathered around a campfire
for breakfast. We set
out for the peak at the late
hour of 8:00 am! But,
we had filled up on some
nice strawberry crepes, so
we had plenty of energy to
move quickly.
We diverged from the trail
at an old metal sign, which
cannot be missed. We
crossed back over the Middle
Fork of the Tule River towards
N. Maggie (peak 10,234’ on
the map). We stayed
just north of the ridge when
approaching the peak and
then cut over to the saddle
between 10,113’ and
N. Maggie. This route
proved to be relatively brush
free and is recommended for
future parties in the area. Other
approaches can be quite brushy
and problematic. From
the saddle, the summit is
easily gained by going straight
towards the summit, while
also avoiding the brush. After
gathering at the saddle for
a rest, we all reached the
summit together. Upon
aving at the summit we spent
a lot of time reading the
summit register and thinking
about all of the people who
climbed this peak before
us.
After leaving the summit,
we returned to camp and then
to the cars. We headed
down the road towards Porterville
in the daylight. We
gathered at Hodel's Restaurant
(5917 Knudsen Drive Bakersfield,
CA) for some excellent food.
Looking back on this trip,
it was a great success on
many fronts. We all
made the peak, but more importantly
we created an opportunity
for new and experienced SPS
members to interact and share
experiences. I’m
excited to get out there
and lead many more SPS trips. Here’s
to another great 50 years!
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