[pct-l] JMT on wheels & snow report

[Reinhold Metzger]

Hi gang,
Trouble is back in town for a limited time only.
Just got back from a Sierra skiing trip at Mammoth celebrating my 42nd 
wedding anniversary....can't get any better than that.
Lot of snow, (70-85")  as far as the eye can see and the snow season is 
just beginning.
Lets see now, since I first climbed Mt. Whitney the year after we got 
married I must have first climbed Mt. Whitney 41 years ago in 1968.
I remember that event very well.....having recently been discharged from 
the USMC and at the time being a starving student, my wife  and I and 
our little Dackshund "Shatzi" jumped int our little Ford Mustang and 
headed for Whitney Portal to scale big, bad Mt. Whitney.
That was a time before permits and before pet restrictions...or to the 
best of our knowledge anyhow.
I remember the three of us sleeping on  "ONE"  chase lounge chair, 
covered by a military horse hair blanket, at the Portal.
Hey, it was not the Ritz Hilton but we were happy and Shatzi was in Dog 
Heaven.
Of course, with me being a recently discharged hard core Marine "Grunt", 
used to hauling heavy loads and used to treating my women right, it went 
against my grain to burden my recent lovely wife with a pack.
To make a long story short, all of our gear and food went into a USMC 
pack strapped to a USMC pack board (used for hauling ammo and bazooka 
rockets) and needlessly to say on my back, with Karen (my wife) koooing 
into my ear "Reinhold,
you are my hero".
I like it when women tell me that!!!!....It brings out the best in 
me.....That is all I really ever wanted to be...."Karen's Hero".

My, how time flies by....it seems like only yesterday.
Let's see now, that means I am 69 now and have been on Medicare for 4 
years now....gheeeezzzz.....that is really getting old.

Well, got to go now....it's time for my Asthma medication and time to 
grease the wheels on my wheelchair.
So if you guys see somebody speeding down the JMT in a wheel chair next 
year.....IT'S ME,...JMT  Reinhold,...going for the
"JMT on wheels" record.

JMT Reinhold
Your future "JMT on wheels" record holder