So I read another of those “she finished the whole trail” stories the other day and one passage set the hairs on the back of my neck on end. Check it out:
After five long months of not having a warm bed to sleep in, a hot home-cooked meal and a nice hot shower daily, Reisinger and her friends finally finished the PCT at Mount Whitney in Washington. They decided to drive around the mountain to get a better look. Not satisfied with that, they ended up climbing to the top of the highest peak in the lower 48 states.
Hmm. Mount Whitney is in California, not Washington state. The PCT runs from Mexico to Canada but does not end anywhere near Mount Whitney, which does happen to be the southern terminus of the John Muir Trail, much of which follows the PCT route. What the heck? Did the writer mean another mountain in Washington state? Did they all get together back at Mount Whitney when they were done and climb it then? Did anybody edit this story?
I get paid to fix stuff like this, a side effect of which is that the tiniest little fact errors in news stories will drive me to distraction. I had to wait a whole day to post this, just to get the hairs on the back of my neck to settle down.
Based on what I just read in Jackie Zinger’s journal (available at trailjournals.com), Emily (aka Recess) hiked northbound to Kennedy Meadows, flipped up to the Canadian border, and then hiked southbound back to Kennedy Meadows. Since Kennedy Meadows isn’t a particularly spectacular finish to a five-month hike, she climbed Whitney to cap things off.
Aha, that explains it.
Doesn’t forgive putting Whitney in Washington state, but at least the account is accurate.
Thanks for clearing it up.
For the rest of ya:
Be sure to click on Eric’s link, he’s a hiking fiend, having finished the Appalachian Trail this year and the Facific Crest Trail last year.
Shoot. Did I say Whitney? I meant to
say Everest. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
🙂