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This is the information about this year's Badwater, Death Valley to Mt. Whitney bike ride and hike. It will most likely take place October 4-7 but possibly might happen September 30 - October 2. If you have no interest, no reply is necessary.
If you are interested, let me know by February 1, 2001.
The ride and hike are a four day event.
Day 1 Drive to Death Valley and begin riding in the evening.
Day 2 Ride all day and arrive at Whitney Portal campground.
Day 3 Hike all day and return to Whitney Portal campground.
Day 4 Drive home.
People who only want to hike generally arrive in the evening of Day 2. The easiest way to accomodate this is to schedule Day 1 for a Thursday, so that people who only want to hike do not have to take a day off work. Cyclists will take two days off work no matter when Day 1 is.
The schedule depends on when we are able to get a hiking permit for the Mt. Whitney Trail. Permits are available by a lottery system. I will submit an application for the lottery on February 1. If you wish to hike, let me know by February 1.
I will request a permit for a Saturday hike. My second choice will be for Sunday. My third choice will be for the *previous* Monday.
1st Saturday October 6 (start cycling Thursday October 4)
2nd Sunday October 7 (start cycling Friday October 5)
3rd Monday October 1 (start cycling Saturday September 30)
The cyclists will be riding at night the first evening and will be using the light of the moon. To get a fuller moon, the ride will start the previous weekend if we get our 3rd choice of a Monday permit. Last year we got our 1st choice, a Saturday permit.
(If you are a cyclist and you would prefer a 3rd choice of Monday October 8, let me know. We can discuss it amongst the cyclists.)
I will know what day our permit is for by March 31.
Hiking permits cost $15 per person, must be paid in advance, and are non-refundable. If you want to be included on the application, let me know by February 1. It is not necessary that you get the money to me by February 1, but you must let me know by February 1.
Please let me know if you are interested in doing the bike ride, the hike, or both. If you are not doing the bike ride, please let me know if you are interested in driving a support vehicle during the bike ride.
If you are thinking of deciding later, here are some figures. Last year, eight people got hiking permits, and six more expressed interest later and were on the waiting list. By the day we left, the waiting list was empty and there were six hikers with two spots available on the permit. On the day of the hike, there were only four hikers. At the ranger station, there we no unused permits other than those I turned in. This is not neccesarily an indication of what will happen this year. If you want to reserve a spot, let me know by February 1.
Trip reports and pictures from the last several year's trips are available on Bill Peckham's web site and on the photos page of my web site.
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If you need to check you schedule, check it before February 1. If you have questions, ask them before Februay 1. If you want to invite someone, invite them before Februay 1. If you need to get permission, get it before Februay 1.
I hope to hear from you soon,