Everest by the Bay

page 6

After Joy and I had gone home from our first day on Mt. Diablo, she had developed a medical problem, unrelated to hiking. She was awake most of the night. In the morning, she still was in no condition to undertake the Mt. Tamalpais hike. She stayed home, recovered and did the remaining peaks without any further problems. But I wasn't satisfied.

"Joy, you still have to hike Mt. Tamalpais tomorrow and Mt. Diablo the day after. Only then, can you claim to have done nine consecutive peaks," I tell her on our drive home from Loma Prieta.

"Why? I hiked eight peaks and I climbed over 29,500 feet, several hundred feet more than the height of Mt. Everest. Wasn't that our goal?"

"Well, yes. But -- "

"But what?" she said, sounding irritated.

"We are supposed to do it in nine consecutive days," I answered.

"I have appointments on Tuesday and I am not hiking Mt. Diablo again."

I offer a compromise.

"By hiking Mt. Tamalpais tomorrow, you will do all nine peaks and you will also total more than 29,000 feet in eight consecutive days. And, I will come along with you."

Can you read the name of this trail? It is the Easy Grade Trail from the Pantoll area to Mountain Theater. If this is their idea of easy grade, I wouldn't want to tackle one of their steeper trails! Joy and I hiked an extra loop to make sure that her eight consecutive peak elevation gain exceeded 29,029 feet. I wound up hiking ten peaks totaling over 35,000 feet.

No kidding this time. The real end. Joy on the summit of Mt. Tamalpais.

For the hiking route descriptions and the trailhead driving directions for the various peaks, follow this link.

The participants