Another mountain to climb
For most of us, getting ready for vacation entails letting the neighbors know you’ll be gone and remembering to toss some socks in the suitcase.
For Prosperity resident Jim Roberts and his 18-year-old son, Alex, it’s an entirely different process. Among other things, it involves lacing up their running shoes, hitting the pavement and ensuring that their endurance and lung capacity are at their optimum.
A little less than two years after scaling the Half Dome at California’s Yosemite National Park, both of the Roberts have decided to conquer Mount Whitney, which also is located in California’s Sierra Nevada range and has the highest summit in the lower 48.
At a little more than 8 miles from its base to the peak, trudging to the top of the Half Dome is no stroll in the park. Mount Whitney represents more of a challenge – it’s about 11 miles from bottom to top, and it takes about 12 hours to complete the round trip. Both of the Roberts men will be taking off later this month, along with Denise Roberts, Jim’s wife and Alex’s mom, and their daughter and sister, Rachel.
After making it to the pinnacle of the Half Dome, mastering Mount Whitney was a next, logical test for the two Roberts men. “It’s a lot of steps and a lot longer,” Jim said.
But actually achieving it was another thing. First, it’s not as simple as merely showing up and putting one foot in front of the other. “They have a lottery system to get a permit,” Jim explained, and it was by no means assured that they were going to get one. By the time they were notified that a permit would be issued, the elder Roberts had to fret about a newly diagnosed aortic aneurysm and how that would affect his ability to ascend the granite edifice, which is covered in snow at its summit even when the weather is warm.
“I’m really more worried about my heart than anything else,” Jim said. However, his doctor, Dan Alexander, whom Roberts credits with saving his life, has told him that he can still make the trip and maintain his fitness regimen, except he has to avoid lifting weights or other heavy objects. Alex, a recent McGuffey High School graduate, has Type 1 diabetes, and he has to pack medicine, along with food and energy drinks, in his backpack for the hike.
“I need to be monitoring it all the time,” Alex said. “You don’t want it to get out of hand.”
Alex acknowledges that most families, when they head out on summer vacation, usually head for a beach or one of the Disney playgrounds. His friends think the vigorous, mountain-climbing holiday is pretty cool. “It’s a little different than when most people go on vacation.”
Jim, age 52 and a moldmaker at Ross Mould Inc. in Washington, has been fascinated by mountain-climbing and hiking since he was young. What’s next after Mount Whitney? Mount McKinley in Alaska is the highest peak in North America, but Roberts doubts they are going to attempt that.
Nonetheless, both Roberts are counting down until they board the plane for the western part of the continent.
“Now I’m getting psyched,” Jim said. “I’m really excited.”