A second email from my friend:
-----
"Bob---I'm delighted and fascinated by the correspondence about the Dr. from Sydney and her and my connection with Stan Howell---and your being the one helping put it all together for us! He, like you, was a brilliant man and was interested in so many things. One further story you may enjoy and may wish to pass along to Australia!
"As she will know, the Howells had three children, Diana, Bill and Joanne. Stan decided it was very important that Bill have a "coming of age" experience to mark his 16th year of life. (My daughter is strongly convinced of this as well and leads 8 day wilderness quests, four days of which involve solitary time and a complete food fast. She has taken all four of her nephews and her own daughter on treks to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite in the summer of each of their 13th year of life.)
"Stan and Bill planned for a couple of years for their date to climb Mt. Whitney. They chose a dry year following a wet year so that ground water/wells would be replenished but that the Sierra snowpack would be light. They also hiked primarily in the evening and at night by a full or nearly full moon, and rested in the heat of the day. Stan had registered with rangers in case they didn't arrive at planned "destinations" along the way. I think they went in late June, but I can't tell you what year.
"Here's the zinger!! They started out, not at Whitney Portal, but at the lowest spot in the U.S., Badwater in Death Valley, and hiked to the highest point in the contiguous U.S., the summit of Mt. Whitney! The other folks at the peak were justly celebrating their own accomplishments and were dumbfounded to hear Stan and Bill's story. Isn't that a great story!!---and true at that!
"I read the entire list of comments folks had sent to her and enjoyed every bit of it because it came to me from you, about Stan! Thanks again! Marion"
-----
Note that it would have taken them five or six days to hike to the Portal, and then there is the climb after that. Back then, no WPS for a big breakfast to fortify them for the coming ordeal!
