• My notes on Mt Langley (directions to Lone Pine and to the trailhead, the trail's milestones, maps) [Click on "Directions to the trailhead and map of Cottonwood Lakes" and print those maps: my guts tell me that our campground is ARMYNT but my notes tell me that it is COTTON]
• My notes on Mt Whitney (directions to Lone Pine and to the trailhead, the trail's milestones, maps)

• Cottonwood Lakes and Mt Langley (memorize as much as possible) [Please memorize the first two pictures: that is the campground where we meet the first night, whether it is ARMYNT or COTTON. Maps, notes and directions could be wrong. Visual recognition is essential].
• Mt Whitney from Lone Pine

• Map of 395 (Eastern Sierras)
  
• Map of Lone Pine trailheads
  
  (PORTAL is the trailhead for Mt Whitney, ARMYNT or COTTON is the trailhead for Mt Langley)

• Hassan will leave early from Tracy
• piero will leave 2pm from Redwood City
• Bianca can leave 4pm from South San Francisco
• Sindy can leave 4pm from San Francisco

• piero has a tent for two
• Hassan has a tent for four
• Bianca has a tent for two
• Ben has a tent for two

• In principle: thursday night we camp at the Horseshoe Meadow campground for hikers above Lone Pine (see the notes on Langley for directions and uncertainties); friday not sure; saturday night we camp at the Whitney Portal (the trailhead for Mt Whitney) above Lone Pine (at the very end of Whitney Portal Rd, when you enter the parking lot, look for the sign "overnight hikers campground" or something like that).
• Disclaimer: we have no reservations for any campground for any night. If you want to make sure you have a campsite (or motel), you need to make your own reservations. (I have never made reservations, so don't ask me for advice).

• piero has three
• Hassan has two

• piero
• anybody else?

• I'd use Enterprise because they have a location in Bishop (if something happens, we can just exchange car) but let me know if you have discounts with AVIS/Hertz/.
• I have made a reservation with Enterprise in Redwood City for a compact car. Feel free to shop around for better deals. Or let me know if you want a bigger car. Res: FSW4H8. Dodge Neon or similar. Start: Aug 3, 2006 @ 3pm. End: Aug 7, 2006 @ 3pm. Enterprise Location: 2821 EL CAMINO REAL REDWOOD CITY, CA 94061-4001 (650) 261-9308

• Sindy, Bianca, piero will leave the Bay Area thursday august 3 and drive 7 hours to Lone Pine
• Ben will land in Las Vegas thursday august 3 at 5:30pm, rent a car and drive to Lone Pine (Take US-95 north for about 1.5h, turn on NV-373 for 15', continue on CA-127 for 5', turn on CA-190 for 2 hours through Death Valley, continue on CA-136 for 15', turn right on US 395 north for 5' to Lone Pine, turn left on Whitney Portal Rd).
• Hassan will drive thursday morning from Tracy to Lone Pine
• Friday august 4 we will hike Cottonwood Lakes and Mt Langley to acclimatize (no permit required for this trail)
• Saturday sleep, rest, sightseeing, etc. Buy food/drinks for sunday's hike.
• Sunday early morning we start hiking Mt Whitney, returning by 6pm, drive home by 1-2am (permit required for this trail ABOVE Lone Pine lake: if you plan to hike only to the first lake, you DON'T need a permit, otherwise you must shop for a permit on craigslist, summitpost, Whitney Portal, etc)
• Have permits for Whitney's trail: Bianca, Sindy, Ben, piero. Ben owes Bianca $15.

• Cell phones are unlikely to work, so do NOT plan to rely on phones.
• Hassan leaves early from Tracy and drives to Lone Pine by himself (6-hours drive). Most likely, he will be the first one to reach the Horseshoe Meadow campground. He will leave a note on his car (white Toyota Matrix with no plate number) to tell us which campsite he got.
• Ben lands at 17:30 in Vegas, so he will probably reach the campground around midnight.
• piero rents a car in Redwood City at 2-3pm.
• Sindy takes BART at 4pm to Pleasanton (arrives 4:52pm at 5801 Owens Dr, Pleasanton, Hacienda freeway exit of 580, one exit before Santa Rita Rd) where piero picks her up
• Bianca drives from South San Francisco to Enterprise in Pleasanton (4275 Rosewood Dr, 925 847-7470). Another possibility is that piero picks up Bianca at her work place.
• Bianca, Sindy, piero leave from Pleasanton around 5:30pm (Map of Enterprise location).
• If we can do anything to move this time up, let's do it.
• Dinner along the road. Drive to Yosemite to Tioga Pass to Mono Lake to Lone Pine. If (if) we have left Pleasanton by 5:30pm, then we will camp around midnight.
• We all meet at the Horseshoe Meadow campground for hikers ($6 in 2005). See the notes on Langley for directions. See the first two pictures of the Langley trail for visual recognition of the campground (it could be called something else, located somewhere else, etc).
• Make sure you arrive with food and drinks for friday's hike and with the backpack ready to go hiking on friday (so we don't waste time in the morning):
  • Sunscreen and chapstick
  • Hat
  • Toilet paper
  • Windbreaker/sweater
  • Emergency poncho
  • Walkie talkies
  • Water for friday's hike or iodine tablets + Cytomax/Gatorate
  • Food for a day hike
  • Print the maps of the Cottonwood Lakes/Mt Langley hike

• At sunrise we wake up and start hiking to Cottonwood Lake (very feasible), New Army Pass (strenuous hikers) and Mt Langley (very experienced hikers)
• Breakfast and lunch along the trail, so make sure you have packed your food and drinks.
• My notes on Cottonwood Lakes and Mt Langley
• Map of the hike (if you are too lazy to read the webpage above)
• Pictures of Cottonwood Lakes and Mt Langley
• Dinner either at the campground (those who are dead tired) or in Lone Pine (several decent restaurants)

• Sleep as much as you like. Then drive to Lone Pine. Breakfast at one of the restaurants (or bring your own food).
• Bianca, Sindy and piero: pick up the permits at the ranger station
• Buy food/drinks/etc for sunday's hike. Lone Pine also has two sport goods stores.
• Sightseeing: Highway 395, Bodie ghost town, Mono Lake, Devil's Postpile (national monument), MAnzanar concentration camp, Eureka Sand Dunes (requires 4WD), Alabama hills (right in Lone Pine) etc
• (While people do sightseeing, i may do another little hike in the area, but i won't need a car)
• Early dinner in Lone Pine
• Go to sleep at sunset

• 4am: start hiking Whitney (those who want to get to the top)
• 7-8am: start hiking Whitney (those who only go to Lone Pine Lake) [don't wait too late because it can get very hot)
• My notes on Mt Whitney (read under "The Regular Trail")
• Map of the hike (if you are too lazy to read the webpage above)
• 3-4pm: Ben has to drive back to Vegas
• 5-6pm: back down to the parking lot, dinner in Bishop, drive home

• Lone Pine
• Mt Whitney and Langley
• Disclaimer: i do not make the weather forecast, i only read it. Conditions on a mountain are always unpredictable.

As usual, try to minimize the weight of each item:

• Headlight/flashlight (we'll be walking in the dark for a few hours)
• Sunscreen and chapstick
• Hat
• Toilet paper
• Band aid
• Mosquito repellent
• Emergency blanket ($2 at most stores, very light, worth the investment)
• Windbreaker/sweater depending how cold you get at high altitude (given the latest weather forecast, i will only take a very light windbreaker)
• Thunderstorms in this season are rare, but an emergency poncho is always a good idea (again $3-4 and very light) (a cheap substitute for a poncho is a trash bag: make two holes in it and you're ready to go)
• Walkie talkies if you have them otherwise batteries for the walkie talkie that you will borrow from someone else
• Water for friday's hike or iodine tablets + Cytomax/Gatorate
• Food for friday's hike
• If you do not have a chance to study the trail with me and memorize it, it is not a bad idea to carry your own copy of the maps (see the notes of Langley)
• Backpack
• Sleeping bag
• Change of clothes and towel (there are several places to take showers)
• Pants and shirt for the second hike on sunday
• You will buy food and drinks for the second hike on saturday in Lone Pine
• Comfortable clothes for sightseeing on saturday
• Etc