In September, the top runners from Midland's cross-country team took a pre-season training trip to the Eastern Sierra. After a night spent at 6,000 feet outside of Lone Pine in the Owen's Valley, the group drove up to Horseshoe Meadow at 10,000 feet and hiked 5 miles into the Cottonwood Lakes Basin, where we set up a base camp. Derek Harwell '88 reports, "From camp we took a layover day and climbed 14,027 foot Mt. Langley which affords some excellent views of Mt. Whitney, which at 14,497 ft (the actual elevation varies between 14,496 - 14,505 depending upon the source) is the highest point in the contiguous United States. Even Don Redl would admit that the climb was a good physical challenge, which required both physical and mental stamina. On the last night, we rode out some lightning, thunder, and hail before rising to a beautiful blue sky day for the hike out."
The students who went were seniors Peter King, Marcus Schmidt, Luke Carpenter, Merlin Plumbley, Phoebe Stokes, Lily Brand and Selena Wrightson. Faculty members on the trip were Don and Jill Redl, Derek Harwell '88 and Johnny Ninos.