Sgt. Grit:
I would like to submit a couple pictures for publication in your newsletter to see how many of the 200 Marines of the 1st Recon Bn. of the 1st MarDiv. that made the 127 mile hike are still remembering it. The first picture is a composite of our starting and ending points with misc. info and dates.
The second picture was taken while we were on top of Mt. Whitney around the noon hour. It is a gathering of 199 Marines out of the 200 that started the hike. Only one Marine did not make the last 13 miles from the Whitney Portal to the summit of Mt. Whitney. His feet were in too bad a shape. The Corpsman with us grounded him. The pictured occasion was to sing the Marine Corps Hymn and also honor the youngest Marine with the oldest Marine that made it to the summit.
We made it to the summit around 10:00 AM. The sun was shining brightly and it was comfortable temperature-wise However, by 1:00 PM we couldn't get off the top fast enough. We were in a full blown blizzard. Because of conditions we could not move as fast going down. As a result, by early evening we were forced to pitch shelter-halves and dig trenches around them to keep the pouring rains out of the shelter-halves. Sleep was very elusive that night with the thunder and lightning. By morning the sun came out enough for us to dry off and continue our descent off the mountainside.