On Saturday, September 10, a group of five Coronado residents summited the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states. Included in those five hikers were two Coronado High School freshmen girls, Quinn Riebe and Tatum Munoz. They were accompanied by their fathers Pete Riebe and Trent Munoz and friend Josh Barbera.
The girls have been hiking for years and were intrigued by their dads’ previous hikes up Mount Whitney and Quinn’s brother Wyatt’s summit of the mountain two years previous.
Although they made it to the summit, their timing turned out to be especially poor. Months ago, they drew permits for a multi-day hike over Sept. 9, 10, and 11. After months of training and preparation, as the dates approached, the remnants of Hurricane Kay were forecasted to hit Southern California during their Whitney dates. The group shifted their packing to include cold weather gear and waterproof layers and pressed ahead.
Day one on the mountain was beautiful, but on summit day they were hit with wind and rain early and hail and sleet at higher elevations. Despite Mother Nature’s obstacles, they were able to summit by midday and get off the mountain a few hours into darkness. Overall the group hiked about 26 miles and climbed about 8,000 vertical feet over the two days.
Quinn and Tatum, along with friends Parker Thompson and Sean Wilbur, have started a Hiking Club at CHS. We can’t wait to see where their next adventure takes them!
