Southern Sierran
LOCAL PEAKBAGGER TELLS ALL
BY MARY ANN WEBSTER
Chair Santa Monica Mountains Task Force, Conservation Chair, West L.A. Group

Lose yourself in a great read and maybe find yourself described in its pages

Edna Erspamer, long-time Sierra Club member, has written a book about her adventures during the years she climbed peaks in our local mountains and throughout California. She also includes stories of her travels (and travails) in all parts of the globe. Her book, Getting High--Confessions of a Peak-Bagging Junkie, begins with her first outings with the West L.A. Group of the Angeles Chapter and goes on to relate why she became a SC hike leader, completed the Basic Mountaineering Training Course and eventually emerged as a serious and gung-ho peak bagger.

Erspamer, well-known in local climbing circles, has been Chair of the Angeles Chapter Hundred Peaks & Desert Peaks Sections. In the past 30 years, she has completed the hundred peaks (HPS) list twice, desert peaks (DPS) once and along the way, climbed some 50 Sierra Peaks, including Mt. Whitney a couple of times. She has a lot of stories to tell. Trying to reach the summit is never a sure thing; the snow and ice on Darwin Peak in the Sierras almost does her in. She barely survives a difficult climb of Mt. Goddard Peak. She writes of fellow peak baggers, friends and leaders from the Sierra Club who hiked with her and helped her as she conquers some of the toughest peaks in California. Of course, there is a lot of partying and fun along the way, with a little romance thrown in, too. Even with six children, Erspamer is not one to stay at home. Branching out, she decides to climb the high point in every state, and almost achieves her goal. Along the way, she decides to go global and begins the quest of traveling to every country in the world. There are plenty of adventures to write about as she sails down the Ganges in India, walks along the Great Wall of China, climbs the peak of Jeb Toubkal in Morocco. There are some good times, some rough times, some close calls. Such as her tribulations when attempting to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, an altitude of 19,300 feet.

If you have climbed or hiked with Edna in the past thirty years, you might well be included in one of her many adventure tales. The book includes numerous pictures with friends, family and fellow peak baggers, as they climb local peaks and explore distant mountains. The book Getting High is a lot of fun to read, and the pictures add interest to the stories.

A hardback or paperback copy of Getting High can be ordered from the author (mtnart1@gmail.com) or through Amazon.com.

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