L.A. 1986 : TRIUMPHS

Hulda Crooks of Loma Linda, a 90-year-old great-grandmother attempting to become the oldest person to hike to the top of 14,494-foot-high Mt. Whitney, reached 13,777 feet before withdrawing because of altitude sickness, fatigue and the threat of lightning. Inyo National Forest officials pointed out that Crooks still holds the record. She reached the summit in 1985 at the age of 89.

Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, squeezed into a tiny cockpit in their homemade plane Voyager, became the first pilots ever to circle the world without refueling. As thousands cheered, their storm-battered craft touched down at Edwards Air Force Base almost exactly nine days and 215,012 miles after a scary takeoff in which the fuel-laden wings scraped the ground. Still to come: The book and movie.

Bob Wieland of Pasadena finished 19,413th in the New York Marathon, completing the course in 4 days, 2 hours and 17 minutes--not exactly noteworthy, except that he did it while walking on his hands. Wieland, who lost both legs in 1969 when he stepped on a land mine in Vietnam, said he had no doubt he could make it. After all, he had recently completed a four-year, 2,784-mile walk across the country on his hands.

Los Angeles’ tap water was deemed “excellent” by the prestigious Consumers Union, which said it compared in taste with the municipal brands found in New York City, New Orleans and San Francisco. Just six years ago, a magazine poll ranked L.A.’s water at 25th among 37 cities.