Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Photos - North Fork & Mountaineer's June 23-25

Last weekend two friends and I topped out via the East Buttress and Mountaineer's Route and had a great time! Here are a few photos of our trip, beginning with the obligatory pre trip photo after picking up our permit:

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

A beautiful day at the Portal!

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

The North Fork was running so high we had to remove our shoes and wade past the waterfall below the ledges:

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

The snow above LBSL was firm enough to allow travel without snow shoes or crampons:

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

Camped at UBSL. Excellent, snow free, campsites abounded:

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

The next morning, we ascended to slope above UBSL on our way to Iceberg Lake. Fortunately, the snow firm and full of positive boot tracks. My companions pulled out their axes, but we left our crampons in our packs:

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

Iceberg Lake was completely frozen and still covered in snow:

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

We proceeded up the approach to the East Buttress, just south of the Mountaineer's Couloir:

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

And reached the first pitch of the East Buttress:

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

The views were incredible:

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

After starting up the East Buttress, we decided we were moving too slowly and decided to retreat and rap into the MR to finish:

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

Where we again found firm snow and positive boot tracks (don't walk in the glissade path!):

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

We ran into a large SWS group on their way down. They had been kind enough to not knock anything down on us:

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

When we arrived at the notch, we were pleased to find the lower half was free of snow. We scrambled up the rocks on the left:

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

Up to the summit:

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

Which we had all to ourselves, without a breath of wind and a good 10 degrees warmer than I had expected:

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

By the state of the summit hut, it appeared SAR had been busy recently (notice the spent oxygen tank and mask):

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

Rather than downclimb the steep snow at the top of the notch, we decided to rappel on existing webbing that was in great shape:

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

We arrived safely back at our UBSL camp just after dark and all slept well, waking the next morning to sort gear and hike out:

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

Be sure to store your food in a suspended bag or bear can; these monsters don't get this fat without help:

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

Another amazing day in the North Fork. I can't get enough of this place:

From Mt. Whitney June 23-25

Nice!! Thanks for posting the pics

Wow. Does anyone know about the SAR/ EMS incident at the hut? Can't identify all the debris, but looks like trauma/hypothermia. Somebody rushed out of there, too (by chopper?) leaving the jump box.

Good question. I'm curious to know what happened. Those pics were taken last Friday, the 24th. It appeared to be very recent. I hope no one was seriously injured!

Any insignia on the box or other gear, such as USFS, SEKI Helitack, or

?

Nope, I didn't see any insignia on the box.

Nice TR and pics!