Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Trail Camp temperature in late August

What would be the average temperature at Trail Camp around 6:00 p.m. dinner time and also around 6:00 a.m. breakfast time at Trail Camp in late August. I am going ultralight and wonder if my WM Flight jacket is suffient, or do I need more layering? Any info appreciated!

Larry

Hi Third week of August we should have snow and the winter starts , I don't know about the name drop on the jacket but if it is foo- foo wear bring a real coat. Thanks Doug

Doug you one funny dude! Just wear jeans and if it looks like rain bring a umbrella!!!

Yeti

"WM Flight jacket" = far from "foo foo"! Western Mountaineering's jacket is 850 fill power goose down in an ultralight jacket weighing only 10 1/2 oz. Warm enough? I do not recall ANY snow in 1961 or 1988 at Trail Camp, but maybe those were atypical seasons. What temps can I expect (statistically) at those hours?

Hey Larry,
I think that there are considerations other than temperature as well, such as wind.

Last year I was at trail camp on September 6th/7th. It was very windy most of the night, but above freezing until just before dawn. From 4am to 6am it did get below freezing, but the wind had also died down a bit.

My temperature gauge was a bottle of water left out that stayed unfrozen until 4am (that's when I took a drink from it). The bottle of water then developed a thin coat of ice by 6am.

in the late evening it certainly seemed much colder than the morning because of the wind. So, you should probably determine if your jacket protects against wind.

I had on a thin synthetic long sleeve shirt and two thin polar fleece shirts. I was warm enough with this outfit at trail camp, but added a wind breaker once I got to trail crest as the wind had picked up significantly and was cutting through the fleece shirts.

this was what I looked like at trail camp at around 11pm, Sept 6th. The balaclava definitely helped to keep the cold out.

In response to your "serious note", I intend to wear a short sleeve polypropolene tee shirt as my first layer and long sleeve polypropolene long underwear as a second layer. I am wondering if I need a mid weight layer between these and the "fancy jacket" for sitting around at dinner and breakfast. I apologize if my questions was not well thought-out, but my intentions were well-meaning. However, your ridicule towards me in your post is a good reason why thin-skinned folks hesitate to post on public forums. Now with these additional facts, do you have any valuable substantive information to share?

Your jacket is probably fine, but if it isn't enough, wrap your sleeping bag around your torso. You will look like the Micheline man, but will be warm and toasty. This trick works surprisingly well and uses what you are already bringing up with you. Be sure to bring something for possible precipitation (solid or liquid variety). A rain layer can help keep your sleeping bag wrapped around you as well if you use that trick.

Temperatures could be in the balmy 50's down to the freezing teens. Whether the month is August or December, you should be prepared for both. At that high up, temperatures vary wildly. Statistical predictions bring little comfort when you are outside the mean.

Enjoy.

Brent

part of any snippy response may be because we all must 'hope for the best but prepare for the worst'.

To answer the question, my coldest night in any August was 18F with snow. Hope this help, along with this quote from the classic mountaineering literature

In the few days we were there the weather had been neither hot, cloudless, nor settled, and though we were assured by the residents - as one always is - that such conditions had never been known before, the fact remained that they existed then.
HW Tilman, Two Mountains and a River, page 555

Hi Thanks Harvey for you post. Nice day today some clouds at sun rise but moved east , about like the day we had the 43 degree temperature drop, or the day we had the flash flood.

I see people talking about ultra lite and most often they fail to understand the basis concepts of keep moving and get out , you can go very lite if you can travel fast and know your exits ,have enough mind control to stay in balance and not worry about the small parts.... fingers toes and the like, keep the core warm and travel. But when I heard I think I will sit around and relax with the zip stove and wait out the night that is a different plan.

Now onto the foo foo clothing , this quote came from the owner of a very large outdoor company that he sold to the corps and they told him at a board meeting the shift was going to a clothing line that looked like mountaineering gear but was for the mass market, he quit and was at the store about three hours later using foul words most about the trend of the industry and that how he would not be part of the game at any cost. "I'm not making f....ing foo foo cloths" with my company mane on it.

Thanks Doug

I've have stood on the summit in August when it was 60* F and when it was 9* F. When it was 60, I had on a light fleece anorak. When it was 9* F with 30 MPH winds, I had every stitch clothing I owned on, including a Feathered Friends Hyperion Jacket...the equal to the WM Flight Jacket, and froze my rear end off.

Check the forecast prior to your trip and take clothing you deem necessary to survive a night on the summit, if something unforeseen happens.