Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mt. Whitney legal shortcuts

I have done some research and i know that there are 4 legal shortcuts by taking the old trail. I know that there is one going out of portal, one at outpost camp, one going in a straight line from trailside meadow to trail camp. finally, there is one going straight up to the summit instead of going around to the summit.

As you can tell i know about where the shortcuts are but I dont know the exact spot to get on them. If you can help with a little more detail of where these shortcuts are that would be great.

I also heard from someone who hiked with Whitney Bob that the shortcuts can take 40 minutes off of your hike. Is this true?

Hi Not going into the legal what ever that is , but true the short cuts can save way more than 40 minutes . Now just last spring Myles and I spent some time with a short cuter ? Well he was flat on his back when we found him and his buddy looked like death warmed over but it all worked out.
The major short cut is called the Mountaineers route get a map lay a straight edge from the Portal to the summit and bingo you have it.

Now on the main trail area it is all about conditioning, how strong are you and how long can you put out at the effort. The first shortcut is straight up to Lone Pine Lake waterfall coming out of the north side and then straight up to trailside meadow then up the slabs either north or south of the trail , north is shorter but you gain about 50 feet that you loose walking down into trail camp.From trail camp on it is the switchbacks or the chute and onto the trail until Keller Neddle then straight to the summit. I have tried many more but most include some climbing.
Now no one I know that wants to set a record takes the short cuts you can go faster on the trail and it is safer went you pick the pace up , Coming down if your are very strong several of the very steep slabs will get you down quick but we have found over the years that most people get the leg burn and move very slow taking longer than if they went on the trail. These slabs at times are covered with ice and all the time with loose rock on the surface so you need to be willing to roll once in a while and get back up running. The trick is holding yourself back takes energy and the freefall gait takes less so you won't burn the legs as fast.

Now just answer the question ! Each short cut has many starting points depending on the time of the year and conditions of the area: Snow /washouts/ trees down and ice on the slabs listing a few . We have around 40 Rescues a year in the Whitney Area .I would like to offer taking the short cuts you would then decline that service. Thanks Doug

Bob Rockwell wrote a paper on the short-cuts...

The best way to figure them out is to follow someone who knows...

I hope Doug takes us up the one to LPL this weekend...

OK thanks
The legial part was to say that the shortcut wasn't cuting switchbacks!

I got that!

You are allowed to go X-C in the Wilderness. (I once had a woman scold me because she saw me merging in to the trail from having been X-C.)

The reason I mentioned Bob's name is that you can probably contact him for his document. Or find somebody else who knows where their copy is. (I don't.)

Bob outlines his shortcuts in the story "Old Age and Trickery" - a very entertaining narrative of how he once blew away a group of much younger marathoners on the MMWT who seemed to disregard his abilities. Big mistake. It's posted on the web in PDF format:

http://www.ridgenet.net/~rockwell/Climbing/Old_Age_and_Trickery.pdf

The shortcuts and Bob's XC travel comments are detailed in the first few paragraphs. After the Old Trail start, they essentially involve bypassing switchbacks by taking a steeper, more direct cross-country route.

A requirement of using these shortcuts is that one must drink unfiltered Sierra water all along the way.

. . . and only from a Sierra cup.

That's another two papers you can ask Bob for... I think he has separate documents for safe water on the MT and MR.

That's been blessed by the almighty Rockwell...

On second thought...

Anyway, it's an interesting discussion. When is XC, near a well-established trail, merely cutting switchers, and at what cost to the surrounding environment? Now' I've used the use/old trails in the WZ as much as many of the regulars here, yet when I'm in the lower section below LPL, I'll stay on the trail, but that's because I don't particularly enjoy the final "shortcut".

I imagine in other areas, the "ethics" end up being up to each individual's sensibilities. The Meysan Lake trail comes to mind, especially in two particular places. 1) The sand hill below Grass Lake, and 2) the lower switchers. Now, there is good reason to slog up the "trail" through the sand (instead of playing hamster wheel), but like any true scree slope, I find it terribly difficult not to launch off the trail on my descent and finish the section in minutes. (For the record, I do try to stay as far to the right as possible to avoid landsliding onto the trail) The lower switchers, while not as sandy, seem to have been designed by Picasso (and are guarded by a rabid grouse) so I prefer to get past them as quickly as possible by angling high across the whole section.

For Whitney in particular, it being such a high-impact and travelled area, I wouldn't publicly endorse the use of "short cuts". I've used them myself, I try to stick to the slabby ones to minimize impact.

All the more reason for Doug to show us the "Short-cut" to Lone Pine Lake this weekend... supposedly links up really old trail with some fun slabs...

Ummm... not the point of what I posted, but ok.

I’ll elaborate (and it is pretty simple):

1. It allows me to put in a plug for heading up into the Alpine Zone instead of doing back-to-back days down in the desert this weekend.

2. Moving the “Alternate Route” “south” to the route that Doug (and especially Amy – it’s one of her regular workouts) uses to get up to Lone Pine Lake eliminates any (I’ll call it illogical) argument that people are “cutting switchbacks.” I don’t think you’re in earshot of the Main Trail like you are on some of Bob’s paths. You’re using old trail and slabs, which also eliminates the argument about causing damage to a fragile environment. (This was a legitimate complaint about some of the alternate paths, although the damage has been done, so if you don’t get lost, you’re not doing any more damage. (They look like “game trails” to me now.))

3. (More irrelevance) I use these alternate routes because I don’t enjoy yielding to the hordes of uphill climbers I encounter on the Trail in summer. I also get tired of saying “excuse me” to the people (slowly) making their way back to the Portal. (97% of the time they don’t even realize you’re behind them because of the fatigue of their successful climb.)

4. (More irrelevance II) Anything goes in winter. (If you’ve been up there you’ll know what I mean with about a hundred different paths heading in every (wrong) direction.)

5. (More irrelevance III) Your time doesn’t count if you use any of these alternate routes. To set a record (whether a PB, or the “official” record), you need to do the whole 10.whatever/11.whatever miles.

6. (More irrelevance IV) I heard a Ranger was chasing someone down the Meysan Canyon last summer because they had “cut switchbacks” on the way down. They got away.

That story was funny, but when I went to Bob's site I read this one and it's in a class by itself. "Whitney Between Breakfast and Lunch"

http://www.ridgenet.net/~rockwell/Climbing/Mt._Whitney_Before_Lunch.pdf

Speaking only to the relevant arguments:



I just find it interesting that these shortcuts seem to be getting more and more exposure. When they were shown to me, it was with the understanding that they were "on the down low"; the trail was made sure to be clear of other hikers who might see where we were going; and, while not exactly sworn to secrecy, we were expected to use discretion when showing them to others. Now, they haven't been outlined in detail here (although I'm still wondering and scratching my head as to the OP reference to "legal" and what that means), and I agree, they seem like game trails in many locations.

But is it wise to openly discuss these shortcuts as a possibly legitimate means of reaching the Portal in a more efficient manner? And while the lower ones are game trails, they are incredibly loose and sandy, and increased traffic (regardless of actual proximity to the main trail or not) could lead to significant destruction of the hillside.

So, I would also ask the OP to explain his initial meaning of "legal".

Interesting discussion.

Legal to me refers to the issue of cutting switchbacks. It is perfectly legal to wander cross country or game trails, although often not particularly pleasant.

Cutting switchbacks is phenominally destructive to a trail. It is hard for most people to understand how much work has to go into construction of switchbacks. Usually days. Cutting refers to not going to the end of the change in direction of the trail, but cutting down (it is virtually always down, not up), and doing so destroys the underlying stability of the upper part of the trail, eventually causing it to collapse. Unbelievable work to restore and repair. Sometimes done from the end of a switchback, down to the trail below. Not good.

I don't know what I think about the shortcuts. If it were anywhere else (except, perhaps, Half-Dome), it would be a non-issue, due to small volume. No one talks about re-educating deer!
However, on the MMWT, the potential volume is huge, and the impact is potentially problematic.

The general debate about construction of things in wilderness revolves around either spreading impact out to lessen it's effect in one place, or concentrating it, so that everything else is less impacted. I think every case is unique. However, Whitney represents such a huge volume of people, most of whom may not know or care about leave-no-trace ethics, that I think that any approach other than concentration is bad.

Having been on a few of the shortcuts myself, I'd say that:

-they are not trail walking. They are steep, they are often covered in debris that makes footing difficult. Some require 2nd or even 3rd class climbing.

-in rocky areas, which is often the case, the way is not obvious, and requires navigation skills. You can get lost, or get exposed to dangerous drop-offs.

-in soil areas, the steepness undoubtedly creates runoff debris, which is detrimental to water quality.

The times I've been on them has been in snow, where most damage is mitigated. I'd generally say that the shortcut routes are not particularly pleasant to travel, in comparison to the trail, and I'd imagine that only an experienced mountaineer would enjoy the experience.

Personally, I'd probably only use them if I had a specific reason for doing so.

Please don't cut switchbacks, though. Incredibly damaging, and definitely illegal.

The reason i put the legal in there so that people wouldn't get the wrong idea and start cuting shortcuts.