Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board TR: Whitney (Main Trail) May 25-26, 2013

I will make this a serious trip report, though it is a bit of a challenge.

This hike featured, among other things, tutus, cupcakes, new friends, old friends, happy hour (with Cupcake wine) at Trail camp, a challenging hike up the snowfield, and Richard P's return to his home-away-from-home (no, not Nepal...his other home-away-from-home). All the people mentioned herein are people I have met through this board.

This was my fourth summit; my first time up the snowfield (but probably not the last); and the first time that I hiked all the way down to the Portal after summiting. My feet are still paying the price, but the chicken sandwich/fries at the Portal Store with Richard, Doug Sr., Earlene, Myles, and Amy made it worthwhile.

People wanted to know why three of us (DobeMom, Tracie, me) were wearing tutus at the start. Heck if I know. But I now think that tutus may be the 12th essential, after duct tape. On this trip alone, we used them for (1) picking each other out on the trail; (2) emergency fastening devices (individual strands); (3) figuring out how far apart we were ("Did you see a woman with a tutu? How far ahead/back is she?" Works like a charm); (4) signalling location of camp; (5) home/tent decoration....

Yeah, I know, stop talking and post the pictures already. Here we go.

Can you ask for better weather? No, you cannot. DobeMom temporarily lost the nickname that Doug Sr. gave her, Cloud Seeder. Picture from the Interagency Permit office on Saturday, May 25.



Going up the Main Trail. That's DobeMom, Tracie, and Tom Deitz in the back, who I met for the first time on this trip (he was going up with his brother-in-law to fish Lone Pine Lake).



Crossing the log bridges. Not a lot of water.



Lone Pine Lake. A favorite lunch spot.



DobeMom, her husband, and her two dobermans bid us farewell at Lone Pine Lake. But first she loaded us up with cupcakes! Best cupcakes ever!

Big Horn Sheep Park was very colorful.



Tracie and I set up, in advance, a communication system with a deaf hiker friend, Sonya, who went in a day early, so that we could find her on the trail. It worked like a charm.



We camped Saturday night at Trail Camp, where we met up with Ridgeline Dave and Trailbud Doug for a late happy hour, featuring Cupcake Wine.

Some members of our group also made the decision not to go for the summit the next day, but to try another time later in the season, based in part on reports of conditions that we'd received as we headed up the trail, and injuries sustained on the way up. Re conditions, the gist was: a combination of lots of ice on the trail, and poor quality snow on the trail and in the snowfield, with lots of SAR activity (including a rescue off the switchbacks).

Sunrise at Trail Camp (Sunday, May 26).



I met Richard P, by prearrangement, at Trail Camp at 6 a.m. on Sunday. I was armed with a lot of gear....ice ax, crampons, miscrospikes, helmet. Richard knew that I was hoping to do the snowfield rather than go up the 99 switchbacks, so we went for it. We left Trail Camp at 6:15 a.m., which was not a moment too soon.

Here is the start of the snowfield section of the hike. For now, a nice track to follow.



Looking up at the switchbacks/cables from the snowfield.



Higher on the snowfield. No useful boot track. As we got higher, the snow became, for lack of a better word, feathered -- vertical ridges that deepened the higher we got (Doug Sr. knows the technical word for this). Some of the glissade tracks were maddening...you could see that people had chosen to glissade over good boot tracks, turning them to icy mess. The snow started out firm but quickly began to deteriorate as the sun warmed it.



I was feeling a little challenged as we get higher. However, Richard was extraordinarily patient, and he talked me through the tougher sections. And so, it stayed fun. (Richard, I owe you countless beers by now!)

This picture is looking down from almost the top of the snowfield. We topped out just before 9 a.m. We were probably the last to ascend the snowfield on Sunday because of the deteriorating conditions.

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View down the backside to Hitchcock Lakes. That's Ukelele Lake, I mean, Guitar Lake at far right...it's tiny this year!

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First summit plateau view. Very little snow on the backside.

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Summit plateau snowfield.

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First view of summit hut

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Richard on the summit. Yes, he's baaaacckkk! (And I was there to see it!)

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More summit!

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Switchbacks from the summit.

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The route home.

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Switchbacks and the snowfield. Some people glissaded down the snowfield, although the combination of rocks and poor snow made that unappealing. We took the switchbacks.

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Richard at Trail Crest

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Classic view from Trail Crest. You can see that the lake at Trail Camp is very small this year. Consultation Lake is still largely ice on top, though probably thawing fast. No one was camping there yet.

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The last switchback.

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The cables.

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(Actually, it seems that it is the two switchbacks above the cables that are causing the most trouble now. We heard that there was a SAR event on Saturday that involved a guy who got stuck.)

Conditions do appear to be changing rapidly both on the slope (which is deteriorating) and the switchbacks (which are improving but which still have places that are challenging/dangerous, depending on your skills and equipment.....

Parting shot....

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Fun stuff indeed!

Here are a few of mine:






Passing a bottomless posthole.




Let's give it a little perspective...that is a BIG slope.


Summit Snowfield.


Gotta throw in my usual summit self-portrait.

Great pics, Karin and Richard!!

Karin, in addition to the many uses for tutus that you listed (plus a few more that chimed in on Facebook) I think we need to add "attitude adjuster" - you just can't see someone in a tutu on the mountain without smiling!! I know last October we brought smiles to a lot of hikers making the long treck down... I'm sure you guys did as well.

It looks like you all had a wonderful time... wish I could have joined you. I was kinda surprised that you camped at Trail Camp... I thought you were heading for Consultation Lake? Too much snow still?

"...I was feeling a little challenged as we get higher. However, Richard was extraordinarily patient, and he talked me through the tougher sections. And so, it stayed fun...." Yup, I've been saying this for years now! He's a good friend!

Sooo.. Karin, your next adventure is your JMT segment from Tuolumne to Reds Meadow? (I think?)

Yes, the tutus brought out chuckles and questions. "Icebreaker" is another use.....

Next up....Desolation Wilderness with dog(s)!

Consultation Lake was largely frozen and not very welcoming. Trail Camp better situated us for an early start. And there are some good camping spots there (my lips are sealed). Plus, you get the best alpenglow there. And early on the season, it is still pretty clean (though we saw a ridiculous number of wag bags on the trail throughout the zone). Trailbud Doug and Ridgeline Dave were there, which made for more fun.

Sorry you couldn't join this time! Next time!

Fabulous report & pictures.

Question: did you need micro-spikes/crampons coming back down the switchbacks? I'd like to get up for the first time this season in a week or two, and was wondering if running shoes would be sufficient.

Actually, the photo of what DobeMom was wearing (shoes, not tutu ) is a good example of what I'd like to wear. If the switchbacks are still challenging, then I'd have to consider taking different gear.

I'll stick my neck out... two weeks from now you won't need anything... Barefoot Ted will probably be able to do a repeat with only a few sections of cold feet...

Spent part of Monday with some Trail Runners who had just finished the Main Trail in running shoes. Their comment was that they only needed to concentrate in a few spots on the Switchbacks. (Leisurely 4 hours up; 1 1/2 down for them.)

I used microspikes in sections of the switchbacks (descent, some others did not), and crampons on the snowfield (ascent). But snow is melting super fast. From Saturday and Sunday morning to Sunday afternoon, the change was dramatic. You can also see the speed of melt on the webcam. So likely two weeks from now will be an entirely different ballgame...unless it snows again!!!!!!

Because I realize a lot of people read this site, with different skillsets and experiences, I will just say again that, for now, folks can still get into trouble. Lots of SAR activity both Saturday and Sunday. Falls, people getting stuck, etc. In the early morning, we could pick out stuck people on the switchbacks (and people turning around). In the afternoon, we could pick out people having difficulty descending the slope. For other people, the conditions are fairly easy.

Hi Thanks for the post ,pictures always help the people going up that have concerns of what to expect. Like Akichow said conditions are changing hourly.

Doug Jr and I found a section of the wind blown ice/snow behind Mt Hale once these were about 4'-6' and made travel a bear, fancy name is Sastrugi , very common on saddles and areas that see strong wind and sun exposure.

Thanks Doug

Richard, thanx for the quick reply.

I said hi to you last year when I spotted you in the rear of Doug's kitchen. I had just come back from a quick traverse of Onion->Shepherd. (1 nighter below Forester, nothing like your incredible single day day hike.)

I was able to follow some boot steps through the cornice @ the top of Shepherd. I recall you had had to go up & around the week before, so I guess I lucked out. It looks like the trail cutting across the top of the chute @ Whitney is similar. For both, it's a long way down.

Looking forward to going up in a few weeks with my 14 yo son - his 1st time. He handled Angel's Landing in Zion like a champ back in April, so no/little fear of heights. He's got great endurance (we made it to Bishop pass & back from S Lake in under 4 hrs last summer - no packs, just water), so he should have a blast. Soon, he can start carrying my load. LOL

Btw, we're gonna spend the night below the switchbacks. Is Consolation the call or still too icy, windy & cold?

Now I'm jumping in. In two weeks I am guessing that Consultation Lake will be lovely....

Sastrugi...great word...curious about the derivation...time to Google.

Channeling Mr Burns: "Excellent".

Be sure and stop in to say Hello again... And grab a couple of WPS Burgers.

Photo album:

http://piotrowski.smugmug.com/Whats-New-1/Mt-Whitney-The-Return-May-26/29661241_ChKC65#!i=2538890198&k=VTktZnL

Awesome TR, Karin!! It was so fun hiking with you and Tracie!!!

Congratulations on the summit, Karin and Richard!!!!!

ps: I think the Cloud Seeding only occurs while the Seeder is in the NF and in the months of March and April...

Nice pictures Richard and Karin,like that TR.. congrats on summit...Fun time ladies!!

So did either of you look down the 400 and get any pictures, like to know what it looks like..yea I know it was a few days ago..

mark

These pictures are wonderful! A treasure (for me)!

SouthBay Mark, sorry, I did not look down the 400 this time.

Mark,

Two days ago (Monday May 27) I looked down the Final 400. Still plenty of snow in the middle of the chute (from the storm May 6-10).

See you up on the Mountain.

Jim F