Mt. Whitney Webcam 1

Webcam 1 Legend
Mt. Whitney Webcam 2

Webcam 2 Legend
Mt. Whitney Timelapse
Owens Valley North

Owens Valley North Legend
Owens Valley South

Owens Valley South Legend
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 37
Member
Member

Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 37
We summited on August 13. When we passed the location of the spring around switchback 23 on our ascent around 7:30 am, it was completely dry--no evidence that water had ever crossed the trail. No ice. Nothing but dirt. We couldn't hear any water flowing underground. When we descended around 4:30 pm, there was plenty of water flowing over several of the switchbacks in the area around switchback 23. It was easily obtained and totally delicious.

Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 415
Member
Member

Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 415
That spring freezes overnight and thaws during the day.

Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 157
tif
Member
Member

Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 157
It was flowing strongly the evening of the 23rd (I was heading up the switchbacks around 7pm to spend the night on the summit) And was flowing (though not quite as much( by ~10am or so on my way down the next morning.

Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 157
Member
Member

Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 157
If it freezes at night, how come no trace of ice on the trail? To me, this indicates that it is not a spring: true ground water is held around 58 and freezes at the surface, not in the ground. I do not believe this is a spring, but runoff from the small cirque just above. It behaves like snowmelt, not a spring.

Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 720
Member
Member

Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 720
Originally Posted By saltydog335
If it freezes at night, how come no trace of ice on the trail? To me, this indicates that it is not a spring: true ground water is held around 58 and freezes at the surface, not in the ground. I do not believe this is a spring, but runoff from the small cirque just above. It behaves like snowmelt, not a spring.


It is nothing but snowmelt...the mountains are like a giant sponge and gravity does play a part in this process...you have to understand hydrology and stuff like that...that water trickling is from snowmelts past years ago.


Journey well...
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 444
Member
Member

Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 444
I'm not a hydrology expert but what I do know is that I have drunk this water several times without filtering or zapping and not had any bad effects.

Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,428
Likes: 7
Member
Member

Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,428
Likes: 7
Just a reminder...
This is the nice Richard you're raking over the coals...

Spring, tarn, bivy... there are a lot of things up there that aren't going by their proper definition.

Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 720
Member
Member

Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 720
Originally Posted By Richard P.
Just a reminder...
This is the nice Richard you're raking over the coals...

Spring, tarn, bivy... there are a lot of things up there that aren't going by their proper definition.


"Raking over the coals" was not my intention.

burtw...I agree...just wish I had 50 55-gallon barrels of the stuff to last a lifetime...


Journey well...
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 708
Member
Member

Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 708
That thingy that produces flowing water on switchbacks was flowing strongly yesterday at around 9-10 am.

Also, no ice whatsoever on the trail at the cables. Nada. Zilch.

Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 17
Member
Member

Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 17
Thanks for the info/update. Heading up next Thursday.


Moderated by  Bob R, Doug Sr 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Mt. Whitney Weather Links


White Mountain/
Barcroft Station

Elev 12,410’

Upper Tyndall Creek
Elev 11,441’

Crabtree Meadows
Elev 10,700’

Cottonwood Lakes
Elev 10,196’

Lone Pine
Elev. 3,727’

Hunter Mountain
Elev. 6,880’

Death Valley/
Furnace Creek

Elev. -193’

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 8.0.0
(Release build 20240826)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.4.33 Page Time: 0.045s Queries: 36 (0.028s) Memory: 0.7342 MB (Peak: 0.8132 MB) Data Comp: Off Server Time: 2025-03-15 01:52:37 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS