Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mallory/Irvine Hike

Our group of 3-5 loyal hikers have done a "big" day-hike a season, most at 14,000 (Whitney, Muir, White Mountain, Langley), and trained each year by doing the local peaks (Baldy, Jacinto, Gorgonio, San Bernardino, Baden-Powell). The majority are not interested in attempting the more challenging 14,000 peaks like Russell or even the Pinnacles (guess you can say it is self-preservation for us gray-hairs!). So, as the itinerary maker, I have picked Mt. Mallory for 2014. Looks to be do-able in a day, and I think its neighbor Mt. Irvine could be reached in the same day-hike. So, in honor of our local In-N-Out, it is to be a double-double.

Looking for input/feedback from the more-knowledgeable and experienced southern Sierra hikers. Distances, a lot of scree to tackle(!), or anything else to consider. Looking to do it in late-June.

(This may show as my first post - had to re-register (from Scott932394 to Scott92394) due to inability to log in recently - again I attribute it to old age. Thanks in advance!

Hi First sorry if you had trouble logging in. After Meysan Lake you will have a section that is somewhat 3rd class and route finding to make it easy to gain the bowl/ saddle between Mallory and Irvine.


Non climbers could you please chime in ,I have found your advice better on exposure and rating than from climbers since these cross country routes can be tricky if the short climbing sections are not looked at for the easy moves that others see.

Get a very early start as this canyon can be very hot and limited water until the last mile or so . Stop by the store and I or others can show you where most people loose the trail (around camp lake/grass lake) The trail is built all the way to Meysan Lake , most loose it about 3 miles up.
Thanks Doug

Yes, the trail is well-worn to the edge of the lake. Backtrack about 80' and look up slope to the right.




You can easily make the loop 3rd class or more, but it shouldn't really be much more than class 2 with a handhold here and there, but that could just be climber-speak. (I think Secor sandbagged Bob R's north slope route from Bighorn at class 1, haha.) Personally, if you're comfortable on exposed 3rd class, I would take the North Ridge route to Candlelight from Lone Pine Lake then up to Irvine and across to Mallory then come down Meysan for the best loop. (It's bad enough coming down the Meysan trail, but having to experience it twice in a day, especially going up, is too much of a "good" thing.)

Oh, and unless you're pushing triple digits, playing the "old age" card around here is kinda like complaining about marrying a supermodel. (No, you're not gonna get much sympathy.)

The scramble up Candlelight from Lone Pine Lake is a Classic! Outstanding suggestion if you like climbing and a bit of route-finding.

Shin can tell you what it's like to go over the top of Mt. Irvine to get towards Mt. Mallory... (from a non-climber's perspective)

If you're really adventurous, you could skip Meysan Canyon all-together by dropping down to Arc Pass from Mt. Mallory...

Almost spit up my lunch from laughing on the "old age" card. As we're out there doing it, we are not old!

I appreciate the suggestions so far, looking forward to comments from Shin and others!

I'm definately more of a hiker than a climber and I day hiked Mallory a few years back. There are different chutes you can take up from Meysan Lake, but they are all loose and steep once the snow melts out. I'm sure it's a lot nicer to go up those chutes when there is snow in them (but watch for hard ice on a low snow year or late in the season). The day hike to Mallory took me about as long as, if not a bit longer, than a day hike via the Whitney Main Trail to Whitney would - I'm a slow steady hiker. I've done a lot of slogs up Class 2 routes in the Sierra and the slog up Mallory wasn't the worst, but it was up there at the high end of crappy.

I suppose if you went up to Irvine the northeast ridge from the saddle between Irvine and Candlelight you would find more solid ground, but probably some Class 3 too.

I did Irvine from Sky Blue Lake / Arc Pass as a nice easy backpacking trip. It's a really nice route Class 1/2 from Arc Pass as long as you start in Miter Basin and not over at Consultation Lake.

Some pics from a Mallory Day Hike:
http://kathywing.smugmug.com/CaliforniaHikesandScrambles/Sierra-Nevada-Hiking/Mount-Mallory-13845-9608#!/i-L9pc7D6

A suggestion for a Sierra 13er that is challenging but works for a day trip: Agassiz Peak - Beautiful area, trememdous view from the summit, trail hike to Bishop Pass, and then a moderate scramble to the summit.

Hi Scott,
Several years back, Richard P. and I climbed Mt. Irvine from Maysan lake. We climbed up the east ridge of Mt. Irvine to the summit then hiked down about 500 feet in the a bit sandy bowl toward south direction along the belly of west slope of Mt. Mallory. Mostly boulder hopping in this area. Keep on moving toward Mallory/LaConte col direction, relatively flat plateau around 13200 feet. Hike toward the south end of this slope, you will see a used trail, short section, to the plateau. On this plateau, you will see Mt. Mallory on right,500 feet higher, and Mt.LaConte on left,700 feet higher. You should try to summit two peaks if you have a time. I highly recommend you to take a top map so you can check your direction and elevation. We didn't come back to Maysan lake direction. We hiked down to Miter basin through Green pass, a steep pass leads to Sky-Blue Lake.
Climbing to Mt. Irvine was very hard but the view was fantastic.
Have a great climb. Don't forget your "Old age" card. There is a range on the trail.

Shin - Thanks for the info and tips. We will definitely try the "two-fer" on this hike, and get Irvine and Mallory. Looking forward to a different view from there!