Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Horseshoe Meadow road? Langley or Muir or ?

Hi all - I'll be back in CA for a couple of days next week and want to get out in the mountains! I would love to go up Langley (ticking off one of my few remaining 14ers) but it seems like that all depends on whether the road is open to the trailhead vs closed (either because the gate is locked, or possibly by snow) - any local info about that?

Otherwise I would consider Muir (which I'm also missing, having only been up Whitney via the MR), but that sounds harder during the winter. Thoughts or conditions on that front would also be very welcome / appreciated.

I think I have a buddy coming (aiming for an alpine start on Wed the 13th and a single push) but always happy to have company if anyone is interested! [We both have some experience in winter mountaineering, and we both run 100-mile trail races so don't mind long pushes.]

thanks in advance,
julian

Hi Both are cross country climbs now , direct to Langley by several routes parking about 5500' Muir same story since you have been up the MR that would be the shortest, walk down the back side to Muir and down the Main Trail Canyon. Expect drifts waist to chest deep and high winds. These would be a little harder than the 100 milers unless they were cross country in the winter. Both trips are better later in the season once the snow has set and you can stay on the surface , travel fast and light . Post a report , many ask about winter travel in the backcountry. Thanks

Thanks Doug - yes, it seems like whether the gate is open or closed the approach would be quite long to horseshoe meadow so I think Muir may be a better target. We are now aiming for tuesday, which coincidentally looks like quite good weather (in particular not too windy, although of course you never know up high). Indeed later season would be better for snow (I have been up the MR in march and also in april, but failed in december partly for that reason), so a few drifts will be fine but if there are a lot we will have to call it a day or switch to a different objective.

Interesting question about comparing to 100-milers. I've done hardrock four times (33000' of gain, average elevation 11000', partly off-trail, takes me about 40 hours) so I'll be very surprised if this is more difficult... but they're each hard in their own way and that's what makes it fun!

Will definitely try to post a report afterward.

julian

rootpi,

You pose an "interesting question about comparing to 100 milers." It seems that if the day at the office goes poorly, the consequences on the Mountain in the off season and the Hardrock 100 (mid summer with Aid Stations) can play out quite differently. During the last four months on the Mountain, there have been at least three separate incidents resulting in death. As the 2015 Hardrock brochure notes, that outing has never seen a fatality during its entire history.

As I recall, last January Ann Trason (14 time winner of the Western States 100, twice beating all the men except one) set out (under much better conditions than this January) to day hike Mt Whitney. She took a significant fall, experienced an unplanned night on the Mountain under very forgiving conditions, and resurfaced back at the Portal just as the the SAR team was heading out to find her.

Good luck this Tuesday. A TR and Conditions Update would be appreciated, as others here will be heading up later in the Winter/Spring.

Jim

Valuable perspective from the holder of the 24-hour Whitney Triple as I recall....

Akichow,

Actually, I believe credit for the sub 24 hr Whitney Triple belongs to another Jim F: Jim Freeland (per the Whitney summit register triple entries on 8/20/2012). Although, once I did eat a triple cheeseburger at the Whitney Portal Store! Question- Does the pancake record still stand at three?

A day hike of Mt Whitney has always been the upper bound of my activity/fitness level. As the years pass, I feel very fortunate to still be able to head up the trail into this enchanting area.

Have a great 2016!

Jim.

Ahh, thanks for clarifying. Handles can be confusing here. Regardless, your advice seems sound and the analogy is interesting.

Jim F: thanks for the thoughts. I guess my main point would be that difficulty is only mildly correlated with riskiness. Hardrock is undoubtedly much safer than most serious winter mountaineering efforts (I have climbed Whitney in winter, as well as e.g. done technical climbing at 6000m in the cordillera blanca of peru), but that doesn't mean that it is easier.

That being said, I wouldn't underestimate the risks. There are aid stations, but up to 10 miles (3-5 hours) between them. This past year there was significant snow on the course, and it snowed horizontally during the race (in july), in addition to pea-soup fog later on. Some parts of the course involve narrow trails and real exposure (with people running at night on tired legs and no sleep). To even try to enter you have to complete a mountain 100-miler, so everyone who toes the line is quite well qualified (unlike the set of people who head into the mountains in general). Hence the lack of fatalities are as likely due to positive selection bias in the participants as anything else.

Will try to post a full report, but here's the quick version: I arrived monday afternoon and checked out the access roads. Horseshoe Meadows is indeed gated and locked. Whitney Portal has the usual closed sign but is accessible all the way to the portal with a 4WD (one big rockfall, which can be avoided). Slept that night at the WPS hostel and hotel!

My partner (Brett Maune, holder of multiple speed records in the sierras) and I had to park at the big lot below the switchback on the road, because neither of us trusted our city sedans. This added close to 3.5 miles (and almost 2000') each way, but at least it was easy. We saw one car at the portal (and another on our descent) but no people at any point.

Once on the trail there were tracks up to maybe 10000' (certainly below outpost camp). There were also some tracks up the North Fork turnoff, though I'm dubious how good the conditions would be in the drainage.

Even with some tracks the snow was soft, and after they stopped it was very slow going, including multiple sections of postholing to the knees or above. [Admittedly we were not on the correct route the whole time, but there didn't seem to be any great options.] We had brought snowshoes (and crampons and ice axes, just in case - I did use my axe a bit) but the snow was soft and deep enough (and most sections had rocks interspersed) that we never used them. That might have been a mistake, although I think they would have been minimally beneficial at best.

We made it to trail camp around 11:30a after quite a bit of effort. Weather was good (cold though not extreme; low winds) but it looked like more of the same snow/trail conditions from there, so we had some lunch, enjoyed the view, and headed back down. Any day in the mountains is a fun day in the mountains!

Hi Thanks for the update. 7 of us did this trip some years ago breaking trail from about the same area same results, we aborted just about the cable area. 4 of our group was heading for Ranier and wanted to test breaking trail, they quickly learned how slow and how much energy it took and how wet you get.

When we get a few weeks into the main season and the snow packs down,ice on the surface and you can kick in life is good!Travel is easy and swift only problem is every step must be secure and steady. I know this guy that ......he took a fall now holds the downhill record. He had a light jacket Hersey bar and litter of water,since it was to be a record trip didn't need much? Now he thinks Mountains at best you have a draw.