Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Main Trail Report - June 5-8

Photos: http://members26.clubphoto.com/joseph866058/2377528/guest.phtml

This is one remarkable place. By the time I was done hiking, I forgot that I had summitted the tallest mountain in the lower 48. All I could think about was the views I took in and the experiences I shared with my 3 companions.

We were all first-timers in the Whitney Zone. And I quickly realized that most of the people on the main trail were first-timers as well. Our 3 night trip went off without mishap. We started by camping at the trailhead Saturday night to give our sea level cardiovascular systems a chance to adapt to the eminent lower oxygen levels. Sunday morning we backpacked up to Trail Camp and set up camp. Next morning (Monday) we awoke at 5:00 AM, summitted by noon and returned to Trail Camp by 4:00 PM. We stayed one more night at Trail Camp and then Tuesday returned to trailhead and drove home.

None in the group had any experience with ice axe or crampons. Therefore, we decided to attempt the hike without this gear and with the attitude that we'd turn back if we felt uncomfortable. We hiked up the switchbacks with our trekking poles. Indeed, there were a few scary sections and I heard turning back as an option twice on the hike. I say they were scary but I also have the most developed fear of heights in the group. Sometimes keeping balance with the poles and sometimes holding on with my hands we crossed several snow patches on the switchbacks. We also did some scrambling when the trail disappeared beneath the snow. Beyond Trail Crest, good conditions and the snow sections near the summit were no problem. For fear and being unprepared, we decided against glissading down the main chute. By the time we made it down to the cable section glissading sounded like a great idea. Although the slope is not as steep and tall here, we had no problem butt sliding down the slushy snow. Always beware of hidden rocks in the snow. None in the group had any significant problems with altitude.

As MBF reported earlier, ice on the trail was a problem and the wind was a problem. Also, be careful of stepping through deep snow. Although the water froze in the small creeks, the rocks, warmed by the sun, kept the ambient temp at camp well above freezing. The 2nd night at Trail Camp we decided to move our tent behind a larger rock for a wind block. It provided a break from the constant blowing but did not protect us from the strong gusts that nearly ripped my tent out off the ground. Now I know why someone would bring earplugs. Lots of mosquitoes at Trailhead. A couple of biting flies and gnats at Trail Camp.

So our trip was awesome and we got through without any big ordeals. But we did meet some on the trail that were not so lucky. One extraordinary lady we met going up the switchbacks while we’re coming down. It was around 1 or 2 in the afternoon and she asked us if glissading would be a better way to go down due to the lack of time. We said that we didn’t have any experience with that and suggested that she reschedule or try again the next day. She had started from Outpost early enough but had a bout of altitude sickness near Trail camp. Well, after we told her that summitting was probably out of the question we moved on down the hill and she up. The next day we passed her making her way out of the zone below Outpost. We stopped and asked her how she did. Not only did she summit alone, but this middle aged woman glissaded 1500 vertical feet down the main chute and returned to Outpost Camp after night fall. All she had was a daypack and trekking poles.

We also met a group that ended up staying on the trail Saturday Night due to some “bad decisions”. They had split up while coming down too late. We passed 2 of them Sunday morning waiting for the rest of their group. They asked us for water. While my friendly companion was pouring water into this guy’s bottle I couldn’t help but think why don’t you go 20 feet and put some snow in your bottle. Oh well, some folks just don’t seem like they belong on the mountain.

The Sierras are like no other place on this earth and I wish all happy travels.

Shoreleave,

Nice photos. Thank you for sharing them. And congratulation on making it to the summit on your first attempt! My brothers and I will try again next year for our fourth attempt.

Gilbert M.

Here are my photos from the same trip with the great Shoreleave. Use the slide show feature with the fast forward button to take advantage of the panning effect I tried to create in some shots.

http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=63780727106&page=1&sort_order=0

Just a few things I'd like to share after my first experience with this great mountain:

1) Keep visiting this site for up dates there is tons of useful info here. However, I found that a few people seem to go a little overboard on some subjects.

2) Be prepared for heavy winds. Bring earplugs and seek out windbreaks at camp.

3) Bring and use sunscreen.

4) Take it easy around the ice and snow. It can be done without an ice axe and crampons even for first timers. We used trekking poles.

5) Enjoy and respect your surroundings and have a great time.

Another thing is, you don't have to be in superman shape to summit Whitney, especially if you are an overnighter. But it does help to have some prior conditioning such as a few strenuous hikes in the weeks before your Whitney ascent. In my opinion it also helps to spend some time at elevations above 10000 feet before hand as well.

I just hiked the main trail for the first time on 6/10, and I want to thank everyone on this message board for the info I picked up prior to my hike. I'm a 50 year old fairly fit person, who usually lifts a few weights and runs/bikes/swims/kayaks fairly regularly. I trained specifically for this hike by doing 1000-1200 calorie a day workouts for a month prior to the hike, including walking or running uphills and at least 3000 vertical feet a day on a stairclimber at the gym. The Whitney trail is equivalent to at least a 3000 calorie workout, and I think the key is the stairclimber or equivalent. I stayed in Lone Pine for the night and woke up without an alarm at 3;30 am (still on east coast time). I left the trailhead at 4:30 am, summitted at 9:30, and was back at the Portal Store at 2 pm. I hiked up at a quick pace and took my time on the way down. I carried a quart of water and a filter -- there was plenty of water up to Trail Camp. Consultation Lake was completely frozen over, though, so I think it would be best to water up at Trailside Meadow where the water was flowing pretty well. There were several snow fields easily traversed, no crampons needed, but I did use my ice axe for insurance, especially near the cables. I took carry-on only on the plane, so I rented an ax at a sporting goods store in Lone Pine (ax $4.50 per day, crampons available for $9.00 per day, but I didn't rent crampons.) I was coming straight from the east coast and took Diamox 125 mg twice a day starting the day prior to the hike, and had no symptoms of AMS. I had never hiked over 9000 feet before and that was one of two variables I was uncertain about. The other, the weather, was fine that day although colder than last week. Winds were steady at the top at about 20 miles an hour. Good luck to all future hikers and my thanks to all experienced hikers who posted-- it was an impressive mountain!