Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board 9/4/04 Report

Thank you to all the people on the trail on 9/4. What a great group that showed support and respect to everyone on the trail.

The group I was with had a day pass for 9/4. We left the portal campground at 3:00 AM on 9/4. Note, on 9/3, at 1:00 PM, the top of Whitney started to show signs of clouds building. By 4:00 PM, the top was no longer visible from the portal campground. There were two snowstorms that left snow on the trail. This did not make us feel confident in our hike the next day...

...We left at 3:00 AM, and started hiking at 3:15. Outpost Camp was iced over when we got there. Brrrrr. Trail Camp showed signs of sunlight and warmth, which took us up the switchbacks and eventually to the summit. Not a cloud in the sky the entire day. Amazing!!!!!

The whole hike took our group of 10 people between 14 and 16 hours. I was on the 16-hour edge, others were on the 14. Please take it slow up the mountain. Those who did felt much better upon descent than those who tried to go too quickly...throwing up and knee blow-outs.

happy trails!

Stacys,

Congratulations on making the summit!
3:00 AM seems to be the starting time of choice. I assume it's because everyone is sooo excited they can not sleep.
We are attempting to summit on 09-14-04.
When you say "brrrr", could you elaborate?
Since it is our first time, I want to find the balance between being prepared & overpacking. Is the Brrrr, just a morning/evening thing? Heck, when I come home at 3 am, I think it is cold, & throwing up just guarantees feeling better the next day, (ha ha ha).

Thank you,
Shawn