Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Summit and trail condition

Summit and trail condition from trail camp up as of Oct 17 & 18, 2004.
From Trail camp up switchbacks; exposed rock along trail with some ice mostly covered with snow and snow drifts to 3 ft. Trail crest to summit similar conditions with drift accumulations kept low by wind removal. Wind was aprox. 30 knts with some higher gusts, nighttime temp at summit in mid teens.

I summitted on the 17th spent the night at the summit, walked out during daylight on the 18th. I was not intending to stay the night the hazard for me was visibility caused by a weather system passing thru. Unsafe to travel at night with headlamp because of blowing snow, causing “very” limited visibility. I used insulated crampon compatible boots w/full sized crampons, adjustable ski/trekking poles, poly skin layer, double layered fleece with wind block, down overcoat with hood this hood also works as a face mask, sheepskin/wool hat, insulated gloves, glacier glasses and a full size internal frame pack. In additional here are items that I should have had; ensolite pad, down pants or bivi bag, stove/pot for water and more poptarts.

Good job! Sounds like you were dressed quite well for the conditions. Did you spend the night in the hut? I'll bet that was a pleasant night. Also, did you happen to look at the summit register? I'm curious how many people have made it to the summit since Friday.

-Rick

I did spend the night in the hut along with a mouse that would peak out between the floor boards. It was nice to be inside out of the weather. I didn't see any place inside to sign book wise. This was my first time up, where is the register kept? Many have signed the ceiling etc. but those are a collection from over the years. Monday afternoon I talked with a sheriff via phone at the Portal Store, he wanted to know about 4 folks coming up from the west side who were over due. I never saw them or any tracks other than my own. All the weather was coming from the west. I'm hoping they're alright but have not heard. On the way down there were two groups of two coming up to trail camp around 11am that would have had a possible chance to summit.

The register is kept outside the hut in a covered shelf just a few feet left of the unlocked door. It was likely covered in snow so it would have been easy to overlook. Sounds to me like you were the only one to summit over the weekend.

Speaking of conditions, I just saw this on MammothMountain.com:

Snow Report - Updated: Oct 20, 2004 8:19 AM

Greetings Skiers and Snowboarders!

An early season storm has kept the snow coming, with 12-16 more inches at the Main Lodge overnight.

Mammoth Mountain will open this Thursday, October 21 on a base depth of 3-4 feet. This marks our earliest opening in 10 years, a full three weeks prior to the scheduled opening of November 11.

Wind and weather permitting, Broadway Express and Discovery Chair will open Thursday allowing access to 5 trails. More lifts and terrain are expected for the weekend.

Looks like snow in Yosemite too. Here's a snapshot from one of the Yosemite webcams:

<a href="http://www.yosemite.org/vryos/"></a>

Further to the East, <a href="http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/weather/wmtn.html">White Mountain Weather Station</a> is currently reporting an air temp of 9 deg F but no precip.

Cool picture! Hard to believe we were on the summit of Half Dome just a couple weeks ago in perfectly dry/summer-like conditions...

That's beautiful..

BeachAV8R

Like you, Beach, I was also in Yosemite, looking at Half Dome near the cam's location. Yosemite was the driest I've ever seen. Virtually no water over Yosemite or Bridal Veil Falls, and very little water in the Merced coming over Vernal and Nevada Falls. Hopefully we'll get a good snowfall this season to help make up the deficit.