Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Trail Conditions

I am doing the main trail on 5-2-08 and I am interested in any report about trail conditions. Snow, water, etcetera. thanx

Rtestdoc:

I'm wondering the same thing. Despite literally hundreds of posts on this board regarding everything from ultralight tents to whether Nalgene bottles are safe, with the shining exception of Bob R, it seems all we see is a lot of pontificating and little if any actually hiking/climbing/trail reporting.

My memory (started in 2004)is there was a time when the board was composed of folks who actually hiked and wrote trail reports. Perhaps they still do but don't bother to write a report as the board viewership seems uninterested. Even Bob R says he for the most part has "weaned himself of this board".

Just an observation, flame me if you must but am I on to something?

John,

I don't agree. I come to this BB both for trip reports and for useful information about hiking. The second category includes questions and ideas about gear, nutrition, exercise physiology, and such. I do most of my hiking in southern California, outside the geography of this BB, but the information is useful on any trail. Thanks to all the contributors who post good questions and info and who make me laugh (you know who you are).

Burt

Burt:

I agree, I too hike in SoCal (did San Jacinto from Humber to summit on Friday; 11 hrs of snow slogging) and enjoy the useful information. Still love this board and read it regularly.

It just seems like the balance has tipped far towards general hiking discussion and rarely a trip report. And I know it's not summer but I still, not a single trip report from MW for weeks. The last one I recall was Bob R climbing Thor.

Look at this thread for info:

http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/forum/...=true#Post46434

By 5/2, expect the snow levels to have risen a bit, maybe 100'? 200'?

There was a trip report about a month ago by a fellow who reported very little snow on the west side of the crest. There's been no storms since then.

John M
I don't think that the weather and trail conditions have allowed many trips so far this year.There are not a lot of people that are skilled in winter mountaineering that have made trips so far. As the winter snows recede there will be more TRs accordingly.Until then there will be peripheral discusions on equipment and such.I really don't think it is anything more than that.It is still winter in the Sierras.

The trail reports started to come in the about this time last year. We found they really helped in planning our 5/10-13 trip. However, last winter was very dry and the snow level was low. I expect the volume of reports as the trail gets easier and more folks get the itch to go high.

Don't worry DocRodney sooner rather than later the "where's the water" type questions will populate this board, along with "look at you damn map" responses.

See Adam's Trip Report at Trip Report - 4/17 & 4/18.