Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mt. Whitney trail, 27 - 28 July

I wasn't going to post this since it was an unremarkable trip and there are plenty of other reports describing the current conditions. But we met so many message board members along the way, I thought I would mention it. I took several pictures, but missed ones of Richard Piotrowski and his nephew Matt, and tomcat_rc. Also Rangers Doug and Matt. And there were a couple of people who called me by name, but didn't give theirs. Jeff_M was supposed to drop by our camp on Sunday, but he got derailed (see below). It would have been nice to meet SoCalGirl and her Mom, but we probably bypassed them going up while we were on a shortcut going down.

Pictures here.

There was some rain and hail the afternoon of our hike to Trail Camp on Sunday. It was a typical July/August thunderstorm--perhaps lighter than usual but it lasted for several hours. Well, the people who were in it high on the mountain didn't think it was very light! The lightning stayed air-to-air, as far as I could tell, not air-to-ground, so there was little danger from that.

Monday was pretty much overcast starting relatively early in the morning, and it was the type that often presages afternoon thundershowers, but none developed. My record of successful summits of Mt. Whitney in July/August improves to 48-1. (Referring to an earlier thread on how often thunderstorm season disrupts climbs.)

It was interesting getting our permit on Sunday. There were about ten overnights available, so we were fine. However, all 100 day slots had been taken. A lot of people had chosen to go up the Mountaineer's Route that day (I'm guessing at least 20), which impacted the main trail aspirers. This is an unfortunate effect of adding the North Fork trail into the Whitney Zone day quota, without increasing the number.

Thanks for posting! Great pix :-)

acclimation day was a short hike up to Muir Lake and an afternoon swim in the Cottonwood Basin.

Life is really good:

I climbed Lone Pine Peak on the 27th. I had also planned to climb Peak 3985, but the weather caused me to decide to quickly sign in, take a few pictures, and then get back down the chute as fast as I could... It turned out to be not so bad in the Meysan Canyon - just a little hail and rain.

Two questions: (by the way, thanks for sharing). How much do you feel those two short cuts take off from the regular trail, and I noticed Chuck was not filtering his water. Is this the norm for him? I always take the time to filter now, but when I was younger I never even thought about it.

I assume you are referring to pictures #70 and 74. Together they save ~25 minutes. You probably missed #76, which saves as much as half an hour. There are three others I use, with all six easily adding up to 1.5 hours.

Shortcuts are legal: You are allowed to go off trail in the wilderness. Not to be confused with cutting a switchback, which is a different animal altogether.

Not filtering is the norm for Chuck. He'll probably die.

I had to do way too much talking to convince Matt's parents that I wasn't trying to make Matt sick when I mentioned that we would take unfiltered water from the springs at Bighorn Park (I call it Rockwell's Finest.) and the switchbacks. When Matt asked me about it, I turned it around and asked him where any "pollution" could possibly come from at either source. It's straight out of the mountain in both places.

Bob, great to meet you at the top and thanks for sharing the trip pics. We'll be back mid September for another climb.
Rick (pic#56)

Bob, I think I saw your footprints in the snow above Trailside meadow... I remember thinking that the markings looked very similar to footprints at least.. I wasn't to clear at that point.

You probably passed us further down the trail on Monday as we didn't get to Trailside Meadow until quite later.

I will be posting my TR very soon.. I need to organize my thoughts.

It is to bad we didn't run into each other, but there's always next time!!!

~Chris

Bob - I've only found 2 of the short cuts, one by accident. There are six? Please open another thread with the details. Thanks for all the great info you provide.

After looking at 74 I realize I'm using a different route for between the same two points. I have always hugged the base of the wall rather than walk on top of it. I like your route better though as more views and less impact.

Great photos Bob. Question for you about photo #24. I took a photo from I think about the same spot on my descent July 3rd. It wound up being my favorite photo of the trip, but I am at a bit of a loss remembering where exactly I took it and what the peak is, if not Whitney itself. Any help you can give? Or anyone else for that matter?
I am going to attempt a link. Sorry if it doesn't work...
-jim p.

That photo is taken from Trail Camp, looking up toward trail Crest. The sun is obscuring Mt. Muir, on the right.

Photo 26 is taken from almost the same spot, without the sun.

jim p., Ken is correct on all counts, of course. But since you used the word "exactly," I'll mention that #24 is from a spot about 100' short of what I would consider the boundary of the Trail Camp main camping area. This boundary is where the solar toilet used to be, and is where you first get a view of the sea of tents ahead of you. I will point out that some of the best camping spots up there are actually to the right of where I am standing and behind me, and hardly anyone uses them. Especially some great ones hidden in slabs.

And #26 is taken at the edge of Trail Camp pond, at the spot most people get their water. So it is 300' or so farther up the trail from #24.

Thanks Bob for inviting us to join your party on the way down from Lone Pine Lake and educating us on some of the alternative ways down the mountain.

In only two trips to Whitney I have met so many interesting people who are so willing to share their knowledge and experience of the mountain. Besides the wonder and beauty of the area, the sense of community one feels through talking with the folks at the portal store and the characters you get to know on this message board gets under your skin and makes you want to keep coming back.

I hope we cross paths again.

Michael H (one of the Santa Barbarians)