Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Fall Conditions on the Main Whitney Trail

Desi,
I knew a good place for rental in San Jose. Their price is so good, hope it may help

http://www.outbackadventures.com/rentals/mountaineering.htm

TBT

Thanks TBT. I have got it from the place you suggested.

Just a quick update. The temperature seems warm enough to be melting off a lot of the snow as of October 15. If anyone gets up there this weekend and can post pictures it would be helpful.

Keep in mind weather and conditions can change quickly this time of year and storms can come without being forecast. Don't get caught unprepared.

We left Whitney Portal around 3:30AM. Temperature must have been about 35-40 degrees with zero wind. Absolutely beautiful hike up under a waning moon directly overhead. Day broke before we reached Trail camp. There was snow and ice on the switchbacks, but we never felt the need to put on crampons which is good since we didn't carry any with us. We summited just before 11AM, spent about an hour up there to enjoy the perfect weather, and headed back down. The switchbacks weren't such a joy on the way down as the slick spots made for a sketchy descent. If we had had crampons, I think we would have put them on. But, we just took it slower, tolerated a few stumbles, and made it down with no mishaps. After pumping some water at Trail Camp, we hopped down the trail and got back to the trailhead around 5:15, just in time for burgers which I regretfully must report were quite disappointing. Overall, it was a perfect day with perfect weather.

Condition report from day hike of MMWT Sunday, 10/19:

Upper 2/3 of switchbacks, Trail Camp to Trail Crest, were 90% snow-covered, with snow quality as good as one could expect, remaining crunchy/squeaky under foot the entire day, providing good traction, with very little water ice.



The section between Trail Crest and the windows has some short sections of snow cover that had seen some melt-freeze cycles producing icy patches, some in areas with considerably more exposure than the switchbacks.

Lone Pine Sporting Goods rents universal crampons.
I believe they are $12/day.

Great pics. Great info. Thanks guys.

I'm planning to climb Mt Whitney next summer with my 9 year old son. I did the climb this past August and was thinking it would be fun to give him a taste for the hike in two weeks (November 18ish). I thought a nice day hike to Lone Pine lake...some fishing and then head back.

I'm not worried about some snow, but don't want to get in over my head with my boy. Any updates on the conditions on the lower trails would be appreciated.

(BTW: he was my training partner for my hike this summer, so he isn't new to hiking).

Has anyone made the summit this late Oct or in the last couple days. I heard that there is thigh high snow at the higher elevations on the main trail. I was wondering if it is still possible to make the top. Any comments?

The thigh-deep snow was a joke, first reported by someone heading up the Mountaineer's Route, and then someone else posted a picture of Doug sitting on the trail along the switchbacks with snow thrown over his legs to show how deep it was.

The MR report came here: "Now here is where things got a little more interesting, once we got up into the chute the snow was powdery and deep. We were up to our chests in some places on the rocks in others, needless to say it was very tough and slow going."

The picture is here.

From now on, humor will NOT BE ALLOWED on this message board!

By the way, you can stop those little annoying images' motion by pressing your Escape keyboard key (the Esc key).

Sounds like I just got banned for life.............................................DUG

Great thread. I have a somewhat related question. During Fall when the Whitney portal campground appears to be closed, where is a good place to car camp at elevation for the first night? We'd like to acclimate a little and don't mind if we have to drive 30-40 minutes to the trailhead.

If the road isn't blocked by snow, and you don't mind a really short walk, the Hiker's Walk-In Campground at the Portal is a good place. I've also just parked and camped in the parking lot at the Portal.

The following options are 6000', and lower. Not quite acclimitization altitude.

Lone Pine Campground doesn't have a gate (as far as I know), so you can also camp there.

Alabama Hills is BLM land and you can camp anywhere in there.

Doug stated that Tuttle Creek Campground is now a year-round site.

If the road's open, you can camp at Horseshoe Meadows - that's 10K'. The "Orientation Notes" on the left should give you more info.

Now, Now, Richard.

Even if the road is blocked by snow, the Portal is good place to acclimate. Your walk to the hiker-in campsites is just a bit longer.

Those of us who like winter more than summer are wishing that we'll see snow well down into the valley. Some of my favorite photos are of people walking the section of road just above the "viewpoint," where Whitney comes in to view for the first time.

An extra four miles of snow ain't going to stop me. (At least, not yet.) I'm actually looking forward to it since I didn't bother to do a "winter" ascent of Whitney last year. I need to get back to the point where I'm doing more "winter" ascents than summer.

I have had a heck of a lot more fun here in the winter than the summer...and I've never gotten higher than LBSL on the MR and Trail Camp on the MWWT.

I possess the clothing and gear to summit...I just lack some essential skills. However, at Mt. Whitney why should that stop me.

Thanks, guys. We ended up staying at horseshoe meadows the first night. Here are a few pictures from 11/08/08. Iffy quality--taken from phone.


This is as close as we got. A bit too much snow midway up the switchbacks for our ability, but plenty of other folks were charging it with no problem. You can see the railing.


Shot of Big Horn on the way out. Nice fall color.

A friend and I are planning on heading up to Whitney on Friday the 21st and staying at the night there. At this time of the is making it to the summit and back via the main trail a realistic goal in one day if we get on the trail at like 3am? Thanks!

Hello All,

I was planning on doing Mt Whitney trail on Monday the 24th. The plan is to summit Mount Muir. I am bringing an ice axe and crampons.

I was wondering about the snow conditions and whether ice axes and crampons will be necessary.

Thanks