Warning: Really long read… skip to the bottom for key points of the trip report if you want
Normally I don’t post trip reports, or even write them. My trips are rather uneventful and non-noteworthy. But in light of recent events, I figure I should share all the info I have and hopefully it will help some people change their minds or at least make more informed decisions about heading up in the coming weeks.
First off, what fun is a trip unless you go all out? I met my friend at a park and ride in Fontana around 8-9pm Friday night, the 24th. He came from San Diego, I came from Pasadena. From there we drove up to Lone Pine, stopping to get gas and self-issue a permit. All of the permits in the box were filled out (probably about 10 of them?) so I decided to just write all of my information on a sheet of paper so there would be some record of us heading up, and lots of ways to contact relatives. Looking through the permits, we were happy to see there were some people heading up the Main Trail as we preferred to not be all alone on that side of the mountain. We ended up pulling into the parking lot around 1:30am and tried to get some sleep in the car. Well the winds picked up, so that really didn’t work out that well. After totaling about 2-2 1/2 hours we hit the trail about 4:30 or 4:45am. In my opinion, later than I would have liked. There was no snow on the trail until just after the North Fork crossing. Continuing on the main trail, it was patchy snow on the trail, at best, until you get to the stream crossing where you walk across the logs. I hope that makes sense. Maybe someone can chime in and say how far that is into the trail. Sorry, I’m pretty poor when it comes to describing landmarks (not the best trait when you are out in the wilderness). After the stream, there was snow the rest of the way until Trail Crest where it became patchy again.
It started out as a really windy day, but it tapered off by the end. I can’t imagine how beautiful Sunday must have been. I was coldest at Outpost Camp where I almost called it quits, but luckily we pushed on and it started to warm up heading toward Mirror Lake. The entire way up, the snow was solid and we did not sink in anywhere.
Trail Camp was particularly interesting. I had long decided we were going to take the chute to bypass the switchbacks and the cables, but apparently we were the only ones to do so. Looking up, we saw a group of three and another two separate pairs on the switchers. We headed over to the chute where the snow was completely windswept with absolutely no boot tracks. My friend and I took turns breaking trail and we caught up, if not passed everyone who was taking the switchbacks. I do not want to give any recommendations as I am way too amateur at this, but the amount of time people spent at the cables section was ridiculous. It must be extremely dangerous there this time of year.
Trail crest was breathtaking, as usual. There were LOTS of dry sections on the west side of the mountain, but we kept our crampons on because a few of the traverses had snow and it was a little sketchy if you are scared of heights. We stopped short of the summit by about 3/4 of a mile to 1 mile, due to a combination of everything: fatigue, altitude sickness, hunger, dehydration (even though we still had plenty of food and water), and just plain laziness. I know, I’m pathetic. We headed back and hit the chute to try a glissade by about 4pm. Again, in my opinion, WAY too late. I ended up keeping my crampons on and just down stepping the whole thing. This was still pretty treacherous as it was so icy in places I couldn’t even get my crampons to stick. My friend would glissade about 10-20 feet at a time before digging in to stop and regroup. Very slow going. There was another guy coming down who was day hiking as well. He would glissade for about 20-30 feet at a time and then roll over and self-arrest. I guess he got plenty of practice at self-arresting, but this was not the time or place for practice.
The rest of the hike down was rather uneventful. We did fall in knee, even waste deep in some places around Mirror Lake, and then again just after Outpost Camp. Just after Lone Pine Lake, we got lost. Boot tracks go every which way, so we just picked some to follow. After doing some "route finding," which I rarely have to do (because I’m too scared to go off trail) we were back on the main trail and there was little snow to deal with the rest of the way. Got back to the car just after it had gone completely dark....8:30ish? I can’t even remember. From there, we stopped for food and hit the road. Got back to the Park and Ride about 12:45am and I was home by 1:30am.
We did not run into anyone who had made the summit that day (main trail side only). Talked with 6 people who had made it past trail crest but turned around because of altitude sickness or fatigue.
As if that wasn’t enough to read through, I have a few things that I would like to note / emphasize, in no particular order as they are ALL important:
1. Carry a headlamp. I don’t care you don’t plan on being out long, they weigh next to nothing.
2. Crampons and an Ice Axe are a MUST. I’m gonna say it, I think it’s stupid to head up there now without them. I wore crampons over 75% of the time and used the ice axe when it was too steep or dangerous for trekking poles.
3. Layer up. Spring weather changes RIDICULOUSLY FAST. At Trail Camp it went from warm (maybe 35 degrees?) and sunny to freezing cold, windy, and cloudy in 5 minutes. We were waiting for it to start snowing. Couldn’t see the chute or switchback when the clouds came in. The in 10 minutes it was sunny again. You never know so be prepared.
4. If you take the switchbacks, you better be pro... Literally. The guys up there hitting that section…. I don’t know how they did it. It’s a miracle nothing happened. If you come back down the chute, 4pm is WAY TOO LATE. Again, you better be pro to be hitting that section anytime after 3pm. Should probably be earlier to be on the safe side.
5. The last place we were able to get water was Mirror Lake. After that, everything was frozen. You should have better luck as it warms up, but be prepared for the worst.
6. Find a way to insulate your hose if you have a CamelBak. My hose froze and I couldn’t drink water from just above Outpost Camp until the chute when it thawed out after being in the sun for so long. I typically don’t drink much water, so I was fine, but this can mos def be disastrous.
Finally, I would like to say study the route before you go. If there is any point you are even slightly unsure of, don’t let your pride hold you back. Ask questions on this board, call the rangers, do whatever it takes. We helped out 4 people on the way down who were pretty lost. Maybe they would have been fine without us, but they were just waiting around on some rocks and then starting tagging along when we walked by. We guided them until we got to the section of the trail with no snow to make sure they would be fine from then on, and then we booked it to get back to the car ASAP. Even though we had headlamps, we wanted to go as far as we could without using them. I was very surprised by how few people there were on the main trail after seeing so many cars in the parking lot. Personally, I think it’s kind of unfortunate that so many people are taking the north fork now. Maybe I’m alone in thinking it requires more experience, but is so easily accessible that a lot of regular people think they can handle it. I still need to get some more experience before heading up there, but it will happen someday and some other time, when I know I am ready. The only people who should be up on the mountain right now should be those with legitimate, legitimate experience and know what they are doing (route finding, self-arresting, etc). I am not one of these people, but I tend to have less regard for my own well being.
For now, I beg you to be safe and use common sense.
Pictures are here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/conjunctivee/MtWhitneyMainTrailDayHike04252009# Let me know if the link doesn’t work and I’ll see what I can do to fix it.
-Andy
P.S. Had a ridiculously awesome time (in case you couldn't tell)
