Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board looking for Mt Mallory and Irvine route info

As part of my final acclimation and warm-up for my July 30th dayhike of Whitney, I plan on spending two nights at Meysan Lake. On the 27th, I am going to dayhike Irvine and Mallory, and wanted to see if anyone has done these via the route I have planned. In looking at Secor's book "Peaks, Passes, and Trails", it looks like the best way to go from Meysan Lake is up the East Chute, then follow the ridge to Irvine. To get to Mallory, do what is called the "Traverse from Irvine" to get to a plateau, then hike up the plateau to the summit of Mallory. After leaving Mallory, I plan on descending via the East Slopes back to Meysan Lake. I'll hike out on the 28th, and may bag Lone Pine Peak if I'm not too tired.

Anyway, I was hoping that someone can let me know if my planned route is the best way to go (Irvine first, then Mallory versus the other way around), and how long of a day I can expect. Thank you.

Whitney Mike

I would certainly do that peak combination the way you propose it: Irvine, then Mallory, because the traverse route between them is easier to see from Irvine (would be a somewhat blind descent from Mallory). The route combo is straight class 2. As for how long this will take, this depends on the individual (as it always does). I did this many years ago (September, 1979) as part of a three peak day (Irvine-Mallory-LeConte) that started at Meysan Lake and ended by packing up camp at Meysan, hiking out, and driving back to the SF Bay area (arrival time in wee hours of morning). My memory was that we probably started hiking from Meysan at around 7-ish, returned to camp from the three peaks in the early afternoon and reached the trailhead in late afternoon/early evening.

I would think Whitney would be a warm-up for a Mallory/Irvine day hike, as Mallory/Irvine might be a bit more difficult than Whitney unless your route up Whitney is not via the Main Trail or the MR. But, if there's good snow in the chutes going up from Meysan Lake, the climb might be really nice. It's getting rather late for good snow though.

Here's the way I went up to Mallory last summer:

http://kathywing.smugmug.com/gallery/5905307_TtXDw#367307188_3DQwd

Here's a couple of pics showing what it's like between Irvine and Mallory as seen from Irvine:

Whitney Mike

I am planning the same Mallory/Irvine traverse the weekend of August 15. Have been on Whitney several times and wanted to check out this area. If you get an opportunity could you post conditions etc. after your climb.

Have a great one!