Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mt. Whitney Attempt - December 19, 2009.

I was going to title it Failure, but it was too much fun to be listed as a failure.


I'm still hoping to get that fifth consecutive December ascent in. I didn't head in to this too optimistically, since there's been a bit of new snow recently.

The Corolla (not anywhere near as good as the Rally Sentra in snow) barely made it to the big turnout at the bottom of the hill.

Two hours to the Portal. Five hours to LBSL (all new tracks above the Portal). Nearly seven hours to slightly above Clyde Meadow. Just about ten hours for the round trip.

I was going to try and push the tracks up to Iceberg Lake tomorrow, but I can barely walk. This one did me in.

I've got a few days after Christmas to try this again. I'm sure I will.


Some highlight photos:








Animal tracks heading up! I couldn't figure this one out. They went higher than I did. And, the animal new the route as well as any of the regulars. If you look at the photo album, you'll see that I took quite a few of the tracks. If anybody knows what put them up, let us know.



Target for turn-around is the tree at center.



The E-ledges tree.





The rest of the photos. (No captions yet.)

I like this picture; the uneven lighting is really interesting. I read the specifics on the picture and have a couple of questions:

1) Are you using the Automatic or Manual setting?

2) Did I read the time correctly as around 7:00am?

Unrelated queries:

1) What mode of transport were you using Snowshoes? Crampons? (could not tell from pics or I missed it)

2) Did you use the E-ledges (it looked unpassable to me!)

I usually leave the camera set to Intelligent Auto, but do change settings on occasion. This sunrise photo was on auto.

The camera time is fairly accurate.

I had skis in the car, but didn't know what the conditions were like, so they stayed there. (Based on the webcam photo, I wasn't expecting there to be so much new snow!) I was carrying snowshoes and had to use them starting at the Portal.

No, I climbed up the approach to the ledges, but headed upstream a short ways before cutting over to the south side of the drainage. I was hoping the snow up in the trees on that side would have been less deep than where you get all of the snow that slides off of the cliffs. It was still deep in places.

Awesome photos Richard!

These were taken with your TZ5? If so, I'm sold. The color and saturation are perfect and the exposure compensation is much better than my G9 on program. Thank you.
Stacy

Instead of breaking trail for the animals, you could of came down here for some "real" climbing.

Oh well, atleast you got some nice pics!

Thanks.

Yes, this was the TZ5.

I've started looking at the ZS3. They've made both the wide and tele end of the lens better with the new model.

fantastic shots Richard!

Thanks Richard. I always worry that the manufacturer will try to "improve" a product so much that they end up losing the qualities that you liked in the original. I'm still sold on the ZS3 / TZ7.
If Santa doesn't bring it, I'll just have to buy it for myself... !

Have a Merry Christmas!

Stacy

nice shots Snowflake!

Those tracks look like they were made by a mountain lion - a big one. Maybe it was stalking you...

I hear Santa is bringing me a 7D...

Merry Christmas to you too.

Nice! Beautiful highlight photos. Good luck on the fifth consecutive December ascent...

Richard, you really have a fantastic camera eye. I have really enjoyed all your pictures and trail reports. I must admit that I am envious that you can do as much hiking as you do. I guess that I will have to wait until I retire to be able to hike whenever.

Have a merry Christmas.

Anyone with this skill level and with these photos, I would not call this a failure. I would call it an adventure. Glad you were able to have fun and were able to take some great photos!

Hey Richard,
Santa brought me the ZS3 and I love it! Did you get your 7D?

Hi Richard,

What model of snowshoes were you using?

I have a really old pair of MSR Denali snowshoes.

It would be nice to upgrade to a pair with a heel lift to save the calf muscles.

Glad to hear you like it. Looking forward to seeing some of the photos.

I need to start working out more so I can carry the new camera. It's a bit heavier than the 50D and it felt like a brick around my neck at times. I'd probably have to hide the ZS3 if I bought one now.

Very nice, congrats on the new toy!
Squats and shrugs might help...LOL.
I've taken my Nikon D300 w/ 17-55mm f2.8 lens on one 3 day trip so far, and I'm not sure if I'd do it again. I had rigged up straps to clip directly to the front of the shoulder straps on my pack. It seemed like a good idea, even felt like it counter-balanced the 40 lbs on my back a little bit. In the end...it was just heavier.
Can't wait to try the ZS3 on a hike.
Stacy