Mt. Whitney Webcam 1

Webcam 1 Legend
Mt. Whitney Webcam 2

Webcam 2 Legend
Mt. Whitney Timelapse
Owens Valley North

Owens Valley North Legend
Owens Valley South

Owens Valley South Legend
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 2 1 2
#74257 03/22/10 10:47 PM
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 492
Member
Member

Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 492
Mt

Mt. Whitney - 3.20.10


Starting point:
3.25 miles from trailhead at 6,800'

Total miles:
15

Elevation gain:
7,700'

Car to summit:
6.5 hours

Car to Car:
11 hours

Season climb:
Winter

Season descended:
Spring

Board members met on the mountain:
BCBob
Kurt Wedberg
Sierragator
Mescalito345

Food consumed to reach summit:
1 Twinkie
3 Gels
A few Cheetos

Water consumed:
3 Liters (Not quite Rick Kent style)

Items left behind to save weight:
Water Filter (I hope I don't get Giardia)
Guns (except for the two I always carry)
Bear Canister (too heavy)
Wag Bag
Avi Beacon
Richard
Snow shoes
Helmet (I actually forgot it in the car)
Permit (sorry Dave)

Pictures with more details and conditions:
Mt. Whitney - 3.20.10


Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,428
Likes: 7
Member
Member

Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,428
Likes: 7
I slept an extra four hours and forty-one minutes and then climbed up past LBSL to wait for Mike (actually I had been thinking about a late summit, or Thor Peak, but once I started up the drainage, I knew either one would have been foolhardy considering how bad I felt.

Congrats on the summit. It's probably the first and only time you'll have more summits for the year than me.

Here are some photos from my climb.

Here's the POV album and "movie."

Here's Sunday's aborted climb of Thor Peak photos.

Here's Sunday's POV album.


Mike Mellin starring in "The North Fork".


Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 104
Member
Member

Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 104
are you guys using crampons or snowshoes up these steep slopes in winter?
Im very new to this and this weekend i was at big pine/south fork trail trying to climb up steep grades in snowshoes and the snow got granular and icy.I also was kicking in with my boots as my snowshoes had no grip in these spots.I also learned fast what the purpose of an ice axe is.It was a comp[lete disaster as i never summtted and was doomed without map.For some reason i felt hypoxic before getting to the steep stuff-maybe only 30mins after snowshoeing on a gradual rise.The sun was pretty intense and maybe i was getting a headache from that.I also only got 4hrs sleep the night before.I was disappointed at my health since last month i kicked ass going up the north fork.


Evil triumphs when good men do nothing.
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 538
Member
Member

Joined: May 2004
Posts: 538
Mike: nice summit, thanks for pictures, cant wait to summit in a few weeks, if I do...mark

Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 139
Member
Member

Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 139
Wow Mike, impressive summit, looks like you have the MR dialed in!
Maybe I should start eating Twinkies?

Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 143
Member
Member

Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 143
Congrats, Mike!! Nice photos!!! And love the POV, Richard!

Originally Posted By Mark Irving

Maybe I should start eating Twinkies?

I think it's the combo of Twinkies and Cheetos, wink

Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 696
Member
Member

Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 696
Mike, congrats on the equinox summit! "Items left behind..." LOL

Richard, cool documentary shots. I know you've been asked this but can any camera do that? Is there a setting for auto pictures?

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 904
Member
Member

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 904
Congrats, Mike!!!!! Best TR. cool And stunning pix...


"The mountains are measured for their height but the achievements of one who climbs the mountains are immeasurable." m.c.
http://www.facebook.com/keepclimbing
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 783
Member
Member

Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 783
SpeedyG - Awesome and great TR, POV and Pix! Looks like you had a super day.

Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 213
Member
Member

Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 213
The G-Man always makes it look easy. Great pics as always.
Twinkie "nice"
Can't wait until we go up in a few weeks.


Get up! Get moving! That is when life begins.
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,428
Likes: 7
Member
Member

Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,428
Likes: 7
Originally Posted By JamesL
Richard, cool documentary shots. I know you've been asked this but can any camera do that? Is there a setting for auto pictures?


No, but it's common in almost all of the Nikons. They call it Interval Timer Shooting.

I bought the Coolpix S560 specifically to do these POV shots. Some of their other models have limitations on how many photos, or how long, you can shoot. The S560 will keep going until the battery runs down.

Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 42
Member
Member

Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 42
Awesome job Mike! Congratulations on your ascent. Thanks for the pics too. Good shots of the Ice!! Mmmm nice.

Wes

Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 492
Member
Member

Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 492
Thanks everyone. Looking forward to the "M.C. Trip" in a few weeks.

Richard- I forgot to add this in my TR...

Beating Richard to the top of Whitney this year:
Priceless cool

Wes- I talked to Kurt and he said the ice was good. Hopefully it lasts a few more weeks. We might need more than one ice screw though wink

Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 330
Member
Member

Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 330
Impressive!

Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,428
Likes: 7
Member
Member

Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,428
Likes: 7
Originally Posted By GigaMike
Richard- I forgot to add this in my TR...

Beating Richard to the top of Whitney this year:
Priceless cool


Someday, you'll be older and slower and the bones and muscles will creak when you try and get out of "bed" too early...

Some young whipper/snapper will come blazing by, saying to himself "gee, I hope I can still do this when I'm THAT OLD."

Let's see you beat the twenty-two from last year!

Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,010
Likes: 3
Member
Member

Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,010
Likes: 3
Hi 15 miles, Did the math and looks like the 6.7 mile route some books use must be in a different area. I took the .2+.2+.3 +3.25+3.25 -15 and got 7.8/2 = 3.9 . Ok so the .2's are using the old trail and the .3 is the Doug Jr burn your legs straight up from Lower to bypassing Upper. Do I recall the 3.9 number from somewhere?

Mike has the route on the photo section , also study the slide area on the road and then look around Lower Boyscout Lake , notice the same angle of slope and sun hitting the South/ East portion of the slope , causing the one side to go and taking the support away from the north side. ALSO STUDY THE MAP/PHOTOS AND IT should be easy to see ,Stay on the North side of Lower Boyscout and IN the first canyon.

THIS avoids the risk of being caught in a slide. The snow bridges will start breaking soon so watch where you walk on both routes, Main Trail and Mountaineer's. Matter of record I would stay away from the main trail for a while , Last year we had some major rock fall above Outpost to Trailcamp during spring thaw and I would expect the same this year.

Got to thinking and forgot to tell Mike Great Trip Report and Photos !!Doug

Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 492
Member
Member

Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 492
Thanks Doug and great info. I looked up a few of my gps tracks from the mountaineers route and the distance is 4-4.5 miles depending on using the old or new trail and a slight difference in the winter and summer route.

Btw, as Richard and I were coming down the North Fork on Sunday, I broke through a snow bridge and into about 1.5 feet of COLD water...


Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 213
Member
Member

Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 213
Speedy got caught with wet feet? crazy


Get up! Get moving! That is when life begins.
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,428
Likes: 7
Member
Member

Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,428
Likes: 7
Originally Posted By GigaMike
Thanks Doug and great info. I looked up a few of my gps tracks from the mountaineers route and the distance is 4-4.5 miles depending on using the old or new trail and a slight difference in the winter and summer route.

Btw, as Richard and I were coming down the North Fork on Sunday, I broke through a snow bridge and into about 1.5 feet of COLD water...




You'd think I was fast on my feet and quick with the camera, but this one came from the POV album. Lucky shot of Mike dipping a boot.

Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 353
Member
Member

Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 353
Bump….. to celebrate the 80th birthday of the Twinkie grin
http://healthyliving.freedomblogging.com/2010/04/06/happy-80th-birthday-to-the-twinkie/18485/

Also, congrats Mike on the 1st Whitney dayhike of the year cool

Last edited by graham; 04/06/10 10:29 PM.
Page 1 of 2 1 2

Moderated by  Bob R, Doug Sr 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Mt. Whitney Weather Links


White Mountain/
Barcroft Station

Elev 12,410’

Upper Tyndall Creek
Elev 11,441’

Crabtree Meadows
Elev 10,700’

Cottonwood Lakes
Elev 10,196’

Lone Pine
Elev. 3,727’

Hunter Mountain
Elev. 6,880’

Death Valley/
Furnace Creek

Elev. -193’

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 8.0.0
(Release build 20240826)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.4.33 Page Time: 0.082s Queries: 57 (0.037s) Memory: 0.8032 MB (Peak: 0.9506 MB) Data Comp: Off Server Time: 2025-03-15 15:30:05 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS