Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Main Trail on June 6th

Hello everyone. Im new to the forum and having read many of the posts I figure Im in the right place for Whitney info. I plan on climbing the main trail on June 6th and would love to reach Trail Crest or the summit time permitting. I have been hiking for 30 years but never climbed whitney. I have experience on snow and ice. I will spend time at Lone Pine Lake on June 5th to help acclimate. I plan on leaving the portal at 3am on june 6th and will climb until 12 to 1am before heading back. ANY info would be greatly appreciated. My biggest question concerns how much snow will i encounted below Trail Camp. Historically speaking of course and if you want to predict this years snow melt thats great too. Steve L

Steve, I'm going to stick my neck out and predict on June 6th you'll have dry trail up to Mirror Lake. Maybe even a little above Mirror Lake. After that count on snow and ice the rest of the way. I think Trail Camp will still be snowed in. So far our temperatures this Spring have been cooler than normal. But I still think the snow level will go up 2000 feet in the next 5 weeks. We shall see.

Thanks for the the info Walter. BTW I am flying into San Diego on Fri and then driving up. Can you recommend where to stay fri night?? Im thinking I should get as high as possible to start to acclimate. Steve L

Steve,

I only live 70 miles from Lone Pine so I have never spent the night there. There is a Comfort Inn on the south edge of town but I don't know what they charge. By googling I found there is a Best Western also. If you want to sleep on the cheap try Doug's (Doug of the Whitney Portal Store) Hostel at 238 South Main Street. It's on the right just before you turn left to go up to the Portals. I think the price is only $20 a night for sharing a room with 3(?) other folks. - Walter

I have stayed in the Dow Villa motel on a few occasions; it's pretty cheap. Another place I really like is the Mt. Williamson motel in Independence. The owners are Swiss; very nice people.

Steve,

I'm also going up Whitney on the 6th, but I'm doing an overnight trip. Im staying at the portals Friday and Saturday. I would try to go for elevation...Either the Portals or Horeshoe Meadows.

Have a great Trip

Thanks SoCal John I think I will stay at the Portal. I figure I will sleep better down in Lone Pine but acclimate better at the Portal. Being from Massachusetts I need all the altitude I can get, I can sleep after this trip. I plan on climbing Baldy on the 4th and doing some light hiking from the Portal on the 5th up to LP Lake. My guess is spending a few days in the 8 to 10K range can only help too. steve

This was the main trail on June 3rd 1999. Be prepared, or just turn around when the manure hits the fan.

I plan on turning around by 12 or 1pm. giving me 8 hours or so of daylight to get off the mountain. BTW what section of the trail was that Pic taken ? Also, was 2010 an above ave snow year. thats what I'm hearing over the web. Steve

Here is a look at the conditions on the main trail as of May 1st.
http://tinyurl.com/whitney2010


Crampons and Ice Ax needed above Trail Camp. We didn't need snow shoes getting up to Trail Camp.

The pic is from somewhere just below trail camp, on our way down.