Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Whitney Trail Conditions

Wanted to do a Harvest Moon hike of Whitney...

Weather no good on Friday/Saturday (lots of T-Storms on the radar)

Weather was supposed to be better Saturday/Sunday, but the radar was still showing lot so T-Storm activity on Saturday afternoon/evening.

Weather was good (other than icy - really. the pooling water on the summit blocks was icing up), with 10-15mph wind on the summit) Sunday/Monday.

Lots of water on the mountain...streams sounded louder...The Spring on the Switchbacks was flowing fast...The "Drip" at The Cables made me want an umbrella...hope the weather stays warm, or that section is going to get dangerous in a hurry...

Did Cottonwood Pass to Whitney Portal over the past two days...
-Snow on the ground at the Trailhead...probably gone by now.
-It's not summer anymore...Crabtree Meadow was tolerable at night, but you'd be chilly with a summer bag...
-(Poor NPS Rangers...chasing a missing person who wasn't missing - ruined my visit - they were too busy with the SAR Mission.)
-Lots of ice on the ground above Guitar Lake...
-Holy ####. it was cold in the shade with the breeze...
-Ice was forming at The Cables...
-Swichback Spring was barely flowing.


On another note:
-Liking the new gear...
-15 miles IS my limit to stay comfortable...
(21+/17+ made enjoying the WPS Bacon Cheeseburger difficult.)
(That was 181x+.)
-All of this unsettled weather is making me reconsider a late-season JMT...

Thanks for the overview - we are planning to do the same starting this Thursday (permits for Cottonwood Pass, exiting Whitney Portal). In our group of three, two of us did Whitney via the portal last year in July with no issues and we've both been in the Eastern Sierras at 12k+ a number of times, the third member of our party also has good experience backpacking; however, none of us have done late season trips. We can handle the cold and have the right gear to deal with temps in the 20s, but I'm not comfortable doing anything involving ice beyond what basic boots/trail shoes and micro spikes can handle. Based on what you saw these past two days, will that be an issue?

The ice on the trail that I encountered would not be dangerous...it just added the requirement to pay attention to foot placement...it also would probably melt off during a warm day.

(I was hiking up the east side of Whitney in morning shade.)


There is potential for snow in the forecast that I've been watching regarding my Happy Isle start on the 21st...

https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph...54#.YyX8MHaZNGP

https://yosemiteforecast.com/roads/tioga-pass

The ice forming at The Cables was still "up" from the trail (on the wall).

Go ahead and ask any other questions you may have...BTW, there is a link to the Crabtree Meadow Weather Station on this website... I looked at it before I started and it showed mid-thirties for lows and I would say this was accurate for the night I spent there.

Another BTW: there was NO water until Rock Creek...a heck of a long way along the PCT from Chicken Spring Lake. (Unless I was sleep-walking past an earlier source...)

That's excellent info - thank you! We'll make sure to fill up there.

You know the weather words snowing , raining, hailing not here today but winding very winding and cold and some folks coming off the JMT saying bypassed the main event the summit since it was very cold and they had... just had enough .

108 closed a few minutes ago snow and ice , clouds here but blowing hard across the ridge , snow would end up about mirror lake if we get any ,
Wind in the Portal about 50 degrees 5:30 PM

This system should stay around a few days so watch the webcam for clouds/snow.

Thank you! We are watching the forecast as well and will check the webcam.

Based on what I'm seeing...
(The "bad" weather seems to be mainly north...)

I'm changing direction, with a bail-out (possible) at Onion Valley...

Gets the real high-elevation out of the way early...

Won't have to worry about what The Switchbacks and Cables will be like in 2 weeks...

I'm only seeing 1 1/2" of snow (at most) on the ground (via station reports) and that would melt away with a day of sunshine...
(Hopefully a %$!&-load more snow won't fall in the next couple of days...)

Get that done in 3 days...
Waste a day re-arranging transportation from Yosemite...
Head back in if weather finally stabilizes into a mild Fall...
Still gives me nearly a week to get my resupply at MTR...

Any comments?

Bailed on the late-season JMT hike, but did do another hike up Whitney yesterday (09.21.22)...

Definitely need "winter" clothing on the mountain now...
(Guessing 25mph wind...bitter cold.)

The ice at The Cables is creeping down onto the "steps," but you can stay on dry ground by doing a little zig-zagging.

No water at the Switchback Spring.


Ran into a Russian, who's now a green card holder, who lives on Maui...while I was heading down the slab shortcut to Lone Pine Lake Junction...too much fun talking Hawaii and climbing...would have been interesting to hear his take on Russia Today...his family spent time in Israel...really interesting.

Day hiked the Main Trail yesterday (September 26). Some clouds were around the entire day, but the weather was pleasant. There was a drizzle at the Portal for an hour after the hike.

Still many hikers are completing the HST and JMT. These hikers reported no issues coming up the backside from Guitar Lake. They noted that staffing at the Crabtree Ranger Station has been extended an additional two weeks (now by Ranger Rob) due to the significant number of hikers currently in the backcountry.

As Richard P observed on his September 21 day hike, the Spring at SB 22 appears done for the season. But plenty of water is still flowing through Trailside Meadow.

Ice continues to accumulate on the final third of the trail passing by the Cables. Currently, the ice is easily identified and avoided. However, once there is a dusting of snow, this ice will "disappear," requiring more attention during foot planting and loading.

Some Fall colors are starting to show at Trailside Meadow, around Mirror Lake, and at Bighorn Meadow.

After the hike, at the Whitney Portal Store "rehydration" was accompanied by a fine double cheeseburger. Sorry to learn I missed Doug Sr and Shin by a day. But, enjoyed a lengthy "Round Table" meeting with Becky, Doug, Jack, Kurt W, and my friend Peter. It was fascinating to hear of Jack and Betsy's discovery of Orland Bartholomew's cache placed nearly a hundred years ago at Rock Creek.

Jack and Peter both went up the Mountain today, as the weather remains favorable.

Looking forward to a fine Fall Season.

Jim

That is amazing! Any idea what will be done with the cache? Maybe the Eastern California Museum in Independence.

Richard,

Of course, it would would be best if Jack responds to your question. But I know Jack is currently quite busy, so I will take the liberty to try to recall what he said two days ago. I have a copy and have read High Odyssey (published in 1974) by Gene Rose and also know about the discovery of the second most southern cache (in Crabtree Meadow) of the 11 caches. Here is my understanding:

Some years ago Betsy and Jack went in over Cottonwood Pass on a backpacking trip. While wandering near their camp close to Soldier Lake, Jack discovered an old galvanized 30 gallon garbage can at the base of a tree. It contained some food. Ranger Dario Malengo was notified. Dario instantly knew it was Bart's (Orland Bartholomew) southernmost cache (the Langley cache) placed in 1928. Dario told Jack and Betsy to take whatever they wanted. Dario would deal with the rest. I do not think Jack and Betsy took anything. Now Jack regrets he did not take the can of Wesson butter (for a historical reason). It is unknown what Dario did with this treasure.

Since this message board is Whitney centric, let's go north to the next cache. The discovery of the Whitney cache in Crabtree Meadow was made by Ranger George Durkee in the 1990's. One day George looked up and unexpectedly saw a 30 gallon garbage can secured in a tree in Crabtree Meadow. He turned it over to the NPS and it has not been seen since.

Pages 62-63 of High Odyssey show a photo with the caption, "This pine-bough wickiup protected the lone mountaineer from storms he encountered along Rock Creek in the first week of 1929. Through the entrance, reflected light shines on tin cans from the Langley cache."

Jim

Heading over Tioga Pass yesterday, I noticed that the Aspens at 9k are starting to turn...I guess it really is Autumn...

Thanks for the info ahead of our hike! We did the Cottonwood Pass to Whitney and then exited down the Portal, 9/22 - 9/24. The weather was near perfect and we were able to fish at several spots along the way. There weren't many out on the trail - we saw two campers at Rock Creek, two more at Crabtree and two at Guitar Lake. Even coming down Whitney Portal we were surprised at how sparse it was (guessing the weekday start combined with below freezing temps at night might have had something to do with that). I highly recommend the route and I hope to do it again!

The only ice we found on our 9/22-9/24 trip was at a few spots on the trail coming up from Guitar Lake where a spring flows down the path and again on the wall next to the cables coming down from Whitney to the Portal.

Look up the route thru the Miter Basin (Sky Blue Lake)... for an add-on to your next trip.

Glad it was a successful trip... I'm supposed to be on my way to Onion Valley for another trip to Whitney, but...

Added to the list! That looks beautiful. Sorry your current trip isn't working out - fire in the area?

FishRunner40,

The Miter Basin is expansive and awesome terrain with a remote feeling, yet only a few miles from Mt Whitney. It can be approached in various ways, many of which are not found in the mainstream literature. As examples, short descriptions of my last two visits are in the these two Trips Reports posted on this Message Board.

Miter Basin/Mt Whitney July 15/16 (2022) posted on July 18, 2022.

Thompson Route to Langley/Miter Basin to Whitney (July 7-9,2021) posted on July 11,2021.

Already starting to plan a 2023 visit to this area, as the permit window will open in just a few months.

Jim

Went up the NF, over Whitney/Russell, down the Arctic Lake drainage to the JMT, up to Whitney and down the Main Trail yesterday...

No ice encountered anywhere on the route. No issues at The Cables.
(Noon at the West Side...not a single person seen...only a Coyote at Guitar Lake...lot of still fat marmots to chase...interesting that I heard way more whistling than normal and then saw the coyote.)

Most of the wet trail from a few weeks ago has dried out.

I'd say very few people out on a weekend hike...