Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Whitney - 2023

Richard, so the road to Horseshoe Meadows is open? I noticed that Inyo County Roads still shows Onion Valley Road as closed. Have you been there recently?

paul

Horseshoe Meadows Road was open. I was in a car, so no gate crashing yesterday...

I haven't been up to Onion Valley recently.

A car!!!!

I didn't know you owned a car....just a motorcycle.

paul

I don't know if this is the best place, but I have 3 spots free on a day hike permit for Weds 9/6/23. It will be a sloooooowwww hike and I'll probably turn around at some point (you can continue on). I'd like to do the Mountaineer's Route if anyone has experience with that, otherwise the main trail.

Please DM me if interested or see my meetup group for the listing.

FYI the mountaineers route still requires full mountaineering gear for the upper portion (helmet, ice ax, full crampons). If you do not have experience with these things, I'd strongly recommend waiting for a lower snow year to attack the mountaineers route.

So far no one's taken me up on the offer anyway. Before the snow chute (I guess around 12,500' or 13k') is it just low/no exposure 3rd class or is there anything with exposure?

Based on a post I saw that repeated info from SMS (Kurt Wedberg), the Final 400' is really technical right now...

If you want to see the North Fork, and want to see the summit, you can cross Whitney / Russell col (above Iceberg), go down the Arctic Lakes Drainage to the JMT, summit via the JMT and head home via the Main Trail...

Slow-and-steady wouldn't be a problem...it's about the same mileage as an up-and-down on the Main Trail...Tougher from a physical standpoint because of the XC terrain...

You can search my photo albums...I've done it a bunch of times (most recently last Autumn)...

https://piotrowski.smugmug.com/Whats-New-1/Around-Whitney-100922/


Trying to answer your question...

There is some 3rd Class on the headwall up to Iceberg Lake...

People are climbing the East Face and Buttress routes, so I'd assume you can stay left, instead of entering the Couloir, on easy 3rd Class climbing (above Iceberg)...

Well it did cold air mass a little snow/sleet/rain but wind very mild,first system came Friday night ,hours before expected and we had periods of sun ,low clouds not doing much and this afternoon light snow level about 9500' .
We were weeks overdue for a system so this could start our normal fall weather 7-10 days apart and each system adding to the upper elevation coverage.
Things of concern now are short hours of light,very cold upper elevation and icy patches at random,trip down can be tricky over slick rock.
Moving one can stay warm but stops can be very cold quickly.Don't wait to add layers if you stop for a break,watch for your water source to freeze and have a back up water container.
Our hours as always for Oct 9 AM to 6 PM and last order form the grill 5:30 PM we have limited seating inside.
Jacket and snacks!

Good afternoon Doug Sr.

Posted in another thread as well and wanted to reach out to you and see if anyone has hiked Whitney in the past week and made it all the way to the top?

Any information on the conditions? Any would be greatly appreciated.

I hiked Whitney several years ago and going to do it again this Friday.



Thank you very much.

Todd

Yes hikers making the summit daily ,some icy patches cold nights and today a freak system pasted through ,ten drops in the Portal but summit reports some snow . Spokesman least suggested by many and poles

Finally made it to the summit this year...


I've lost track, but I think this is 193...


Here are a couple more photos of the conditions:






So, in my opinion, the Trail is trivial except for 3 places...
1. The Cables...you can do it without gear by staying (mostly) on rock, with a hand on the cable.
2. The last Switchback...there is about 150' of rotten ice (that won't melt out until next year - maybe) that is really sketchy...
3. The Summit Snowfield...if you make the mistake of trying to stay with the Trail as it traverses to the north side of the summit plateau, you're (again) going to be on rotten, sun cupped, ice...The better route (I think Jim mentioned this in one of his posts) is to look for 2 Cairns just after passing under Keeler and head up on this use trail to the summit.


So, my story...
I wasn't planning on Whitney...I left home late, thinking I'd do another 11 miler at Horseshoe...get near Lone Pine and there's a detour sign on 395, warning about WP Rood...OK, I need to figure this out so I don't waste time when I do head up for a climb...I'll head up the Trail for about 3 hours to see how it looks...I was feeling better than expected, so now the summit thoughts take over...made Trail Camp in 3...still feeling good...OK, 2:30 is the drop down time...any mile over 45 ends the attempt...make Trail Crest at about 1...still on track...slowest mile is a 37...

Truly amazed...I've only done 10k at about 7k and 11 miles at 11k recently...made the summit in about 6 and the round trip in about 11...cut on my head (slip on ice), a sore tail bone (slip on ice and gravel) and left shin (slip on gravel).

BTW, this does get classified as STUPID...heading up Whitney with no gear at this time of year...What's that saying about I'd Rather Be Lucky Than GOOD...?


BTW, I'd call the mountain Packed...while driving out of the Portal, I'd say half the lot was full...

BTW2, there's still cut wood available down at the Turn-out for anyone looking for free pine...

Thanks for that TR Richard!
I'm heading up this morning for a couple of days before it starts snowing again. Don't know if I'll get on the Whitney Trail. Maybe NAP. & I like the Cottonwood-Trail Pass loop also. My high peak this year has been Humphrey's in AZ 2x in recent weeks. It's been a challenging summer to say the least!

Richard, good to see you back on the mountain. You belong there.

Paul

From NWS:
First Significant Storm of the Wet Season Nov 15-17

Looks like my plan to get a few in after Quota Season may not work out...

Snow on Thor...
Season ending?

Hey Doug, can you let us know if any of the gates get locked?

Good question you know after the trips up last winter walking past the gates I don't recall closed or locked, the snow was so deep low down conditions closed the road , Then the lower gate was closed for the seasonal clearing but I can't recall when.
Cayden and I made our last drive up to check the store some time in Dec. after that the nice walk up the road. I recall you and I made a walk up , that was the last easy one snow got deeper and the track rutted and when the track was gone very hard travel without snowshoes or skins. ( 20 minutes from wher the track ended at the trailhead bathroom to the store) .
I will keep you posted.


Hey I might add it was taking about 2-2 1/2 hours to do the up the road section Cayden was making it in about 45 minutes , Doug on skins about 1 1/2 hour I would say heavy winter pack plan on 2 hours plus stay in the track and watch for rock fall as you go up stay on the left side of the road if you are making a track,most small rocks stop about mid road boulders will cross the road but at least you have a chance to hear them coming and get behind the guard rail or stop until they settle. Spring melt and wind are the problem periods, I also say stay clear of the NRT above Meysan creek area one trip I counted 10 small slides started from either snow loading or rockfall over the trail.From the cabin area up conditions are somewhat stable.

Hey it's winte rseason bring a jacket and snacks!

Ok so the first snow yesterday , very light and is sticking at about 9500' . Watch the webcam for coverage , most systems will have wind , wind is more of a problem than snow, drifting and loading,and added wind chill ( my thoughts if you have wind gear ,and can stay covered wind chill isn't a factor but exposed skin is always a problem,face area hard to protect.)
Winter hiking is very slow and making a trail is hard work solo travel means breaking trail will limit your distance traveled a day , a group can rotate breaking trail and move as a team still hard work. I recall a trip we had planned around end of October , heavy snow year our group of 3 meet a group of 4 that was training for some big mountain we teamed up and was able to get above the cable area before eveyone had had enough "training" we quit and went back down.
Summits in the winter add several days say at least plan for 4 days and longer if benighted by storms.

Road Closed sign up now ,upper gate should be closed also ,snow the last few days ,upper elevation looks like a good coverage.
Check the webcam for snow coverage,and the Baldy topic the winter challenge has started.

What happened to the big sign...when I rode up, there was only a dinky, little, sign that was easy to miss...

The Horseshoe Meadows Road is closed at the lowest gate:



The Road Crews piled some dirt up at the spot that I used to use to bypass the gate...


There were cars all the way up at the Portal parking spots, but I stopped where the "dry" ground ended:




A few comments:
- Boot track up to Lone Pine Lake was really good...including up the Old Trail...
- More women than men on the trail...
- A couple of women that I talked to had continued on up to the Whitney Zone Sign area and said the snow was significantly deeper (snowshoes might be good beyond there)...
- All of this will be irrelevant in the next few days...


Here are a few photos:








North Fork Stream Crossing...






Logs crossing...



Lone Pine Lake Junction...

Doug and Richard,

Thanks for the recent posts. I finally can accept that Winter has arrived on the Mountain.

Have a great 2024!

Jim