Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board 2025

Over due hiker in the Whitney area if you have any information please contact Inyo County Sheriff's Off 760 878 0383 .
Check the Inyo County Sheriff's Office webpage for photo name and details and updates.

I was up on Horsehoe Meadows Road and heard the Helo off in the distance...first thought was "not very long into the new year..."

I may have seen this hiker on the 27th with another hiker coming down from LPL. I am not 100% but they had turned around just before the log crossing and he had told me that he was going to come back in a few days. I also encountered two hikers at the gate closure going up that day as well. I'm not sure why hikers with absolutely no winter/mountaineering experinece are heading up to the whitney area right now. Both of the hikers I talked to had never been in the area before. Very sad.

Update Inyo County Sheriff/S&R post that the missing hiker was recovered . Always a sad event to report . May his family and friends and all that enter the mountains find closure our deepest heart felt condolences.

Sad to see another life lost on the Mountain! Has anyone been up the past week or headed up this weekend? A friend and I are going to be in Vegas Next week for work and plan to head over to check out the Mountain 1/25-26th would love to hear of the conditions. This will be our 5th time on the mountain all in the winter or shoulder seasons always a great time whether a summit is in the Cards or not.

Watch for a report from the guys that posted in the Winter Access Forum...they're up the NF now...

Portal road should open 8 AM on the 25 th Jan. per INYO PW .

On conditions I would stress hard surface as we haven't had storms for weeks now and the melt freeze cycles , also could be tree wells/rock wells and not enough snow to cover the brush in the NF . I have watched the webcam rocks on Thor showing and the area of the route up to Iceberg getting rock showing now.
I talked with some one last week that said they were told on the main trail use the bypass above the Permit sign just past Lone Pine Lake , I suggested if you don't know that area you can end up near the waterfall above Outpost camp area and sections are steep with several boulder fields that could be land mines now .

On the North Fork people often miss the saddle left of Upper Boyscout lake and end up in the canyon North'ly and wester'ly. Enough traffic going to Russel can also lead people into thinking this must be the way to Whitney. On another note there is a great scramble up the prow just past the saddle, some low class 4/5 blocks to scale and a down hill walk into Iceberg.

https://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=GT1810 It's a slow day might add in the sierras and how much water will reduce AMS. We need snow , not the big dumpd of the last 2 years but some.

A couple that will be on the Extracted showing next month Feb 10 will give me some update of a trip over the weekend at least to Lone Pine Lake area .


Please check out the new format for NGS data Sheet details and zoom in on the US map drill down to the summit of whitney and you can see the 4 bench marks click on the triangle and read the data sheet for the the marks Amazing amout of information for the benchmarks Lines and links across the US .

Hey I found this link from the NGS site that gives a very detailed report on all the data on ther data sheet how they are layed out a short read about each line and why and how the points were / are adjusted https://geodesy.noaa.gov/DATASHEET/dsdata.pdf So the next time you find a benchmark get the number/name of the mark and do a search for the history .

Interesting stuff...

On another note: I think I read in one of the SAR Reports that they used a Matrice (DJI drone)...could be mistaken, but even if, reading/watching this drone in action is pretty amazing...S/L less expensive than Helo time...and much less dangerous to the Pilots...

BTW, I was going to come up today...about time there's some photos of the Whitney terrain, but the forecast is calling for 50+ gusts today...No Thanks...Maybe tomorrow...
BTW2, I'm getting pretty good at flying in the mountains if any Agency needs Volunteeers...

Richard, On July 9, 2024 the Scientific American published, "Drones are Doing the Dirty, Dangerous Work of Search and Rescue." Contact the China Lake Mountain Rescue Group and Inyo Search and Rescue to see if they can use the skills you are developing. We could call your drone the "Bob R." Jim

We could BS on this topic for hours...it's fascinating and really fun...
I found the article...going to read it...Thanks.

My wife says she'll pitch in a good portion of the cost of a thip to Nepal this Autumn (marks 25 years since a few amazing events...wouldn't mind going back if the cost is resonable...)...anyway, I've been doing a bunch of reading, again, and it turns out that DJI has been providing "heavy lift, high altitude" drones (I think they flew one to the summit.) to support the cleaning of Mt Everest and also to alleviate the need for so many trips thru the Icefall for the Sherpas...

Went up to Trail Crest yesterday. It took me more time than I expected and unfortunately it was too late to continue to the summit.

And a few pics of the switchbacks.

Cool...beautiful photos.
Iteresting seeing The Cables terrain...

LostinMtn,

Thanks for this valuable conditions update. What was your strategy for (1) drinking water and (2) traction?

Jim

I just carried two 32oz bottles of water. Enough for me to "survive"
On the way up to Trail Camp just boots. I put the crampons on to cross the switchbacks.
I kept them on all the way down because It started getting icy and I never use poles.

1. Trailhead to Lone Pine lake is well packed(high traffic).
2. Good winter trail from the Whitney Zone Sign to Outpost Camp.
3. No trail/tracks after Outpost Camp. You can tell people go up sometimes, but tracks disappear pretty fast.

Nowhere near enough snow to use that alternate right now...


I went up today...started feeling a mild headache before Lone Pine Lake, so I called it at the far end of Outpost Camp...wouldn't have gone past Trail Camp, so no big deal...

As stated in another message...the lower Main Trail is packed really well...I was calling it Trivial...There were tracks heading up to Mirror Lake (guess Lost's)...

Now, the rest of the story...The Road Closed Sign is up, but it's obvious they know people are going around...well-placed to not cause any problems...The Rockfall Gate just past the Turnout at the top of The Switchbacks is locked...A Cabin Owner was up past the gate and I saw him leave in the afternoon...Some people are actually squeezing thru right of the gate and the cliff...

I rode my e-bike up past the WPS to The Old Trail...good track...plenty of dirt showing...same on the lower Main Trail...

The Main Trail from The Trailhead to the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek is mostly dirt...

There were tracks heading up the Mountaineer's Route and lots of dirt showing thru the trees...

Here are some photos of the lower mountain:


WPS.



The Rockfall Gate (locked).



Tracks heading up to Mirror Lake.



North Fork of Lone Pine Creek crossing.



Noticed a few new (for me) signs.



Bottom Switchbacks (dry),



Trailhead.