Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Status of switchbacks water trickle?

Just curious about the seasonal trickle on the switchbacks. Has it dried up yet?

Drank from it yesterday (8/27). Currently it is essentially a small stream. The world's finest water. Highly appreciated.

Jim

Jeff,

sorry for off topic but
Are the Jeff Johnson from UIWizard? Just curious.

Jayesh

Thanks for the water update. I am doing Whitney in 2 weeks and appreciate any trail updates. Some have mentioned early morning ice. Anyone see that this past weekend? Summit Temps?

No UIWIZARD from this Jeff....

Hiked to the summit and back on Friday. Left Outpost Camp about 2am, reached the summit at 7:50am, back at Trail Crest at noon, and made it back to Outpost somewhere between 2 and 3:30pm.

Just a little ice in some places on the switchbacks on the way up. Some, but not all, had melted on the way down. The trail on the backside still crosses a small snowfield - about 15 feet across and well packed.

The spring on the switchbacks is flowing fine - of course this is where some of that ice is from.

Don't know what the summit temp was, but it was a bit breezy and cold. (My own fault. I only wore a shell layer and light thermals: no insulation.) Sitting in the sun out of the wind was comfortable so it couldn't have been too cold. Left the summit somewhere around 9:20am.

We did a day hike to the summit on August 18. There was a little ice in some areas of the switchbacks as we went up them around sunrise. It was quite cold and very windy on the summit at 8:30 AM. Most of the ice was still left in the switch backs on the way down an hour or so later. To be clear, there wasn't much ice at all but what was there had water running over it and was quite slippery. You needed to pay attention in spots.

MMWT day trip last Friday, 60 degrees at WP at 4am, with wind increasing and temps decreasing as we ascended. Hit the swtichbacks at 700, with most of the wet spots on lower half still frozen. Wind was still brisk at TC around 900 w/ temps in the mid/high 40s. Still rather cool with less wind at the summit at 1100. Brilliant sunshine with excellent visibility all the way along the trail. Only one snowy spot on crest trail just before making the turn up the final 1/2 mile to the summit. Water was flowing freely on way back down switchbacks, where we refilled for the final 7 miles or so. Finally took off the outer layer of clothes at Trailside meadow. It never ceases to amaze me that while it's 100+ in Lone Pine, its still barely 50 degrees at the summit.

One more thing.... There was still some black ice on the uphill (shady) side near the end of the cable section. Still frozen early afternoon.

Yes there is water in the switchbacks and it was definitely iced over first thing in the morning. The water flows both perpendicular and inside part of several switchbacks. A ranger was up there Monday morning doing some maintenance, resetting some rocks in the channel and diverters.

The temps this last weekend were in the low 30's in the early mornings and are predicted to fall.

I'm a rookie in ice/snow, so does ice on the switchbacks mean we'll need something other than hiking boots? Or just great caution and relatively slow speeds?

Also, about the patch of snow higher up on the trail... can that be walked through with just hiking boots? Or is that dangerous, and we should have crampons?

MaryZ: Your boots will do just fine. No crampons needed on the switchbacks or on the snow patch. Just use a little care in areas where the water is running on the switchbacks and be observant. The snow patch has a good "use trail" worn through it that is not difficult to walk through and there is literally no exposure involved there.

was on switchbacks on tues. & could fill my bottel quite easley from a spring about 25% of the way up. some ice around cables, no big.

Thanks, RV. That helps ease my mind.

Along MaryZ's question--do you think after the storms predicted this weekend I will need crampons/yak tracks to summit on Tuesday morning. Tried last year but was turned back by too much ice/snow for this california girl!