Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board The Whitney Follies

This is public service to help the Whitney newbys not to make fools of themselves, or worse. Every time I have hiked Mt. Whitney I have seen some pretty stupid things and I'm sure the other Whitney veterans out there have too. So, I invite all of the old Whitney sages who have seen some truly stupid thing while hiking the Main Trail to add a post to this thread. (sorry for the mess of a post before...I'm a bit dyslexic and didn't proofread it nearly enough).

Here's mine...

A couple of years ago I was returning from the peak and I had to stop at the next last window, north to south, as a woman slide down the steps on her butt. Her parents said their daughter was extremely afraid of heights. Between the three of them they had on quart of water, no jackets, no packs and were dressed in cotton shorts and t's. Temperature at the time was about 40 and clear, at 10 AM. By 1 PM it was storming on the upper mountain.

I wish this was only stupid thing I saw that day.

Bill

This past weekend, we were descending the mountaineers route, just above the E-ledges, and saw a couple going up. They were walking with their ice axes in their hands using them like trekking poles through the rocks. They were also wearing jeans. Can't imagine what happened to them when the rain started.

Here's the dumbest thing I ever have seen while climbing Whitney, this happened in 2000.

My husband and I started out at 2:30 a.m. There was a group of 20-something guys in front of us who we couldn't see because it was dark and they were usually about 2 switchbacks ahead of us.

They kept pace and at sunrise we finally caught a glimpse of their faces around Trail Camp. They were obviously not hikers because they were dressed in jeans, *turtleneck* sweaters (in August!) and... get this.... deck shoes with no socks.

The worst thing was this. My husband and I stopped to snack and these guys pulled out a joint and passed it around taking deep hits. Within minutes they were sprawled on the side of the trail, giggling, still toking away and oblivious to people passing them.

As we packed up to continue on up to the switchbacks, the group of guys turned around and began descending. Hours later we saw them again at the Portal store. All of them were limping, could barely walk and were complaining about the "stupid" trail and that hiking was "lame."

A true story!

Last Memorial Day weekend we were coming over the Pinnacle Pass. One of our group, a 15 year old young man, was feeling a little tired and frustrated from a long day of backpacking. He came up with this great idea it would be easier to heave - throw - chuck -launch the family backpack down the steep snowfield of North side of the pass (to get it to the bottom sooner). The rest of the group had glissaded down with their backpacks on.... Imagine our suprise watching from the bottom. This backpack starts spining and rolling, picking up speed...flipping in the air....until it breaks right in two. The hip belt with part of the frame was no longer even connected to the backpack. Needless to say, it created a problem for the rest of our group....Trying to tie it back together enough so he could carry his 30 pounds worth of gear back out to the car the next day. And the reason..."I didn't want to glissade and get my pants wet."

I recall in July of 2000 passing by several hikers on the summit ridge wearing cotton T's and shorts, and with only small fanny packs. Lucky for them the weather stayed warm and clear, or else they might have had hypothermia to deal with on top of their already crippling burden of ignorance.

The following year I dayhiked the trail and, again along the summit ridge, passed by a tall, *****y-looking guy (alone, yet) who was obviously spaced out and shouldn't have been up there. I asked him if he felt OK, and after a disconcerting pause he assured me very slowly that he was fine. I suggested that he turn around if he wasn't feeling good, but he just assured me again that he was fine and kept going. Don't know what happened to him, but thankfully I don't recall seeing any news items afterward.

One more that didn't happen on Whitney, but which deserves mention: On one of my past hikes up Humphreys Peak I was sitting on the summit watching a group behind me cover the last quarter mile to the top. As they got close I realized one of the hikers had his arm around a fellow hiker's shoulder and was being supported. From the bottom of the 100-foot or so summit hill one of the hikers yelled up to us "Does anyone have any chocolate or candy? Our friend is diabetic, and I think he's going into insulin shock!" I didn't have any, but fortunately someone else did. Truly a Darwin Award winner in training.

A couple of years ago, racing down from Trail Crest trying to outdistance a thunder, lightning & hail storm - we failed - we came upon a woman still heading up below Trail Camp with a youngish son - carrying an open umbrella so they could both stay dry. We did suggest that it might not be an appropriate time or place for a metal rodded umbrella!! Getting wet was much better than possible alternatives!

Kazame....Is that a lighting rod that lady was holding?

Suddenly I don't feel so silly! I've done dumb things in the Sierra but they're off-topic. I hope taking my 11-year-old nephew up there in a couple months won't yield a "story."

I'm trying to think of the dumbest thing I saw on the main trail last year, I suppose it was a fat gal, and I mean fat, who told me she didn't belong up there at the logs across Lone Pine Creek, then tried to cross and fell in the water.

Well, many more happy, goofy trails to come.

Here's a couple of good ones.

I watched a guy wash his dishes and feet in the small lake by trial camp last Sept. Was I glad I got my water out of there before he did it. You know, I don't remember seeing anyone get water out of there after that.

While going up the switchbacks on the same trip I was taking photos of Trail Camp as I got higher and higher. While snapping photos I see this big ball a flame erupt from the general location of where my camp was. Next the flaming mass (couldn't tell what it was) goes flying over a small ledge near what appeared to be the trail or a campsite. Some of my hiking group was still in camp, fearing the worst I call them on the radio. Much to my relief it was the camp next to our's. Apparently a guy's stove caught on fire while he was lighting it and he decided the best thing to do was throw it out of his camp.

Thank goodness there wasn't anyone camping where the stove landed and there was nothing that could burn in the area. I can't imagine what would have happend if he would have been at Outpost Camp.

Hiiker

Ok, I will add my two cents.

Last year I took a group from Cottonwood Lakes to Whitney and on our way back down to Whitney Portal we walked by two women coming up the trail at Mirror Lake. The were both wearing levis, cotton shirts and designer sunglasses carrying two shopping bags each. The bags were filled with supplies including a bear canister, sleeping pads, stove, fuel bottles, freeze dried meals, etc. All of the items were still in the boxes or wrapping from the store. I was laughing so hard I couldn't get my camera out in time to get a shot. I thought for sure I was going to see a third party coming up with the sleeping bags and tent but never did.

That's a good one spinefxr!

spinefxr,

I've only heard of stuff like this, never saw it. I am in the presence of visual greatness...LOL.

I'll add another one...

I had summited from Guitar Lake and was back lower Trail Crest sitting on trail where it start its descent to Guitar Lake getting my gear together to continue hiking. While sitting there two day hikers about 5 minutes apart to flying down the trail towards Guitar Lake. I holler at them, "Where are you going?", their reply, "Mt. Whitney". I said..."By the way of Guitar Lake?". Both turned around and headed up the trail without a word of thanks.

Bill

Hiiker - We just laughed our rears off reading your story about the flame. That's a good one.

Great stories! I have only summitted only once, last August 19 & 20. My son & I did meet 2 guys from San Diego on the switchbacks who were both overweight, wearing jeans & cotton t-shirts, tennis shoes. I think one was wearing a straw hat. Both carried a bottle of water purchased at the local 7-11 store and I think they made it!!

Why did I spend all that money on gear and carry my warm clothes and rain gear to the top? Thank God we had great weather those two days, for their sake.

Appropriate clothes seems to be a big one... A few years ago, we passed a small group of hikers as we were half way down the switchbacks; they were on their way up. The person everyone noticed was a very stylish young woman dressed in spandex shorts and a sports bra, and carrying nothing but a bottle of water. Long blonde hair and not a care in the world... Just about the time we got to trail camp a TERRIBLE storm just appeared - wind, hail, you name it. I often wondered what happened to her. As cold as it was at trail camp, it had to have been freezing up where she was.

But I also wondered what I would have done if we were up there with her when the storm hit. What a moral dilemma... She was an moron who obviously had no business being there, we don't carry any extra clothing other than what WE needed, so what CAN you do? I guess just huddle around the person... Hmmm.

Well, this is a thread that everyone can contribute to!

My first time on Whitney I went up the mountaineers route and returned via the main trail after a week. All the way from the pass we criss-crossed a small creek. We saw hikers and marmots. The creek ran past the toilets at the camp site. When we finally got down to one of the lakes there was a pot-bellied man who looked like he was dressed as a hiker for halloween (red bandana, khaki shorts, suspenders, large brimmed hat, vest with lots of pockets). He was lecturing some uncertain looking companions as he ran water out of the same creek, thru a bandana, and into his water bottle. As we passed he was saying, "run it thru the bandana to keep the squigglies out..."

I can't imagine a more likely spot in the Sierras for giardia or some other bug than the most travelled stretch of trail.

When I hiked the JMT in 1999 or 2000 (or was it 2001?), my companion and I spent our first night at the base of half dome just where the trail turns to rock. It turned out to be a great camp site, not too often used. We'd missed directions to the usual site and carried our packs a ways further up the hill. As we sacked out after dark we heard a voice calling to us. It was a young man who'd left his tent in Little Yosemite Valley (?) several miles below and got benighted. Then he disappeared, apparently to sleep near a tree, but he came back a few hours later and ended up spending the night in our tent. He wasn't prepared to find his way back to his tent in the dark, and he'd had a traumatic experience as a boy scout when he was separated from the group. In truth we didn't mind helping him out and laughing with (at?) him. The next night we were bothered by much larger, hairier mammals. We did not share our tent with them!

Wherever you are now, Charlie, I hope you're sleeping comfortably.

It wasn't me! Different Charlie.

I know that as you get closer to the trailhead, the seeming unpreparedness of the hikers increases (I guess if you're only going up a bit, you don't need much), but we saw two things as we got close to the end of our hike that boggled us. One was a couple of guys who had obviously bought all their clothes from the Portal Store (the clean hats and creased shirts were the give-away) and were headed up for a longish stay, and another was the woman wearing cotton short shorts, a t-shirt, and flip-flops. We all wondered how it was to cross those cold cold streams in basically bare feet.

I think I saw the women in Spinefxr's posting just last weekend. Only this time they ha tied all their plastic bags full of gear around their waists with either straps or belts! They were just sitting on rocks near the stream at Outpost Camp, looking as if they had finally realized the hoplessness of their situation.

We had stopped near the latrine in Outpost Camp around sunset to put our headlights on while stopped couple we had been leap frogging with during our descent saw us doing this and asked, "How far is it to Whitney Portal?". So, we told them ~4 miles. I would swear I saw daggers shooting out of the woman's eyes the way she looked at her husband, who I guess he was the one who didn't bring the flashlights. This was the last time we saw them.

Bill

Just talked to Jimbo on the phone. He has a great story for this thread. Tremble with anticipation...it's a doozie

I hope the pictures turned out