Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board start time for mountaineering route ??

I hiked the main Whitney trail last year (day hike), starting at 2:00 a.m.. I want to try the mountaineering route this year and have researched the route descriptions and photos. I wanted to start early again and would like to know wether the first 3 hrs of the MR can be done safely w/ headlamp for one that has not been on this trail before. I'm somewhat concerned about doing the ledges for the first time in the dark.

Even though I have been up the North Fork many times, last Thursday I did not find the Ebersbacher Ledges that easy to follow in the dark. Set a start time about 90 minutes before daybreak and you will get to them about the time it gets light. Doing them in the daylight is much safer. That has worked well for us in the past when we were not as familiar with the lower North Fork.

I did the MR on Sat. having never done the North Fork trail or even looking at it on a map much. I left the Portal at 3:30 w/ a small headlight and had no problems. Lost the trail a little at Boy Scout lake, but no problems through the ledges, pretty straight forward. Its worth it to go early to catch sunrise from high up!

flb: I asked the same question about a year ago. The best answer I got was to check out the ledges the day before the actual hike. Since you will be staying at the Portal or somewhere close for acclimatization, you might just as well use this time to familiarize yourself with the ledges. It worked great for us and I have serious doubts that we would have found it in the dark otherwise.

Another reason why you want to be early on the MR is the danger of falling rocks caused by climbers on the East Buttress. An early start gets you into the couloir above Iceberg Lake before you have climbers overhead.

See also these threads.
Link 1
Link 2

Good luck
Kurt

My only stern recomendation is to not even consider being on those ledges until it is light enough to see comfortably. If you arrive there at 5:15 or 5:30 you will be fine. That will still give you one heck of a long day and time or sunlight will not be an issue.

Best to ya......

I'd like Bruno or Chrissy to chime in on this. They were first timers when we went up in the dark last October.

My personal opinion is the same as a few others: if you are familiar with the route, it is no big deal to do it in the dark.

Calculate what you think it will take to get to the summit and back. If you can get it done in daylight at both ends, time your departure accordingly. If not, leave early. I'd rather climb them in the dark than descend them in the dark.

If you're going to dayhike the North Fork/MR you have two choices:

1) Hit the ledges at first light so you can see what you're doing. But if you do this you'll hit the final climb as other climbers are above you and knocking rocks down.

2) Do the ledges in the dark so you can hit the MR/final climb without the risks of rockfall.

I went up for the first time a few weeks ago and went with option #1, we were lucky and being sunday afternoon there were no climbers above us on the MR/notch. Knowing what i know now (and having seen the ledges) i will opt for #2 for future trips. It's not that bad, all you need is a good headlamp and you'll be fine.

-lance

Thank you all for the imput. Great info and great advice.