Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board How many times have you summited Mt Whitney?

For me, the answer is 1) it's nearby (about an hour away), 2) it's got beautiful scenery, 3) not many places serve a beer and a burger at the trailhead.

Langley's close-by too, and approximately the same effort, but the scenery isn't quite as nice.

I heard recently of a hiker who enters his name in a log with the the annotation "> 1". I think I may have to borrow that.

There is one, significant personal reason why I love being up on top of Whitney, with many contributing factors as to why I keep hanging out around there.

But what I love the most is the cameraderie of hanging out on the trail and at the Store. There are so many options of 'things/peaks to do' in the area, and such a variety of skills needed for each in changing conditions. It's a challenge every time I head up to the Portal. It's fun to drive into the Portal and name everyone's car.

As for Whit, I stood on high 3x last year, all by different routes. MR in May, MT in June, and from the west in August. All three brought such a sense of pride and happiness! But it was only a small percentage (like TC) of all the peaks last year.

-L

I'm 2 for 4 - batting .500. Both times from the main trail.

Let's face it, if you're an altitude junkie, and live in So Cal then Whitney is the closest cheapest option to go as high as you can go, relatively cheap. Also to someone else's point the camaraderie is great, food is great and scenery is out of this world. I love the way the cliffs look at the portal during sunrise and right in the afternoon. Also 99 times out of 100 people at the portal are all awesome people. And let's not forget about that big cute cuddly bear that continues to grace us with his presence at the portal around midnight!!!!

I have been to the summit of Mt Whitney more then some and less then some, starting about 15 years ago. 10 years before that I didn't even know what Mt. Whitney was and had never been above 8000 feet, except while skiing.

There is something miraculous about getting up to the Lone Pine area and climbing above 12000 feet. I will never grow tired of Mt. Whitney. I would be tempted to trade it all in for the Yosemite area, except for the longer drive from Southern California and the crowded tourists who clog the place in the summer.

Hey, isn't that Marcia Colby and her gang? I met up with them below Wallace Creek on my trek last summer! Woohoo!

-L

Sounds like Mrs. R "busted" Mr. R.

Now we know why he signs the summit register with "XXX"...

I should have said LOOKS like Mrs. R "busted" Mr. R.

Wow, I'm not sure what to say. I get a message from Marcia C. that our pic is plastered on the board from a couple years ago with the infamous Bob R. She thought I wrote the Sheila R response since my name happens to be Sheila also. We had a good laugh once we figured out what the heck happened.
Regarding the original question: Marilynn M (far left-x2) Marsha C (center x4) me-Mrs. O (far right x2)
Why more than once? To finally meet Bob R!!
Sincerely,
The "other" Sheila

THREE times.

1972 - across the High Sierra Trail and slept on the summit. Driving force (no pun intended) - A free gas station map of California showed a dotted line from Kings Canyon-Sequoia to Mt Whitney. I inquired and was told it as a hiking trail.

198x - I'd have to do some research to fix the year. From Piute Pass and south on the Muir Trail.

2003 - Just the Main Whitney Trail as yet another overnight hike. I never remembered the east side being so lush and rewarding having pounded out the trail to the portal.

I hope to be back again........

Never dayhiked it - never will. I've got my accomplishments that include punishment but I need to sleep out in that wilderness and soak it in.

Twice-

Once on a trip from Horseshoe Meadows to Independence.
Once from Kings' Canyon via Colby Pass.

This summer I'm planning on doing it from Yosemite.

It seems each time I start farther away.

Jim

Twice so far & third one in the offing:
1992 July: from Cottonwood lakes, New army pass, Crab tree RS, Guitar lake, etc
2006 July: Symms ck, Shepherd pass, JMT, Guitar Lake etc
2008 August: planning to do trans-sierra starting from Bubs ck trial head, colby pass, Kern River Jn. Meadow, Guitar lake etc.
Just like you we keep starting farther and farther away

First time this March 30th on MR summited on 4-1-08.
[url=www.moretoyz.com]Moretoyz.com[/url]

Twice in the early '70s

Lead Fresh Air & returned by MR
Lead Shaky Leg after a bivvie on the face, return by MT (very approximately, via Wotan's Throne). Lugged a 2 1/4" SLR + lenses both times.

Six Times and counting,
Got lucky with permits and weather and summitted with my son the first time we tried (with help from this message board) via the main trail in 2002 when I was 52 yrs old. We carried 56 pound packs to Trail Camp.
When we reached the summit... I said this was the hardest thing I had ever done.
So since then I have summitted every year, always camping at Trail Camp but pack weight is now 35 pounds.
Plan to go for #7 in July.
Happy Hiking.

10 times in the last ten years. All were day hikes. Did a back to back one year, that was fun. My dream is to do a double summit in a twenty four hour period.

Three trips were the beginning of the JMT hike. One was from Crabtree Meadows.

All hikes were on the main trail. I would like to try the MR route, need to be shown.

Maureen

Between 1988 (my first climb) & July 2007: 15 summits. I was 44 years old my first time up. Yikes! That means I'm going to be pretty old when I do my 16th climb this coming July!