Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Whitney Message Board Group Hike – Saturday, 9/27

Thanks for the detailed report.

For my little .02c worth, I would be happy to do any hike "the group" sees fit but I do follow your thinking, Tom. With all of the efforts of Doug and others to set up the barbecue, it would be nice for the "group hikers" to be able to spend quality time with everyone at Doug's hostel on Sat.

Really looking forward to the hike and the "after festivities".

MC

Tom....how can 8 miles rountrip and 4k feet elevation take 11 hours ??!! Unless the terrain is pretty bad ...please provide more details.
As for the post hike group get together. Well I hear the set time is 4 pm. If the hike takes 11 hours and the drive is generously about an hour each way, which puts us at an about a 13 hour day. Starting at 6 am or 7 am puts us back in Lone pine at 7 to 8 pm .

Any thoughts from the organizers in light of this information??!!

I posted photos from Sunday's hike - trip report and captions to follow. As previous stated this hike can probably be done in 9 hours without too much trouble if group dynamics is good. We did extend one or two of our breaks although not extensive. And we did use extra time in photo documenting. But I think 9+ hour is probably realistic expection. Starting at 8am would still finish by 5pm and need close to an hour to load up and drive back to Lone Pine.

Above the last lake there is no trail - no snow - which means climbing a chute of loose talus. This has moderate incline and will slow some wear down - but not drastic - see next few photos:










And from the ridgeline it will probably take about an hour to get everyone over to the peak.


This is the loosest part of the chute and recommended passing in small groups to get through this section - helmets advisable but not mandatory.



Tomorrow night will caption and add to trip report
rest of photos

I know the larger the group gets the harder it is to start on time. If Dragon remains the goal, sounds like an early start time is in order. 6 AM from the trail head gets us back to the trail head at 4 PM if it takes 11 hours.

I have to drive up from Ridgecrest Saturday morning. I know some people would really like to do the peak. I do not mind an early start time. It would be nice to get a head count to see how many are still interested in a summit of Dragon. Yes I will be bringing a rope to assist. If I leave Ridgecrest by 4am; then I should be able to make OV by 6am start - but no time for pre-meeting group breakfast. I may do a McD's drivethrough - anybody remember when they open on Saturday? Keep in mind 6am is not totaly light(may want headlights for the first half hour)and it may be a little chilly in the early hours.

A thought...

What if we make start time for Dragon Peak at 7:00am? That way we should be able to make it back to Lone Pine by 5:00pm to enjoy the barbecue. One of my concerns is doing the crack and not being fully on my game (a somewhat decent night's sleep )

MC

p.s. Hoping to get a bit of time for pix. I'll be using my Panasonic TZ5 with 10x optical zoom for the first time

Im still down for slaying the Dragon. the REAL pah tee starts when the summiteers arrive. ZOMBIE DUDE

Sounds like we still have enough interest in climbing Dragon. How about a 7am start time. I will leave Ridgecrest by 430am - that should leave me time enough to stop for breakfast in Lone Pine. Probably has to be the HS Cafe at that early hour. If anyone is interested in joining maybe I can commute from Lone Pine.

Cell number can be provided(pm me - I don't post on public forum)

Can we get a head count of those still interested in Dragon - I do not want to leave anyone behind at the trailhead.

Tom:

I'll be at the HSC at 5:00, hope the coffee's better this time. I'll be camping up at the Portal with the gang. While I don't plan on heading to the summit, I'll still head out with you all and then stop at Dead Mouse Lake for some fishing/cooking.

If anyone would like to carpool in the TOF, please realize that I will be aiming for a return to the OV trailhead by 3, back in LP by 4.

-L

Dear group hikers:
The idea of this year’s group hike was to try and duplicate the success of last year, when we did Thor via Smiley Face.
When the idea of selecting Dragon Peak as the destination of choice was made, a great deal of planning went into that choice with several factors considered: Hiking time, group size, permits and degree of difficulty, just to name a few.

As for duration of hiking time, we believe that 9 hours was considered a reasonable time from start to finish. This time was based on input from several knowledgeable and experienced hikers.

As for the post-hike festivities, dinner, it was originally decided to take place after the hike, around 6 to 6:30pm.

Having said (the above), it must be said that niether of us have had the experience of climbing Dragon and therefore must relinquish the decision to more experienced hikers.

We want to thank Tom for volunteering his services when Bob discovered a scheduling conflict. Without Tom, the group hike would have most likely been cancelled.

If Tom feels that Dragon has now become not doable, then we have to defer to Tom.

If Tom feels comfortable with the idea of doing Dragon, then lets go with the early start time. An early start (6:00 AM or 700 AM) would probably make it possible for those who wish to summit Dragon to do so. As on the hike last year, hikers would be expected to make their own decisions as to how far they wish to go on this hike based on their own experience and comfort level.

Also - A big thanks to Tom, Moosetracks and Kathy for spending a day checking things out, giving us all a first hand look at the actual route and providing their evaluations.

Paul & Phil

I'm definitely still on for Dragon. 7 AM start sounds fine to me.

I would be up for fishing and helping with the pah tay set up - not sure I can keep up with y'all to the summit anyhow. Please send a PM. However, I am carpooling and not driving.

Me and Jeff S are still down for Dragon 7:oo OV trail head. Tom I have tons of climbing gear, let me know if you think we will need anything. Zombie Dude

MC is in.

Unfortunately I won't be able to come this summer...work problems and the birth of my first grandson that weekend.

I sure wish I could come....you guys rock!

first Grandson - that is better than hiking with the likes of us any day - hope that goes well - of course you know we want to see pictures(of the next kash generation)

for those who are interested - Phil converted one of my maps to a .jpeg file so I could post a map. I also have a garmin track available.

Thanks to Paul and Phil for putting all this together.



click here for link to photo

Sure wish this was the option to get back down to DM Lake
I love spring hiking

That's the way to do it. Maybe a group hike next spring is in order...

I rescheduled a climb on Adams weekend before last because the infamous long glissade was gone. Very little snow. We'll be going next spring. Dave and I went camping at Lake Billy Chinook instead and the lake provides great views of Jefferson. I found myself thinking, I could have been on Adams right now...

Dear group hikers;

Hike day will be here before you know it!

Here is the best info we have at this point in time:
Please check out these lists and advise any changes or updates through this thread or via PM so we can get everything up to date.

Tom needs an approximate headcount for the number of hikers who want to summit Dragon.

Participating in the group hike:
(If you plan on summiting or not):

Blooty
Bob1957
Brent Coe
Elmichael
Elway
Hypoxic Zombie
JayD
Jeff M
Jeff Schofield
Lik2Hik
Lovethesierras
Mafiose13
MC Reinhardt
Moosetracks
Mountainboy11
Paul
Ranboze
Snownymph
Spinefixr
TomcatRC

Will be Staying at the Whitney Portal Campground:
(Still have spots available). PM me if you want us to save you a space and your name isn't listed below. Sites are reserved for Friday night & Saturday night.
Need to know by Tues. 9/23 – canceling extra sites that day):

Brent Coe
Hypoxic Zombie
Jeff Schofield
Lik2hik
Moosetracks
Paul


Planning on going all the way to Dragon Summit:
(you CAN change your mind during the hike)

Lik2hik
Hypoxic Zombie
MC Reinhardt
Spinefixr
Tomcat RC

See you all there!
- Phil