Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mt. Whitney: The Hard Way - August 1, 2009.

Three Burly, Manly Men: Jim Freeland, Mike Mellin and I headed out of the Whitney Portal Hostel around midnight Friday night and made the summit of Mt. Whitney via the Mountaineer's Route in about ten-and-a-half hours.

Random Comments:

- Thanks Doug, for letting us hang at the Hostel Friday night.
- Thanks Doug, for the ride back to town. (I was going to crack some joke about a very distinguished silver-haired gentleman with a lot of horses letting us ride down to town with him.)

- The terrain was so boring for the first four hours that I couldn't even have any hallucinations.

- After a bathroom break, I walked for about three miles trying to catch back up to Jim and Mike and almost never did!

- I think Jim and Mike have sub-threes in them under the right conditions. They are obviously much faster than I am. (Speaking of which, we did the MR from the Portal in about five hours after about an hour break at the Store.)

- Only one of us thought he might like to walk back down to town. He quickly changed his mind when he saw how HOT it was by Trail Camp. It certainly would have burned a few too many brain cells and probably would have ended with a trip to the ER. (To anyone who would state that we didnt' finish: HAVE AT IT! And don't say that I didn't warn you about how boring it is.)

- Jim led up the Couloir on the left side and stuck to it. This seems to be a really good way to avoid a lot of the scree you'd have to deal with in the center. (I've done parts of this on a number of occassions, but always seem to get suckered into the center.)

- There was lots of ice on the steps above The Notch. Much more than last week. I chipped away at it in a few spots before making any more moves up.

- As Doug would ask: What's next? Independence to the summit of Mt. Whitney as John Muir did it. (Putting a bug in RK: in a day!)

- I'm rambling on because I really don't think I want to go outside today.

Photos.

Congrads Richard, Mike, & Jim! It probably would have been a lot more fun it I'd had joined you guys. The slog up to North Guard was pretty miserable. I need to pay more attention to acclimating.

I think I'll wait for things to cool down a bit before attempting to hike back to LP from the Portal. I suppose another alternative would be to simply ride a bike back down. Then you can still say you went from LP to Whitney & back all under human power.

Interesting you mentioned Independence. Although I'd never considered it as a starting point I had planned out several ways of getting from the Portal to the vicinity of Independence (without using 395). Wasn't sure how suitable the dirt roads would be for a bike though.

-Rick

Richard & Jim, it was fun suffering with you guys!

Doug, thanks for the hospitality & ride back down.

Rick, let me know when you decide to give it a try......I'll meet you at the Portal

Thanks to all the early morning hikers for not running us over on the road.

Pictures

Congrats to you all. Your pictures will be extremely helpful for me when I attempt to do this solo in 2 weeks. I appreciate it.

Looks like that marmot has learned to do tricks for people on the summit?

Great job on the hike! I noticed you took the road up to the portal and not the trail from Lone Pine Campground? What were the temps in Lone Pine when you started?

Crazy hike, but well worth it. I had to WORK for Whitney that time! Thanks guys! Whitney from Lone Pine

Can you post the info in a thread titled something like "Independence to Whitney Portal Off-road?"

BTW: I am serious about trying to do the John Muir route re-creation. In a day - maybe not!

Thanks everybody.

Nice albums guys.

I'm guessing temps were near 80 at midnight.

I look at the trips and always think we have one very strong group of men and women on this board Yea we chat but look over the years and the posts and see how the chats have grown into future trips that bring more routes to the board and a volume of photos that are shared by many and viewed by thousands. It is easy to take the same road but this group seems to take the other, in one weekend we have a group of women form all over the state take a hike together for the first time meeting each other and then we have Mike, Jim and Richard set a new standard for a day hike or Catcus to the real clouds and many first time hikes this weekend reaching the summit , the board grows ,we grow and maybe we help the others out there with this babble Thank You Doug

That's the cutest marmot photo I've ever seen

No man can climb out beyond the limitations of his own character.
-- John Morley

Nearly 96,000 unique visits to my photo website last month. Multiply that by the number of other members who post photos and it's probably astronomical!

Tracie, let me know when you're ready for that trip up the MR that we talked about. A nice, easy pace and stopping to smell the wildflowers would be good right about now.

Congrat guys. That’s one hell of a hike. So what’s next…. Badwater to Whitney

Wowie Zowie Guys, great work! I guess we should assume Mike's knee is better?
Richard, I'd certainly give you full credit on this one, but if you're really concerned, next time just hump a pair of rollerblades up to the Portal and cache 'em for the ride back down to L.P. I'm sure you could find a willing videographer to document it!

Earlene had a couple of good ones over the past few weekends:

1. "Imodium on the way in; ExLax on the way out." (This would have fit better in the "Never Again" thread.)

2. In regard to rollerblading down Whitney Portal Road, she told me one of the Dougs looked in to getting a special pair from a manufacturer in Colorado. I don't think they pulled the trigger though, so it may still be a First for someone. After this story, I heard her say "Let 'em walk."

Thanks. How was Sill?

So a few questions about the MR route if any of you have a chance. I am taking this route solo in a week. I am going up MR route and going down the main trail all in 1 day.

Is there a way to avoid the ebersbacher ledges by staying left and making your way that way to lower boy scout lake?

About how far are the ledges from the main trailhead at the portal?

When you get to the notch what is the toughest part? Routefinding? Why did you all take the straight up route as compared with the traverse route? Would you ever recommend taking the traverse route?

What is the exposure on the straight up route compared with the exposure when traversing?


What kind of shoes would you recommend?

In mid August, do you think shorts with long sleves will get it done?

I will be printing your some of your pics out and taking them with me so thank you.

Any other advice would be much appreciated.

As told to me by Doug, John Muir's original route stayed on the slabs on the South side of the North Fork Drainage. The Ashcrafts probabaly did it. I haven't, so I can't tell you how much more difficult (it is harder) it is.



It took me about 35 minutes to get there when I was timing myself up a few weeks ago. Most suggest leaving the Trailhead about an hour before sunrise, so you get to the Ledges when you have daylight.



The Easy Traverse. Biggest mistake a publisher ever made letting that get in to print! The problem with the Easy Traverse is that there is Blue Ice all over it almost year round. A perfect recipe for ending up down in the Artic Lakes Drainage. And, of course, you'll be dead if you make that one mistake. I've done it a few times in winter when there is GOOD snow coverage. It's still scary!

The first chute is the standard route. It's starts either left (still easy this past weekend), or right up onto the steps. Climbs the steps to an obvious ledge systems that leads across to the right side, broken rock. Once there, you're relatively safe for the rest of the climb to the summit.

Learning to read rock is part of the process of becoming a climber.



It's a long way down to the Artic Lake Drainage. Just don't look between your legs until you feel you're safe and you'll be fine.



Something with really sticky rubber. Some know-it-all wanted to argue with me about my choice of shoes last weekend while I was walking down the Main Trail stating that support was no good with the Merrills I had on. Thats not the point! Traction is!



You need to be prepared for cold weather on Whitney. The week before this trip, I don't think I ever put on a windbreaker at the summit (and I had been sweating profusely). This weekend, I had a windbreaker and a down jacket on on the summit.

Go up there with the idea that this trip will be exploratory. If you make the summit, good for you. If not, you'll learn about the route and it will be that much easier the next time around.

As told to me by Doug, John Muir's original route stayed on the slabs on the South side of the North Fork Drainage. The Ashcrafts probabaly did it. I haven't, so I can't tell you how much more difficult (it is harder) it is.

Thank you for your answers. It is a tremendous help. Pertaining to the question/answer above, I ask because I want to avoid the ledges at all costs. So are you saying (above)that there are different ledges to the left? Or are you saying that you are not quite sure what going left has in store? Im trying to avoid the exposure.

Thanks Rick

Being rather blunt:

If you don't feel comfortable with climbing something as easy as the E-Ledges, I wouldn't go exploring on the south side of the drainage. There are altenatives on that side, but again, they are not easier than the north side, standard route up the Ledges. I can't provide you with a description of what any of those alternatives are.

If you really don't want to climb, you can bushwhack your way up the drainage, but it isn't going to be fun, or easy. And then there's the matter of the Couloir above Iceberg and the Final 400'. That involves climbing.

I'd really recommend you hook up with somebody for this.

> If you really don't want to climb, you can bushwhack your way up the drainage, but it isn't going to be fun, or easy.

Yep, THAT is very true. I tried bushwhacking mid-90s before I knew about the Ebersbacher Ledges. Biiiig mistake! My buddy and I watched in awe from somewhere up on the south side of the North Fork drainage as four old timers literally scampered up the E. Ledges.

If you are bothered by the Ledges, you'll bail before you make it up the final chute above the notch.

Check the links here mountaineers route maps and pictures
  http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/forum/...61966#Post61966

I just heard that there is not really a clear cut path on the ledges and that it is easy to get crossed up. Thats why I wanted to avoid them assuming that there was a easy/clear path to the left. If that is not the case, up the ledges I go...

What has more exposure the couloir or the final 400?

And it's good that you're asking lots of questions.

The Final 400' is steeper and more exposed than the Couloir.

I've got a LOT of albums with photos of the route up the MR. So does Bob R. So does Rick Kent. So does Tomcat_RC. I don't have the time to post a link to the relevant ones, but if you spend some time with them between now and when you head up, you'll have a good idea of how the route goes.

Somebody creative could probably put together a time-lapse sequence of Every Step You Take up the MR using our photo albums.