Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Trip & Hike Planning, June 1-4 2014

We were hoping to hike Mt. Whitney June 3-4 with just trekking poles and microspikes. Based on the recent trip reports and the storm that is happening right now, I have been thinking about some alternates to Mt. Whitney. Here are a few ideas, including the plan for Whitney itself.

June 1st
Arrive @ Mammoth Mountain Inn (elevation 9,000 ft), spend night
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June 2-4 (Option 1, Mt. Whitney)
June 2
Family can hike or stay at Mammoth
AM – hike option 1
Little Lakes Valley

AM- hike option 2
Devil’s Postpile
Rainbow Falls

PM
6 PM – Drive to Mono Lake, watch sunset
Spend night @ Mammoth

June 3
1 PM – Guys Dropped Off at Whitney Trail
PM – Family stays in Lone Pine
June 4

12-2 PM – Guys picked up @ trailhead
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June 2-4 (Option 2, Mt. Dana & White Mountain Peak)
June 2
AM
Family stays at Mammoth
Mount Dana Hike

PM
6 PM – Drive to Mono Lake (40 mins), watch sunset
Spend night @ Mammoth

June 3
4 PM – Guys drop off family in Bishop, drive to Barcroft Gate (or Grandview Campground)
PM – Family stays in Bishop, guys car camp @ Barcroft Gate (or Grandview Campground)

June 4
White Mountain Peak Hike
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June 2-4 (Option 3, Mt. Langley)
June 2
Family can hike or stay at Mammoth
AM – hike option 1
Little Lakes Valley

AM- hike option 2
Devil’s Postpile
Rainbow Falls

PM
6 PM – Drive to Mono Lake, watch sunset
Spend night @ Mammoth

June 3
1 PM – Guys Dropped Off at Cottonwood Lakes trailhead, hike in 7-8 miles, setup camp for the night.
PM – Family stays in Lone Pine

June 4
Early AM - Mt. Langley summit attempt
12-2 PM – Guys picked up @ trailhead
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I have a few questions:

1. Are LLV or Rainbow Falls appropriate acclimation hikes?
2. If hiking White Mtn Peak, would you camp at Grandview Campground or Barcroft Gate?
3. If you were hiking Langley via New Army Pass, where would you set up camp?

If there are any concerns with my plans or things I haven't considered, please let me know.

I've made a few call to ranger stations and have found out the following:
Devil's Postpile:

• Devils Postpile National Monument and the Reds Meadow Road will be open Friday 5/23/14 at 3:00 PM.
• The shuttle will be running for Saturday, Sunday and Monday for the holiday and will resume for the season on 6/14/2014. Until the 14th, you will be able to enter the monument by personal vehicle. Most of the monument is clear of snow at this time.

White Mtn Peak:

• Called them last week and was told the road would *definitely* be clear/open by June 3. They were planning on sending someone up on May 16th to get an exact date. I left a message for them today to see what the status is.

Not that I'm biased or anything but you might think about one of the trails up to Mt. Ritter since your family will be at Mammoth anyway. The road over Minaret Summit and down to Agnew Meadows (and also Devil's Postpile) will open Memorial Day weekend, so you can access the usual trailheads to Shadow Lake, Garnet Lake, 1,000 Island Lake, etc. If you read some of my Mt. Ritter trip reports, you can get an idea of some of the options.

Yes, it's "my" mountain...has my name on it anyway!

A phone call to the Mammoth Lakes ranger station should give you some idea of what the trail conditions will be out of Agnew Meadows. I would expect the trail to be fairly clear at least as far as Shadow Lake and maybe most of the way to Ediza. Mt. Ritter is a good climb if you're comfortable on moderate snow (i.e. ice axe and crampons). With the recent storms through the Sierra, there may be some avalanche hazard in the Southeast Glacier bowl.

For Langley, I think I stayed at Long Lake, which is right below High Lake. It gets you well situated for NAP. It has a lot of campsites with tree coverage. It is also very popular later in the season, but this early it probably won't be a zoo.

For White Mountain, I would camp at the Barcroft Gate in order to get acclimatization for the hike the next day. However, that assumes prior days of altitude. If you don't have much altitude in the days leading up to that, sleeping at 12,000' might be a mistake ... you very well might be better off sleeping at the campground which is lower down. Barcroft Gate is a dry camping area, meaning you have to bring your own water. There is a vault toilet.

For White, you'll want to check with the rangers to find out whether the lab has recently regraded the road leading up to Barcroft Gate. If work hasn't been done yet, you might want high clearance and 4WD. If work has been done, you can normally get by with a sedan, although high clearance will make the ride much more comfortable.

Little Lakes Valley is a stunning area in which to spend a day. You have two different passes to choose from, depending whether you hike through the valley and then turn south, or head up to Mono Pass. Either option is great. I think Ruby Lake just below Mono Pass, with snow and ice around it, can be one of the most beautiful places on earth.

All great options.

Here is Little Lakes Valley



Here is Ruby Lake.

Thanks for the suggestions Alan, I will look into them. I am curious as to how this latest storm is going to affect conditions in the area.




That's what I was thinking, thanks for the confirmation!


My thoughts exactly. I initially assumed we would camp at the gate whenever I did White Mtn, but after my experience this past weekend, I am rethinking it.
We are driving an SUV up, so we will have 4WD and clearance. I am a little confused on the condition of the road. Over the last week, I've talked to 3 different people. It's gone from 'it's already clear and open', to 'it's not open, but definitely will be before your hike,' to 'not likely to be open anytime soon.' The last person I spoke with said we'd likely have to camp/park near the turn off for the Patriarch Tree.



LLV is one of my favorites. I am surprised that I don't hear more people talk about it. Last summer I hiked to Morgan Pass:
Little Lakes Valley Trip Report, August 16 2013

I spoke with my father-in-law last night after discussing the options, I think we've finally made a decision. The plan is for us to hike Mt. Dana as our 'peak' then hike MWMT up to trail camp so that he can gain some familiarity with the trail. He will be back out here in early October, so I hope getting him on that trail will ease his anxiety a bit.

I was thinking it might be fun/useful to practice with an ice axe and crampons while in the Mammoth area, then do the same at Trail Camp. If the snow comes early this fall, it would be nice to have some more experience under our belts.

Is Dana a place where we could practice, assuming there's enough snow? Are there any spots closer to Mammoth? The gondola on Mammoth Mtn doesn't open until June 13. A customer service rep told me we aren't allowed on the ski slopes.

We're thinking of camping somewhere between Mirror Lake and Trail Camp. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Depending on what the snow level is, you could just drive up to Minaret Summit (the road from the ski area over to Devil's Postpile) and hike up the ridge either to the north or south until you get into snow. I would think you could find some areas to practice ice axe and crampon skills without having to hike too far nor getting into the Mammoth ski areas (to the south). Looks like they're closed for skiing, so there may not be much/any snow down at the lodge level but it'd be worth a look up along the ridge.

63 Chevy!!
Mt. Dana is a great climb, over 13K in elevation and at 22 degrees it is one of Yosemite's steepest hikes. The views of Tuolumne Meadows are spectacular and when you summit you will have incredible views of Mono Lake. Have a great trip and do not forget to go to The Mobil Station for lunch.

THE SILENT HIKER

I could have sworn I've heard Davey McCoy (yeah, one of those McCoy's) say that when the lifts are closed the mountain is open for use by the general public...

I will try calling again. The same guy told me that check-in was 11am.



Thanks for the suggestion!



Is that the whoa nellie deli I've been hearing about?

Yes! Big food! Good beer! And even live music some days....

Hi

Don't follow my lead i always got in trouble for doing what i wanted.. HaHa one of those McCoy's. But damn it looks good on the Mountain right now to ski.. Maybe i will post hole up Paranoids today and if they chase me we will have your answer.. Damn this will be fun….

YES,

Live music every Thursday and Sunday, sit on the lawn eat great food have a beer and enjoy the spectacular views.


THE SILENT HIKER