Forum Index > Trip Reports > Mount Whitney – 05 May 2017
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Paul M
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Paul M
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PostSun May 07, 2017 1:36 pm 
Stu F and I climbed Mount Whitney this past Friday via the Muir Trial route. We enjoyed the summit in solitude until a party of two arrived via the Mountaineer route just as we were leaving. For Stu it was his 47 state high point, with just Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina left! We bought cheap tickets to Vegas and spent Tuesday afternoon walking the strip like a tourist. Wednesday we drove to Lone Pine to get our permit then went up to Whitney Portal (elev 8,374 ft) which had just officially opened the Friday before we got there. The store and campgrounds were not yet open but we hung out and napped in the thin air for about 4 hrs before heading back to town for dinner. We car camped outside Lone Pine then drove back up early Thursday to start our hike in. Our plan was to camp low and leave for the summit early but the ranger said we could camp higher than Outpost Camp if we wanted since everything was still covered in snow and there were only a few parties on the mountain. We hit snow at 9,100ft and quickly made it to Outpost Camp feeling good so we continued on. We found a nice snow free bench at 11,000 ft with great views both up and down valley so we stopped here spending the afternoon lounging and melting water to rehydrate. A party of two descended around 2pm and another party of four came up continuing on towards Trail Camp a few hrs after that. The temps were warm and the snow punchy confirming our decision to stop for the night. The next morning we were moving at 3:30am under mild temps and bright stars. We switched to crampons somewhere below Trail Camp and proceeded to march straight up the long gully to Trail Crest in a building wind. Once on the other side the summit trail was mostly clear with patches of snow on the sheltered sections and also on the final slope below the summit. We ran into the party of four from the afternoon before along this final stretch on their way down. After spending about 45 minutes on the summit we started down ourselves. The trip back to the car was uneventful and included a few nice glissades (including the long slope from Trail Crest) but we did have to put up with some modest post-holing as well. No other parties summited via our route on Friday however several groups were heading up to camp as we descended. All in all we couldn't have ask for a better early season climb of this peak. A few notes for people to consider if heading down to Whitney in the spring. 1. Spring conditions can be great if you are prepared for snow and have some flexibility in your timetable. We brought more clothes than we needed and could have been stuck with a long road walk had the gate not "opened" in time for our trip. We had great weather, no bugs, saw basically no people, and experienced a much shorter route (my Gaia GPS track registered 3.1 miles from the trail head to camp at 11,000 ft and a short 6.7mi from the summit back to the car due to all of the switchbacks that were avoided by being covered in snow). On the down side weather came in on Saturday and the Whitney crest was hit with overnight temps in the teens and a reported 2+ feet of new snow. We did build in some extra time at both ends of our trip in case we needed to shift our summit timing a bit but had been watching the weather the week leading up to our climb and hit the window perfect with our Thurs-Fri lottery permit. Some useful Whitney weather links can be found here 2. Bear cans are required after 31 May on the mountain. We saw some fresh bear tracks following the boot path in the meadow by Outpost Camp. Nothing but rock and snow above that. 3. Blue bags are required all year. Some pictures of our trip follow.
Mount Whitney from Lone Pine
Mount Whitney from Lone Pine
Big Granite walls from Whitney Portal
Big Granite walls from Whitney Portal
Morning light on Mount Whitney - Approach day
Morning light on Mount Whitney - Approach day
Stu on trail at North Fork Lone Pine Creek crossing
Stu on trail at North Fork Lone Pine Creek crossing
Paul on trail at John Muir Wilderness boundary (photo by Stu F)
Paul on trail at John Muir Wilderness boundary (photo by Stu F)
Softening snow and emerging streams below Outpost Camp
Softening snow and emerging streams below Outpost Camp
Meadow below Outpost Camp (photo by Stu F)
Meadow below Outpost Camp (photo by Stu F)
Route (on left) above Outpost Camp
Route (on left) above Outpost Camp
Our comfy ridge camp at 11,000 ft
Our comfy ridge camp at 11,000 ft
Stu contemplating the views from where we came
Stu contemplating the views from where we came
Afternoon clouds building (they would then dissipate east of the crest)
Afternoon clouds building (they would then dissipate east of the crest)
Stu in the pre dawn somewhere above Trail camp location
Stu in the pre dawn somewhere above Trail camp location
Morning light in near the start of the covered 99 switchback area
Morning light in near the start of the covered 99 switchback area
Stu approaching Trail Crest
Stu approaching Trail Crest
Trail Crest and way to John Muir Trail
Trail Crest and way to John Muir Trail
John Muir trail traverse to Whitney summit
John Muir trail traverse to Whitney summit
Looking back towards Trail (note the 99 switchback slope we glissaded on the way down)
Looking back towards Trail (note the 99 switchback slope we glissaded on the way down)
Stu on final snow slope to the summit
Stu on final snow slope to the summit
Stu at Muir Shelter
Stu at Muir Shelter
Broken door and snow filled shelter
Broken door and snow filled shelter
Mount Whitney summit plaque
Mount Whitney summit plaque
Stu on Mount Whitney summit
Stu on Mount Whitney summit
Paul on Mount Whitney summit (Photo by Stu F)
Paul on Mount Whitney summit (Photo by Stu F)
One of 6 bench marks on the Mount Whitney summit rocks
One of 6 bench marks on the Mount Whitney summit rocks
Mount Whitney Summit BM
Mount Whitney Summit BM
Mount Whitney summit register
Mount Whitney summit register
Signing in our names - Mount Whitney register
Signing in our names - Mount Whitney register
Hey I know that Don Beavon guy! Two pages since his climb in March and our
Hey I know that Don Beavon guy! Two pages since his climb in March and our
Stu descending from Whitney summit
Stu descending from Whitney summit
View back along John Muir trail towards Trail Crest on the way down from the summit
View back along John Muir trail towards Trail Crest on the way down from the summit

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olderthanIusedtobe
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olderthanIusedtobe
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PostSun May 07, 2017 2:58 pm 
Nice job, looks gorgeous! My bro climbed Whitney twice while he was stationed at Edwards AFB. I've never attempted it myself. Could you tell if the broken door at the shelter was vandalized?

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Paul M
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Paul M
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PostSun May 07, 2017 3:08 pm 
Thx! It was a great trip all the way around.
olderthanIusedtobe wrote:
Could you tell if the broken door at the shelter was vandalized?
I doubt it but didn't look too closely. I suspect if it was not properly closed the winter winds could rip it right off. It was amazing to see how packed the inside was of snow.

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Michael Lewis
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Joined: 27 Apr 2009
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Location: Lynnwood, WA (for now)
Michael Lewis
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PostSun May 07, 2017 4:37 pm 
Awesome! I'd love to do it again this time of year.

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Mesahchie Mark
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Joined: 10 May 2005
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Mesahchie Mark
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PostSun May 07, 2017 9:04 pm 
Climbing a big peak with a Vegas side stop? Very cool! 😎

Cheers, Mesahchie Mark
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Redwic
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Joined: 23 Feb 2009
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Redwic
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PostSun May 07, 2017 10:25 pm 
Great job, you two! up.gif up.gif up.gif

60 pounds lighter but not 60 points brighter.
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wildernessed
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Joined: 31 Oct 2004
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wildernessed
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PostTue May 09, 2017 11:05 am 
up.gif

Living in the Anthropocene
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