Our backpack approach from the west side was going very smoothly for 4 days: got over New Army Pass, summitted Langley, and was looking forward to Crabtree Lakes and Guitar Lake. Then things took a turn for the worse. One of my group was crossing Rock Creek with boots in one hand and an ice axe in the other, taking it a little too lightly. I recommended to him to unbuckle his chest and waist belt on his backpack and toss his boots over to me. The latter was a very bad idea as he made a critical throwing error and lost a boot to the river gods. Crampons and Teva sandals just don't cut it, so after scrambling to find a boot at the backcountry ranger station (we actually managed to come up with a women's size 9 running shoe, but too small for the men's 11 boot we needed), we aborted and headed out the PCT and had a nice high, dry camp one night, then camped at Chicken Spring Lake another night, thence down Cottonwood Pass back to Horseshoe Meadow, where we started.
Our one-booted companion was very happy to have us accompany him out, but bummed that his throwing error cost us our west-side attempt. Fortunately, when we got to the Lone Pine ranger station on Monday afternoon, we scored two day-hike permits for Tuesday, and the summit attempt was back on. One-boot drove home, and my other companion and I drove from Lone Pine up to the Portal into a smokey hell. There is at least one forest fire in the southern Sierra and it billowed smoke into the Portal at an astounding rate Monday afternoon. Ash was falling like snow and the particulate matter in the air stung your eyes, nose, throat, and lungs. Fortunatey, it dissipated by morning and stayed away for most of the next day.
We started out from Whitney Portal at 3 A.M. on Tuesday, July 19th. We had the benefit of being incredibly well acclimated to altitude for having been above 10,000 feet elevation for the previous six days, but we were fatigued from hauling backpacks and hiking as well. We were climbing relatively slowly and steadily; we were not catching many people and were passed by many others. Nevertheless, slow and steady got us there.
My take on the snow: easy crossings with dire consequences for a mishap. Previous hikers have worn deep, narrow, flat-bottomed troughs into the snow, so it's pretty easy to get across them. My companion and I carried ice axes and although they were probably not necessary, they were quite a comfort (provided you know how to use them). Self belaying (helping yourself not slip and fall) and the ability to self arrest (using the pick to arrest a slide in case of a fall) made the ice axe a most valuable tool. As far as I know, everbody who wanted to, crossed the snow patches on the trail and nobody slid to death or injury, but the possibility is there. The most intimidating snow patch is probably the last one you cross on your way up to Trail Crest at the top of the switchbacks. It's long and the runout is steep. My companion, who never walked on snow before this trip, made it fine and without a lot of trepidation, but she had the benefit of self-belay and the possibility of self arrest in case of a fall. To quote her, the ice axe gave here a "warm fuzzy feeling". My opinion is that crampons would be overkill. Treking poles would help stabilize you and prevent a fall, but would be of no use in case of a fall.
From trail crest, it was a matter of perservering the thin air, long hike, and wind blasting us. I was dressed fine for the wind chill (long underwear, gaitors, shorts, long-sleeve light capilene shirt, long-sleeved nylon shirt, gore-tex jacket, wind-proof neck gaitor, fleece hat, and I had a nano-puff jacket which I wore for the first 20 minutes of our descent). My companion had similar garb except no gaitors and no long underwear. Saw some people summiting in shorts with bare knees. Made me chilly just to look!! There is a snow patch just before the last summit push, but like all the others it is well worn and primarily a deep, flat-bottomed trough to walk in. By the time we summitted (1 P.M.), haze had begun to besmudge the view to the south and west; things were still pretty clear to the NW and north.
We pushed it going down trying to make Bishop by 9 P.M. before Wilson's closes to return our rented gear, but missed it by 30 minutes. We were back to the Portal by 7:40 and on the road by 8 P.M. The "run" down from the summit took it's toll. I slipped and nearly fell at one point and strained a pelvic muscle preventing the fall. Lone Pine was filled with smoke when we got there. It was horrible!! As we drove north toward Bishop, we finally left the smoke behind (don't recall exactly where). Slept at the Roadway in in Bishop (incredible nights sleep!!) and returned the gear in the A.M. All in all a great long day!!
