For those interested just in trail conditions, I'll break my report up into two sections. First trail conditions and then a bit of a narrative with some lessons learned.
Trail Conditions:
The first water crossing .6 miles from the portal has genrated a lot of discussion, prompting people to use the old trail. The rocks were not covered by water in the morning or in the early evening (7:00 pm). You will not need the old trail in the morning in any event. If a particularly strong melt occurs in the afternoon, you can always double back to the old trail which is just a stone's throw away from the water crossing that has concerned some folks in the last few weeks. Just above Mirror Lake lots of footprints will lead up to the left--that is a wrong turn and will become evident in about 15-20 paces. Turn to the right/straight instead. Someone scratched out an arrow to point the way. From the Portal through Mirror Lake, mosquitoes were not bad. There was one non-frightening snow crossing just before you get to Trail Side Meadows. Consultation Lake is thawing. Trail Camp is mostly thawed--Only a few sections around the lake have appreciable snow.
Switchbacks: There is some snow early in the switchbacks and you will encounter ice in the teens switchbacks up through switchback 23 where the spring is. The trail will be largely dry until you hit the snow at the cables, but you have a very comfortable margin of rock on the cables. However, to get to the cables, you have to scramble up about 8 feet of rock as one of the switchbacks is covered in snow. This scramble was not frightening for our party, including my 13 year old son, but might be for someone who has a fear of heights. You will have three snow crossings in the upper 90 switchbacks. The first two were in deep (2 foot) snow troughs, meaning if one were to slip, they would not likely slip down the chute. The last snow crossing, however (which was on the last switchback) was far more precarious. A slip here could mean you slip down the chute. In the mid-morning, the snow was slushy and microspikes did little to maintain traction. In fact, my 13 year old did slip here, with his legs slipping down the chute side, but he was able to stay on the trail. Treking poles with good sized snow cups will help you here. We did not encounter any snow on the Western side past Trail Crest. Unfortunately, we had to turn around with the hut in sight when we were at 13,760 feet with one mile to go when my son developed a headache and started a slight slur in his speech that Dexamethasone and a 1 hour rest couldn't fix. I can't tell you what conditions were like after that, but I couldn't see any ice or snow patches left.
In my mind, the most precarious part of the hike is the 97th switchback. There is still a lot of snow there. Conditions were relatively warm, but it could be a a couple of weeks before that section thaws out.
Observations: This was my third trip up Whitney with my sister and first with my 13 year old son. I got AMS my first time even though we camped at Outpost and then at Trail Camp. My second time, I came back with Diamox in my blood and tried heading straight for Trail Camp. I started puking at 12,000 feet, just before Trail Camp and headed back down again. This time, I had a better acclimatization plan. I slept the three Friday nights prior to heading to Whitney up on Mt. Baldy (10,064 feet) and my son joined me for the first two of those trips. My son and I both took Diamox with my son on 125 MG doses and me on twice that. I also took as a preventative med, Dexamethasone (4MG) and 4 MG of Ondansetron. On this third trip, we camped at Outpost and then camped at Trail Camp. On the second day, we hiked up to 13,010 feet in order to climb high and sleep low back at TC. My son did great--no altitude issues at all.
On the third day, we attempted the summit. My son did outstanding until he started developing a headache at about 13,600 and then finally fessed up that he had one at 13,700 feet. (On the drive up, I told him that we power through fears and tiredness, but there are a few things that we don't power through including thunderheads, storms and any of the symptoms of AMS.) When he told me he had a pounding headache, I gave him Dex which was cleared by his doctor beforehand, but his doctor preferred that he not take it as a preventative, but only take it as needed at the first sign of a headache. We rested for about 15 minutes and then when it seemed to get a little bit better we moved at a very slow pace up to 13,760 feet. The pounding got worse and we stopped for a good 45 minutes. When it didn't get any better, we headed back down, even though we had 745 vertical feet and 1 trail mile to go and we could see the hut. It was the right call. (I made the wrong call three years ago when I pressed on and became a significant liability to my sister who had to help shoulder part of my load.
On our way back down, we had the pleasure of running into Quillian Sculpture and Bulldog and Bulldog's wife and 11 year old daughter. What a pleasure.
Observations: My sister is a model of grace. She does not get AMS in the slightest, but is extremely compassionate when dealing with people who do. What a joy to hike with someone who understands when it is time to turn around. I am blessed and she blessed her nephew immensely. I could not ask for two better hiking companions. Life is good.
I was disappointed to see how many teenagers and younger children were sent packing down the mountain alone because their parent(s) decided to summit without them once the kids developed AMS. One person who we met said that he piggy backed a stranger's 8 year old child down to Trail Camp and to leave him at the tent alone as per the request of the 8 year old's parents. Really?
What is with all of the wag bags cached along the switchbacks? Since we did most the switchbacks on two days in a row, I can tell you that they were not left there to be picked up by the same person on the way back because they were there two days in a row. Yuck.
Finally, what a privilege it is to be able to hike this mountain and to share it with all of you (with the possible exception of the few who left wag bags behind.) I have learned immensely from this Board and am grateful for all of you who have shared what you have learned along the way.
Brent N
