I got a bit of a late start...not unusual for me. My plan was to go to Trail Camp, but I only made it as far as Outpost.
When I got to the portal there were two other cars parked there. I got ready and hit the trail at 9:30am. First meaningful ice was at the north fork crossing. I decided to go ahead without the microspikes since the actual crossing itself was on bare rocks. My boots were doing fine in the snow/ice as long as it was white. I didn't slip once. Finally about 1/3mi from the log crossing the trail turned into a solid block of ice for a good 75'....time for the microspikes. I ended up keeping the microspikes on for the majority of the remainder of the hike.
It was a blustery day. The wind made it sound like I was next to a waterfall the whole time. But then when I got past LPL the wind really picked up. Going through the sandy part there was absolutely miserable. I had to put on my sunglasses to protect my eyes from the gravel being launched at me. I actually dug out a bit of gravel from my eye this morning. The switchbacks before Bighorn park were a reprieve for the most part, but once I got to Bighorn park the wind was even stronger.
I have never done a winter hike on Whitney and knowing that there was a storm brewing, I decided to err on the side of safety. I packed some light waterproof snow pants, a couple of extra fleece jackets, extra socks, extra gloves. In short, I had waaaaay too much stuff. Until LPL I was wearing regular light summer hiking pants with thermal tights underneath. On top I had a thermal long sleeve shirt and a light fleece lined windbreaker (with hood). I was plenty warm with that get-up until LPL where I added a light fleece shirt. (I still had two more thicker fleece jackets in my pack). I was using regular ski gloves and my fingers did get a bit chilly at times. However, the worst was when I stopped to eat and had to take my gloves off. My hands got painfully cold within minutes. And the one thing that I left on the table by the front door was my beloved balaklava. So the hood stayed up to keep my ears warm, but my chin and nose were uncomfortably cold from LPL to outpost (where I turned around).
With the late start, I decided that outpost was a good enough hike and turned around after noshing on a frozen snickers bar.
I saw exactly zero humans on the hike. In fact, I didn't see any birds or any type of mammals either. I took my time on the hike and really enjoyed occassionally sitting down to just take in the view with the wind whipping around me. It was really peaceful. I really enjoyed the solitude.
Was pondering going down the old trail, but decided to just stick to the main trail the whole way.
As I got to the bottom I saw a red SUV pull up and 5 guys rolled out and started unpacking. They were going to spend the night at the portal but were afraid that it was going to rain at the portal. So they decided to hike up to outpost where it would likely snow instead of rain.
Heard Dennis Mattinson's weather report as I was driving down the mountain....he basically called for 100% chance of snow today....at Mammoth at least.
It was a great day. The only thing that I would change would be to pack less stuff. But I always overpack, so I should get used to it.
I stopped at Seasons for dinner...had a great peppersteak and then headed home.
Looking at the webcam, I probably could have spent the night up there and got back before the weather kicked in...oh well...
I have a couple of photos that I'll post later.
