Quick report of the trail conditions I encountered on Mt Whitney.
First patch of snow encountered on the switchbacks to bighorn park, past the Whitney zone sign.
Ice on some seeps from outpost camp to trail camp. The trail camp draw had WAG bags in the water so we went to the flowing water on the west side to get our water, that was iced over also. The spring on the switchbacks also ices over a night still. All this melts later in the day.
Cables are clear. One switchback we used microspikes, but they really were not needed, we were just being overly cautious. A few patches on the west side of Whitney but again, nothing needed. Wind was crazy at the summit, I would have to guess gusts being around 40-50mph, I hope I'm not exaggerating, that's just my guess.
Couldn't find a nice spot at Trail Camp to protect us from the wind. Found one nice spot, but it smelled of human excrement. Got worried about hypothermia. After 2 hours of trying, we made the choice to just hike down. Found a nice flat spot a little ways from the trail, between Trailside Meadows and Mirror Lake.
The fish at the portal pond were pretty lethargic but we still got a few. The fishing at Mirror Lake was great though..
I would like to thank everyone on the forums that helped make a trip a success. I would like to thank all the friendly folks at the portal, both the people at the store (great pancakes!) and those I met hanging around the portal! My prayers go out for the lost hiker.
A little confused about uploading pictures, something about file size so once I fix that I'll upload them here or give a link to them.
