Hello All:
I recently completed a Whitney summit on 7/7/17. Feel free to read my trip report. Here I want to briefly discuss (or maybe vent) the stupidity on the mountain that never ceases to amaze me after my 20+ hikes:
1. A hiker at the start of the trail with 7 liters of water in his pack! After I politely and delicately told him that there is water galore all the way to trailcamp and there was no need to lug 15 pounds on his back he seemed rather irritate and walked off.
2. I encountered a guy and his girlfriend today (Saturday) at around 11am just above Mirror Lake stating that they were going to summit and come back by nightfall....yes, and Santa Claus is coming on December 25th! The thing that really irritated me is that his girlfriend had no idea just how dangerous this was....for a same day hike they should be at trailcrest by 11am (or earlier).
3. Hiking up the snow chute with no ice ax! Or, hiking up the snow chute after 8am when it is slushy even with an ice ax....how exactly do people plan on self-arresting if they slip?
4. Hiking under these snowy/icy conditions without crampons - enough said.
5. People leaving their wagbags all over the mountain. I saw at least 20 wagbags within 15 feet of lakes and/or streams and dozens along the trail all over the mountain. I'm embarrassed to be a part of the human race....I don't know what else to say.
6. People leaving trash, bottles, wrappers, underwear, socks, sunglasses (cracked lens so I guess it was too heaving to pack out), shoes, etc.
7. People not using a wagbag and just defecating wherever they feel like.....do people realize when it rains all of this just washes into the lakes and streams that we are using as our water source? And, even if it doesn't rain, do we really want to turn a nice, beautiful back-country hike into a fecal aroma-fest instead?
8. Reaching the summit late and hiking down the switchbacks/chute with headlamps in these snowy/ice conditions.....really? Is Mt. Whitney going anywhere...can't they just turn around and hike it some other day?
9. Leaving trailcamp with a bottle of water. Yes, you can boil snow in a pinch (if you bring a stove with you to the summit)...but if you don't know that there are no real water sources between trailcamp and the summit you shouldn't be heading to the summit!
10. Not bringing an emergency blanket and/or emergency shelter with you to the summit. Yes, sometimes the weather does change unexpectedly and you can encounter sever snow, wind, hail, rain, etc. I can email you my summit pics from yesterday and you would think I was lying to you if I told you 30 minutes later we encountered a hail storm!
I could go on for days....but my intent is to encourage other hikers to list some of their similar observations. I am not trying to pick on anyone; rather, I am trying to help people not repeat these mistakes on their Mt. Whitney expeditions. More importantly, I don't want anyone to think I believe that everyone who has been injured and/or died on Mt. Whitney was an idiot. Look, sometimes even smart, experienced hikers suffer accidents and my thoughts and prayers go out to each and every hiker that has been injured on the mountain.
