Mt Whitney Zone Forums Trip Reports Mt. Whitney Main Trail 20-21 May

Hi All,
Quick trip report for everyone.
Our group was made up of 5 males, 1 female, ages ranging from late 20's to early 40's; varied experience levels but most of the group had no actual backpacking experience. A couple of us had done the hike up to Lone Pine Lake before, but the main Whitney trail was new to all of us.

Note: We did not summit; thought I'd get that out of the way to save you the suspense

We headed up to Trail Camp on Sunday, the plan was to overnight and summit on Monday. We did not head up on Monday morning however - all the reports we heard from people coming down were that the switchbacks were okay until the end, where the ice/snow would very likely require crampons, and knowledge of how to use them; our group had neither of these. Rather than go all that way only to be turned around due to lack of gear, we headed back to the Portal. A lot of people were taking the chute, but again, our group did not have the right gear (or skills) to try that.

I heard from someone recently that some people tend to exaggerate the difficulty and we may indeed have been fine up there without crampons (Doug Sr. had given us a good lesson on using our trekking poles almost as movable railings or handles along the way) BUT… the reports from others telling us that we would need winter gear for the final section on the switchbacks was a little bit of a relief. We were all pretty beat up - the hike up to Trail Camp was more brutal than we had realized, so an excuse to not further torture ourselves was welcome. We all live in L.A. so Whitney is not a far trek for us - we went into this knowing full well that we hadn't conditioned/trained nearly as much as we'd wanted to, and as I mentioned, this was a first backpacking-trip for most in our group, so it was really kind of a test run. Basically, we learned a lot, and we'll be back Hope this info helps some folks that are thinking of heading up in the near future. We really only padded through a couple of snowy spots all the way to Trail Camp, all with clearly trodden boot prints for us to follow, no post-holing or anything. Have fun and stay safe - we did
-Caroline

p.s. if anyone wants more detailed info on our trip (pack weights/footwear/etc.) feel free to send me a message. I plan on doing a longer trip report - sort of for friends and family but also for other Whitney enthusiasts - which I'll post separately once finished. But, if you have other questions in the meantime, I'm happy to share. Beautiful, amazing, awe-inspiring trip, and I'm happy to talk about it with others that are interested

Trail Camp itself is an achievement for folks new to altitude and backpacking. I did the same thing myself back in 2010, when I was new to Whitney ... did a reconnaissance hike up to Trail Camp a few weeks before my group intended to go for the summit ... was a confidence-building experience that made the later summit trip that much more enjoyable.

Hi Caroline,
Thanks for posting the first report. I am curious how heavy the packs were. Being so "beaten up" could have been heavy packs, or it could have been the altitude. It can really hit people at Trail Camp.

Hi Steve,
My pack weighed 20 pounds, another pack was 30 pounds, two others were about 35 pounds each, and the last two were 40 pounds each. The altitude didn't seem to be too much of a problem for the four of us "slow pokes," but I did hear from the two that bombed up ahead of us (they were at Trail Camp about two hours before us, I believe - and were the ones with the 40 pound packs, incidentally...!) that they were feeling a bit sick up there. No real AMS symptoms (one guy had a headache), but the altitude likely had something to do with how tired we felt. We've all done hikes longer than the one to Trail Camp, but none at that altitude. I appreciate you trying to chalk up our inability to summit to pack weights and altitude, which I'm sure impacted us a lot, but we all knew we weren't as conditioned as we wanted to be/should have been We'll do more preparations, more conditioning, and we'll be back!

And Akichow - thanks for the kind words; we all felt pretty proud to have made Trail Camp!

-Caroline

I often remind people how Trail Camp is higher up than the summit of San Gorgonio (or Mammoth Mountain), so being up at that altitude is an accomplishment even if it is not a summit. As a result you had more time to enjoy the "scenic" half of the trail.

"I heard from someone recently that some people tend to exaggerate the difficulty and we may indeed have been fine up there without crampons"

I always tell people to judge the conditions accordingly based on what they know of their skill level. Personally, I think the chute provides a fairly good visual of what you will be attempting, minus the ability to see problem areas up close. If it appears daunting to you at Trail Camp, then in my opinion, there is a high likelihood that you should probably not attempt it. However, it is also worth noting that for many people, the chute is their first experience at "real" mountaineering, and as a result, it may seem like the Hillary Step on Everest to them. The truth of the matter? It depends on your experience, as noted above, and the conditions that day.

In reality, it may not be as hard as some people make it out to be. Then again, if I had a dollar for every time I've had to bail someone out of trouble in that area, I'd be pretty well off. If you get halfway up, minus crampons/ice axe on certain days, and find yourself in over your head, there are a number of bad outcomes that can occur, even with other climbers deciding to assist you.

While its a bummer not making it up to the summit, I think you guys did a great job on your first backpack, and made the right choice based on what you're saying - the mountain will always be there for you to come back to!