Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Whitney Main Trail Conditions 2015 (Out-of-Date)

A little bit of each. The extra 1.7k is nice, but it really comes down to logistics, timing & convenience.

Day Hike
Assuming you even had a legitimate site at the Portal car campground the night before the evening of your actual hike, what would you do all day long once you were checked out? (Note that you typically have to check out of official FS campsites by noon.) You could move your car to either the day use or even overnight parking lots, but then what? You can't hike past Lone Pine lake without a permit, and while Meysan is a nice hike, you could seriously tire yourself out beforehand.

If you spend the night @ Horseshoe, however, there are myriad trails radiating out from the various parking lots that don't require a day use permit. They are also practically flat eg a 10k->11k elevation gain over 5 miles to the first lakes. So, you spend the night, cruise around a little bit to get some exercise in the morning, then mosey on back down to LP in the afternoon. Maybe go to dinner, etc, then eventually head up to the overnight backpacker site (or the back seat of your car) @ the Portal.

Whether it's noisy, crowded or not, you're still not going to get any sleep. Waking every hour, checking your watch, then finally about an hour before your planned departure, you'll say the heck with it and just get up. Everyone else will be doing the same, so even if you're a really sound sleeper, your fellow aspirants will provide the alarm.

Overnight
The Portal campground can work if you're hiking to Outpost, etc, for another day of acclimatization, but then another problem arises: it's a popular campground that is often reserved far in advance for multiple days. So, in other words, good luck getting a site. Horseshoe on the other hand is a huge area with multiple, large parking lots. So, while it may technically have fewer 'official' camping spots, it's under patrolled and pretty easy breezy as long as there aren't any problems.

So, you crash there without any hassles, head over to the Portal in the morning, and begin your hike to your base camp.

We too entered for an overnight stay at trail camp Wednesday the 10th to summit Thursday. We also encountered the same rain/hail/sleet/snow storm mentioned in the previous post. We stayed out of the storm by arriving at trail camp before late spring storms in the Sierra typically roll in and we stayed warm and dry by packing appropriate clothing. Do your research and you'll be fine!

As we prepared for our trip we were flabbergasted by the grandios descriptions of the impassable switchbacks and the only route being the chute. Don't fall for tales from those who simply want to scare you or are inexperienced or want you to rent crampons (Elevation) that are not needed unless you're planning an Everest ascent. We did it with micro spikes and axes (as a precaution). Poles are NOT necessary and we didn't need our gaiters. Snow is no deeper than two inches for the majority of the switchbacks and beyond. Most people are summittimg; those who are not are ill prepared and/or lack experience.

Agreed with previous poster. Acclimation was logistically not an option due to a combination of work and weddings to attend. We flew down Tuesday night, drove up Wednesday morning and started hiking. 4 of us were fine with elevation and two were not.

As far as warm gear half of us were prepared for rain half were not. The real issue was the timing. We definitely felt that if we got there 10 minutes earlier we would have been fine. We got to trail camp and opened our bags or unpack at almost the exact moment the storm hit. It was a combination of maybe a slight deficit in appropriate gear and very poor timing.

I was exhausted when I posted my report and haven't read it since. I hope I didn't make it sound like conditions were impossible to deal with. It seems the average person on here asking questions is not experienced (or about the same experience level as we are) so my intention was to encourage people to be prepared, not to cancel their trips. I hope that is the message received.

I had a typo in my original post and can't figure out how to edit from my phone. As soon as we removed water resistant layers from bags/humans weather took a turn for the worse, not better. I want to emphasize the timing of the weather was our downfall not the weather itself. Good luck summitteers and congrats to those who made it!

There are diverse opinions on the trail conditions posted here and an equally wide diversity of abilities on the trail. I hope all prospective hikers keep that in mind when reading or posting. Both reports are correct just seen through the prism of different abilities.

Awesome report. Thank you!!

Any thoughts regarding the forecast?
NOAA - http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php...en#.VX8MjvlVikp

Mountain Forecast - http://www.mountain-forecast.com/peaks/Mount-Whitney/forecasts/4418

It seems rather mild for this time of year IMO. I left for the HST tomorrow, with the hopes of hitting the WhitneyZone early next week:
http://www.hikinggeek.com/2015/06/09/hike-in-progress-high-sierra-trail-summer-2015/

I just completed a trip report for the main trail from this weekend.
http://www.whitneyzone.com/wz/ubbthreads.php/topics/43146#Post43146

I've got a lot of pictures that I am willing to share but I am not sure how to do so on this site's interface.
Edit: Pictures now follow the trip report.

Summary:
1)microspikes and hiking poles are recommended -any more (crampons/ax) or less (just spikes or just poles) is less desirable but can be made to work if you are good on your feet

2) start earlier than you think you need to. the snow is compact and more friendly and also afternoon storms are less of an issue (we left trail camp at 330am and all 9 of our people summited safely and returned to camp before a big storm ruined some people's day)

3) the snow is melting off and there are lots of puddles and running water along the entire trail (especially switchbacks). I would expect the switchbacks to have snow for at least 2 more weeks and the trail from trail crest to the summit to have some snowy parts for maybe 3 or 4 more weeks.

email me for pics (or if you can help me post them!) tbcellphone@gmail.com

peace

Picture from the cables:

I summited on 6/14. I went up solo starting at about 11:30p at Whitney Portal with the goal of seeing the sunrise. The trail was great, easy to follow even in the dark, and the switchbacks were fine - more wet than anything else. I used microspikes from the switchbacks up to the summit and back down most of the way, I probably would have turned back if I had not had them.

I'd say some of the sketchiest parts were after trail crest. Lots of places where the trail is very thin and full of postholes. Easy on the way down, but when hiking up I was almost too tired to focus.

I didn't make it up in time for the sunrise, ended up being about 40 mins too late. Weather was great though, a little cold up top but only until the sun came out in full force. As for going alone, I probably wouldn't do it again. My hiking partner unfortunately couldn't make it at the last minute, and I didn't want to miss my opportunity. It is possible and I never really felt in danger, but it was one of the most mentally taxing things I've done. All in all, I'm happy with the choices I made and glad everything turned out so great!




Happy trails!

6/13/15 - Our party of 4 started a little late (4:30am) and two in our group dropped out due to AMS at trail camp. Conditions were perfect up to that point.

Me and the other guy in the party was able to get up to trail crest via switchbacks without any crampons/microspikes. Just the cables and the last portion of the switchbacks were sketchy but as long as you take your time you can get through it just fine. At around 2:30pm, the hail/thunderstorm rolled in and we were forced to turn back a little passed trail crest. From what I saw, it looked like you could get up to summit without crampons/microspikes if you take your time and are careful.

We summited on Saturday, June 13th. We were a group of 6. Myself, my wife and 2 teenage boys were joined by my Brother and Sister-in-law who flew in from Atlanta, GA. My wife, kids and I all did several SoCal peaks as training, including the Cactus to Clouds (Palm Springs to San Jacinto Peak - 10,600' elevation gain). My wife did the 6-pack of peaks in its entirety (Mt. Wilson, Mt. Baldy, Cucamonga Peak, San Gorgonio, San Jacinto via Skyline Trail, and San Bernardino). One of my kids and myself did 5 of the 6 and the other kid did 4. So, other than high altitude training we were prepared. We took Diamox to help with High Altitude Sickness. My Brother and S-I-L were not able to do much of any training. My brother and I had previously tried to do the day hike and were unsuccessful so he was aware of what was needed to make the summit this time.

We all started together at 3:30 am. We made Trail Camp about 9:30 am. My brother and S-I-L were quite a bit slower than us. One of the challenges was they chose to bring 2 one liter bottles of water rather than buy a day-hike pack with a room for a reservoir. This meant every time they wanted water they had to take their packs off. This isn't a big deal in-and-of-itself but it does take time which adds up.

At Trail Camp they asked us to go on ahead of them which we did. We summited at 12:15 pm. We passed them on Trail Crest when they had .7 miles to the summit. They were about 1-1/2 hours behind us. We told them we would wait for them at Trail Camp. Then the storm hit. It began hailing (Dippin Dot's sized hail) as we began descending the SB's. The hail hurt and kept going for a long time. It hailed on us the entire descent to Trail Camp and then some. The temperature dropped considerably too. I told my wife and kids to hike to the portal (we brought 2 cars to the portal just in case someone decided to turn around). I intended to wait for my brother and S-I-L. I got very cold and walked down toward the Portal about 1/2 mile to check those conditions. Walking back up to Trail Camp helped me get warmer. So, I decided to ascend the SB's again to try to find them. I passed several people who saw them on the summit, one couple had seen them at Trail Crest on their way down. But it had been 1-1/2 hours since my wife and kids began descending and I was about 1/3rd the way back up the SB's. I had a clear view of the Cable section and did not see them. So I know they were at least an hour from the point where I was at. I began getting very cold myself (shivering, fingers and toes getting numb). The SB's were a stream of water about 2 - 3 inches deep at this point and these conditions kept on past Trail Camp too. I decided I needed to descend quickly to see if there could be any options of help for them. I spoke with several campers at both campgrounds giving their description and telling them they may need help. I made the descent from Trail Camp to the portal in 2 hours and was able to make it before my wife and kids left (my brother had the key to the 2nd car). We discovered at the Portal Store that they only send out Search and Rescue operations when someone has been missing for 24 hours or if there was an injury. We sent my brother and SIL text messages hoping they would get the texts when they got to the treeline where we noticed on the ascent we had some cell phone coverage.

In the end, they made the descent. They made it back to the car at 12:30 am on the early morning of Sunday 6/14 (so they were on the trail for 21 hours). They had a lot of help from a lot of other hikers on trail, helping them navigate the SB's on the descent, giving them hot tea. One man generously gave my S-I-L a fleece jacket. They were offered tents to stay the night. I wish I could personally thank all the people who helped them.

In the end, we all made it back safely and other than some rattled nerves we'll look back very fondly. This post may scare some people and I don't intend it to scare anyone away. Rather, BE PREPARED for any conditions. The forecast for our hike, according to the National Weather Service, had a high temp. of 53 at the summit and 20% chance of showers after 11 am (but we had snow, hail, rain, wind, significantly colder temperatures, etc.). The forecasts for that elevation are not perfect. Plan for the worst. Start early.

And I cannot put enough emphasis on training.

I go back-and-forth as to whether I should have stayed with them. I'm glad my whole family didn't stay with them because that would have put my wife and kids in jeopardy too. Also, my brother is an Eagle Scout and my SIL is a physician. They're both very smart people. But their lack of training and some preparation mistakes cost them time. However, the storm was the major factor in their delayed descent. It took them longer to descend to than to ascend.

glad everyone is OK. we were at trail camp and were ready to offer assistance in the event of an emergency. our start time was also 330am but we started from trail camp...youre definitely right. early early early start!

This forum was invaluable to me as I was planning my Whitney trip, and now it is my turn to contribute.

I summitted on Monday June 15 at noon. I started at 3 am from Whitney Portal. I was planning on hiking to the summit, then descending mountaineers and overnighting at Upper Boyscout lake. By the time we reached Trail Camp, my partner decided it would be too strenuous to summit with all our overnight gear, so we dropped our tent and sleeping bags at trail camp and continued to the top with day packs.

Conditions:
Little snow and ice on switchbacks until the cables. From there, there were a few very, and I repeat very, sketchy switchbacks with ice. This was about 8-9 in the morning. There were spots of ice and snow toward the top of the switchbacks, but not as bad as the cables area.
The trail from Trail Crest to about the needle closest to Whitney requires extreme caution. There is a ton of ice and snow, and microspikes or crampons are required. People were crossing with YakTraks and boots, but this was dangerous. Hiking poles are also a must on this section. The last stretch to the summit had snow, but it was much more navigable than the first part from Trail Crest.

Down from the summit, a lot of the snow and ice was melting, which allowed for better traction in areas. While it was more slippery, it was easier to dig your feet in. A lot of the snow on the switchbacks had melted by 3 pm, which meant there was a lot of water running down the trail.

The weather was perfect yesterday, which allowed people to summit all day long.

I have images, but do not think I can post them from my iPhone. I will try and upload them later.

Good luck everyone. Bring all necessary gear. Get an early start. And be cautious and aware at all times.

Please excuse any grammatical or spelling errors, as this message was sent from my iPhone.

Seems to be a perfect week for summiting.

100+ pics from main trail 6/12-6/14

What permit is required for that route - up MT, down and overnight on MR?

An overnight permit, as would be required for a more conventional route like Portal-Trail camp-summit-portal is required, since both the MR and MWMT are in the Mount Whitney zone. Might want to wait for Steve to back me up on this.

I'm curious. What is the attraction in descending the MR?

Well, I'm not sure what permit they would need, but I think you're right, an overnight Main Trail permit, since that is the trail they started on. That permit would enable going anywhere else in the Sierra, so coming down the MR would be the same as going elsewhere and spending the night.

As for descending the MR: I think I would opt for the other direction on such a circuit. But then, why not just day hike and do that? If I were carrying overnight gear to the top, I would probably spend the night on the summit (as long as I had some acclimatization, otherwise I'd be miserable up there.) Of course, going the other way around with an overnight permit would require a MR overnight permit, which is harder to get due to the quota of 10, PLUS a Trail Crest exit permit. So maybe that is the reason they chose the MT entry, MR exit.

Thank you matureunicorn for this great review of your summit and trip! I really enjoyed it! I'll be going in August, and although I should not have any snow issue whatsoever, I really enjoyed reading your advice and information about it.

Thank you for sharing! Lovely photos!

We are planning a High Sierra Trail backpacking trip starting on 6/27/15. Our entry point is at the Crescent Meadow. Could someone give us report on current condition through the High Sierra route to Whitney? I'd like to know how the river/meadow crossings are like. Thank you!!