Mt Whitney Zone Forums Trip Reports White Mountain Peak - June 6, 2015

Friday June 5 - Leave San Diego after work and drive up to the mountain, stopping Saturday at 2 AM about 0.75 miles away from the trailhead due to snowy dirt road conditions.

Saturday June 6 - Sleep in and wake up to a snow white tundra at 11700 feet.

It's a beautiful partly cloudy day with no wind - perfect for hiking. Though mountain-forecast.com says snow possible... There's a couple inches of unconsolidated snow on the ground and it's easy enough to hike through with just boots on.
About 1.5 miles up the trail, I depart for a quick tag of Mt Barcroft. The summit register hadn't been signed since October 2014. I head down Barcroft straight for the old observatory.

Around noon, clouds roll in and it starts snowing graupel: large styrofoam balls of snow. There are two snowshoe tracks that I follow until about 1300 or so, and meet the two snowshoers descending. The snowfall and wind have picked up as the visibility decreases. We exchange pleasantries and I continue the ascent. About a minute later a crack of thunder booms. I pause to consider my options. The sound came northeast of me and I feel comfortable going up. The snow and wind are erasing the snowshoe tracks, but from here it's only 1000 feet of vertical straight up the southeast face.

I press on, and hear a buzzing sound. At first I thought it was just the wind against the synthetic material of my jacket, but then I feel pain on my scalp - like pins and needles. I put my hand to my head and the pain (and buzzing) stop. I take my hand off - buzz and pain. What a cool (and scary) feeling. I'm in an electrically charged storm cloud. I quickly descend 40 vertical feet and get low. The weather is forcing me to descend. I wait five minutes; the cloud clears and visibility improves. I decide to risk it - head for the summit quickly. I ascend straight up - the snow provides an easy shortcut over the switchback road. Thunder cracks every few minutes, but no electrical buzzing on the rest of the way up.

I tag the leeward side of the summit hut and don't bother looking around for the register. I take a picture, put on another layer, and have a drink and bite before heading back down. Visibility has been reduced to less than 40 feet and I can't discern the snowy ground from the cloudy sky - it's all white.

For the next two hours I slowly descend in whiteout conditions, using the GPS app and compass on my phone to navigate. The extra inches of snowfall also slow my progress. I haven't eaten much today - I'm exhausted due to low caloric intake and poor acclimatization. Around 1630 the storm breaks and the glorious sun reappears. It's beautiful out but I'm too tired to take pictures. I press on to my mini checkpoints: the observatory, Barcroft Station, the trailhead gate, and finally reach the car. It starts right up - no marmots have chewed any critical hoses, and I put chains on to assist me out of the 3 new inches of snow that have fallen.

I took a dangerous risk in continuing my ascent, but it was a risk I was willing to take. I saw no lightning and the sound of thunder didn't come closer to me. Had I not been solo, I would've turned around immediately.

Timesheet:
0835 - Begin hiking 0.75 miles from trailhead.
0854 - Reach trailhead gate.
0932 - Depart trail and head to Mt Barcroft.
1017 - Summit Mt Barcroft (13040 feet).
1103 - Back on trail near defunct observatory.
1211 - Reach White Mountain Wilderness sign at ~12860 feet.
1425 - Summit White Mountain Peak (14252 feet).
1602 - Reach White Mountain Wilderness sign at ~12860 feet.
1746 - Pass defunct observatory.
1805 - Pass Barcroft Research Station.
1903 - Reach trailhead gate.
1934 - Make it back to the car.

I awoke to this:


Subaru in its natural habitat:


White mountains:


Barcroft summit with White Mountain Peak in the background:


Barcroft summit box:


Barcroft summit register:


View across Owens Valley to the Sierras:


White Mountain Peak:


Observatory:


White Mountain Peak summit hut:


Summit selfie:


A break in the clouds:


Finally, the end:

WOW! Outstanding pictures!




...I've heard of people experiencing the hissing and buzzing of static electricity, but have never experienced it myself. Not sure what I would do in such a situation.

Aside from your sidetrip to Mt Barcroft, did you mostly follow the old road up and back?

Hi Kevin,

Yeah, I followed the snowshoers' tracks in front of me which mostly followed the road. Rather than zig-zagging up the switchbacks on the SE face, I just went straight up/down.

Also, if you check out the USGS 7.5' map, just north of the observatory at the 12600 foot contour line, we followed the contour rather than going down 80 feet like the road does.
Copy/paste link here to see what I mean:

http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.ph...fault||line=off

Thanks. And yes, am familiar with where the road loses elevation, and followed a similar contour the last time I did that peak.

Sorry to resurrect an older post, but how is the road (unpaved section) to the 11,700' gate? Anyone know Summer 2015 conditions? 2wd/mini-van capable?

I would strongly suggest a 4WD. Maybe try calling Barcroft Station or the ranger station and ask about the conditions.

I think your minivan would make it. I've seen all sorts of sedans up there before. Make sure you have a good spare tire and tire changing equipment -- just in case.

Thx for the responses.

Called White Mountain Station in Bishop...Ranger 4WD highly recommended, monsoons recently and sharp dolomite he said is too risky on a mini-van.