Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Whitney Main Trail Conditions 2016 (Out-of-Date)

Thanks for the recommendation on Cottonwood pass.

Do you think snow shoes are necessary in addition to crampons/ax from Guitar Lake?

We have a whitney main trail permit reserved to exit through Whitney Portal on June 1st.

What permits are required to use Horseshoe Meadow to the Whitney Zone? Is it a PCT permit?

Are you saying there are plenty of unused permits for Memorial Day weekend?

Thanks again!

Tommy

Thanks for the quick reply. Which pass would be best at that time of year?

We are looking at Cotton Wood Pass to Lower Crabtree Meadows to Guitar Lake to Trail Crest and exit Whitney Portal.

What do you think?

TommyB: I just don't think snowshoes are necessary by the end of May. Years ago I'd do a Memorial Day weekend backpack every year, and often it was over snow. We never took snowshoes, and did not posthole much at all. Snow consolidates as it melts for the summer, so it usually supports people walking over the top.

Your Cottonwood Pass itinerary will work fine. Plan on two days to Guitar Lake. You can then climb Whitney and exit on the third (unless you guys pack too heavy and travel slow).

Permits: You will pick up the Cottonwood Pass entry permit and Trail Crest Exit permit. That is all you need.

As for the main trail permits: Check out the Unused Whitney Permits numbers for all the past years. There has not been a Memorial weekend yet where all walk-in permits were taken.

This picture was posted by langie671 on Instagram.

It's the area just above Trail Camp, shows the conditions mid-day. They were returning from Trail Crest where they turned back. (I would have stayed in that well-beaten path in the top of the picture.) Postholing occurs more often near exposed boulders (note the rock on the left.)

Here's the caption:

This picture was posted by Emiliya "kvita_svita" on Instagram, May 16.

It shows the trail on the west side of the crest, some distance beyond (above) Trail Crest -- maybe near Mt Muir.

Hi Steve,

I have some photos from 15th.
How do I post here?
Do I have to upload it somewhere else and then paste that URL?

This is from the FAQ's:

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You can do the same for your signature. Click the My Home option found on any page. Then, under the Main Configuration heading, click on "Personal Information, email, password...". Look for the Signature box, and enter your desired information, including any images/markup as above.

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Thank you, billy!

Though 35k file size seems pretty small for today's standard especially with lots of details. For example the Instagaram image above is 231k...

Pictures from May 15:

OK. Here is the one at the summit.


Snow slope between Mirror lake and Trail camp.



99 Switchbacks and Chute from Trail camp


Sunrise walking up in the middle of the Chute.


Towards the top of the Chute


Sequoia side view at the Trail Crest


From Trail Crest to the Summit



On the way back from the Summit







Going down the Chute.

Apparently dropbox.com has all sorts of controls to prevent you from storing your picture there and embedding it here. ...checking for an alternate method.

Tyoshi, what is the size of your picture file?

Actually, you can post your pictures in the Picture Gallery on this forum. If you go there, you will find a link with instructions.

Here is the link: Instructions for storing pictures: Uploading Pictures to the Picture Gallery.

Imgur.com might work?

I normally use the Whitneyzone Picture Gallery, but there are other options:
TinyPic: tinypic.com
and
Flickr: flickr.com

Both supply Image code for Forums and message boards
Both are free, but do require you to "sign up", and log on to upload pictures. Then copy the link, and paste it in the message board.

Thanks for all the advices!
Now I have edited my post.
Please check.
Or should I create a new post?

Question

My buddies and I are planning on heading up the MR.

We would like to exit via the Whitney Trail however we are concerned about carrying our gear up the MR.

Can anyone provide any recommendations on whether or not to carry gear up to the summit via MR?

Thanks

Tommy

I've done that, but I go ultra-light when I do it. And I make the most of all the hard work, and sleep on the summit. That works if you have spent at least two nights sleeping at or above 10k. Otherwise the altitude makes for a terrible night's sleep.

I would NOT advise hauling gear up to the summit and trying to exit in the same day. It would be a very long and tiring day -- just not worth it.

Wow, these pictures look beautiful but intimidating! This is the MT, correct?

It looks like one fierce drop off where the person in the blue is on the trail. Makes me kind of nervous to be hiking that area by myself, now I'll know to wait for other to before crossing that portion.

Question, was there a lot of people on the trail?

I'll be on hiking past TC to summit on 5/28.

Thanks

Hi,

We are planning to hike up Mt. Whitney on June 13th. Since we have no experience in hiking in snow and using crampons & ice axe etc, I am just wondering what the trail condition will be like in June 13th and do we still need crampons? And how difficult would be for us to summit if there is still snow above 12000 feet?

Thank you so much!

-Eddie

Eddie Nee: At least half of that snow will be gone by mid-june. There will still be some icy spots, so using crampons and ice axe will be good. But it isn't easy to predict, so watch for more reports closer to your trip.

Hi Iclimbmnts!

Yes, we took the Main trail up to the Summit.
I think we were the last group to summit that day (May 15) since we didn't see anyone coming up when we were going down. And seeing the registry notebook, it looks like 10-15 people summited that day.

We left Trail camp around 4:00am and came back about 1:30pm.
Most of them left around 2:30-4:00am in order to arrive early to avoid snow getting too soft and slushy. Weather was fine but pretty windy.

After Trail Crest, there were several sections that were bit technical but with ice axe and crampons it was not too bad.

A lot of people got lost on the way back from Trail Camp to the Mirror Lake.
Because actual trail were buried in the snow and people were randomly going down the snow slope. And many of them just went too far whereas they really should have made a left turn toward Mirror lake. Then they ended up at the top of Outpost camp which they have to go down really steep slope.
By the time you go there, there may be more snow melt which makes the actual trail appear but that was our case.