Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion 1st Whitney Day hike - Oct 16, 2010 - crampons?

Hi folks,

I am planning to do a day hike on Oct 16 to the summit of Mt. Whitney. The plan is to leave the Whitney portal trailhead ~2:00 am in the morning and hope to be back down by ~6:00pm - assuming all goes well.

I am not worried about altitude sickness because I have sufficient high altitude experience over time (and just did Mt. Kilimanjaro) and know the general tricks & rules to avoid getting hit.

My key concern is early snow/ice on the trail since I have ZERO alpine climbing experience and have NEVER used crampons. I do not even have a crampon-compatible hiking boot (the "plastic" kind, I suppose). Any advice will be greatly appreciated. I have read through wbtravis' tips already - extremely helpful.

BTW, I do have 2 permits available for that day hike and anyone wanting to utilize the 2nd one should feel free to contact me.

Thanks,
T2n

There's no snow to speak of anywhere, at this point.

Leave the crampons, axe, and plastics home. Totally a non-issue.

I've been in the Sierra a lot in mid-October. You will see snow about 30% time. I've never seen enough of it for crampons, an axe or plastic boots.

If it does snow and you feel uncomfortable in it, turn around. No matter what happens, you will have a great experience.

Some of my favorite trips up the MMWT went no further than Trail Camp.

October 16 is a very late date. Do you realize there are usually day hike permits available all through September?

Here are the unused numbers from last year.
    Unused Whitney Permits for 2009
And remember, they're the totals after the end of the day; the day hike no-shows become available at 2 PM the day before, so there would be many more available at that time.

If you chose an earlier date, even two weeks, having a dry trail would be far more likely.

> BTW, I do have 2 permits available for that day hike and anyone wanting to utilize the 2nd one should feel free to contact me.
If you check the Inyo NF page for Day Use for Mount Whitney Zone, it looks like you will have about 25 others (or less) on the trail (there are 74 permits available yet on that date). And note the "When will the first snow fall?" notes on the October calendar.

And don't believe the numbers for available permits for September. The unused numbers page gives you a far better picture of what will be available.

Good luck!

Off topic, I know (apologies) but which Kili route did you do, and what outfitter did you use, out of curiousity (and would you recommend them)? Am planning a trip for next year....

Thanks.

Thanks all for the quick and informative responses.

The more I research this the more it seems that a day hike on Oct 15 could get dicey due to snow and ice. According to the last 4 year's history on the Inyo site, there is 100% chance of snowfall by Oct 15. Crossing those lovely "windows" on slippery ice and/or high wind is sure to make my blood run cold - crampon or not -- I remember having some difficulty with the (perfectly) dry narrow expanse of rock at the top of Clouds Rest in Yosemite with 3000ft drop on either side! On the other hand, driving 800 miles (round trip) and only hitting Trail Camp will suck pretty bad. But, putting safety first (probably, even before first) I am going to see if I can squeeze this in a couple of weeks earlier - and carry some lighter Kahtoola Microspikes (instead of crampons) for added insurance.

Thanks again for the pointers to help me make a sensible decision.

T2n

I hope it fits the etiquette here to write about unrelated Kili hike. If not, someone please yell at this post, OK?

I hiked the Machame route. The outfitter was local - called Kilele Afrika (kileleafrika.com)- ask for Raymond Massae who owns and runs this outfit. I would highly recommend them. My friends have also used Raymond's services in prior years. I booked both the Kili hike as well as the subsequent safari with Raymond - no complaints whatsoever. Can give you more details if you wish.

T2n

Nobody will complain about the kili info. We're curious!

If you two want, start a new thread especially on Kilimanjaro.

Hi Steve,

Regarding this comment in your post:
And don't believe the numbers for available permits for September. The unused numbers page gives you a far better picture of what will be available.

I gather then you are saying that the history of unused permits would imply a very good chance (say 90%+) of picking up a day hike permit on some Sat in Sep - and hence I do not need to wait all the way to mid Oct?

T2n

That's what I am trying to say.

Check the Wilderness Permit Options (link above on the left), especially step 6. There it says:



...and remember to post those Kili picture links in that other thread.