Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board 2024

Well several systems each week but not much snow . High winds so drifting , very cold nights but we are warm several hours during the day if no wind.

Working outside in town since we closed so very lucky we can work in summerware at best Mall clothing for the chill at 7 AM.

There's been plenty of spindrift showing up on the webcam...but it doesn't look like much new snow...I saw -22 on one of the Sierra Sensors the other day...I'd rather sit in front of a fire than deal with those conditions...

The COLD passing thru town cracked a couple of sections of 50+ years-old pipes at home...Repair man is dealing with a CF of random $417 on day 2...you'd think I live on a hundred acre ranch with all the valves, that seem to control nothing, but are now leaking profusely when we try to power up the pumps...

Water and cold , we always watch for nights that may hit 15 degrees for hours then we open a tap to keep a flow but on dead end lines luck is the main protection, smaller the line the greater the risk . Another headache was the old PVC glue and joins not fusing , we have found line just spread apart at the joints from the expansion. Good luck

Hi.

My partner and I are planning to attempt to summit Mt Whitney this weekend (January 13-15) through the Mountaineer’s route. Do you have some inside info about the avalanche hazards and the road conditions. Any

Road is posted closed,some drive up to second gate and park but storms can bury your car .Avalanche areas are the road top of first switchback,the north fork (mountaineers route) and off the Whitney face .We have had snow loading for weeks now and high wind so slab condition EXIST. I I don't put much faith in weather forecast,but plan for the worst,wind gust blowing snow and whiteout are vommon6 for this time of the year.Strong experienced climbers would try for a day trip this is based on knowing the route and turning around if ice /drifts / past slides blocking the route.
Gear /weight determines your climb time and finding the route.
Hey post how it goes!

Way off topic, but showing the Wisdom/Fount of Knowledge that Doug is...



PVC pipe cracked at repairs/joints...
Galvanized pipe (corroded) and leaking at threads.,,
2 irrigation lines (that haven't been used in years) probably seeping water for years...now shut down.

It's a good thing the Repair Man likes my wife...I'm sure the bill would have been a WHOLE LOT more...

Bucket baths reminded me of being it SE Asia and Nepal/Tibet in the Good Old Days...

Angel, I hope you and your partner had a safe trip. I am curious to know how the hiking went this week. I am planning to hike up to the Mountaineers rt in a couple of days. Weather permitting, Ill give it a go up the notch for a summit bid. Any beta on current conditions would be helpful. Thanks

We felt short of the peak since we left a little too late. Still, it was a nice hike. Thanks for the info.

Jan 18-19 Mountaineer's Route

Was hoping to take advantage of the nice weather and make a summit attempt. Stopped short of Upper Boy Scout at Clyde's Meadows/Thor Falls due to a mixture of prior commitments and assessing the time needed to summit. Spent the evening and headed back down in the early morning.

Initially tried to hug side of wall past the ledges but turned around quickly and went for the ledges. Ebersbacher Ledges wasn't too bad, a short 5ft icy portion after the tree, the rest was dry/minimal snow.

The snow conditions were mixed unconsolidated, with some solid boot packing. The rocky portions of the route had some snow coverage, and potential for getting a foot stuck in the cracks. Some snow was consolidated enough for a pole with basket but once stepped on you'd fall through.

Spoke with John down at Elevation, apparently two others were going up the same day I was, but I didn't see anyone on the route - two cars were parked past the 2nd gate so there had to be someone or two up there.

With the new system coming in, all the boot pack could be covered up and new adventures for the next people await.

Photos seem to not be linking correctly in previous post
Trying with a different host...

A little more useful information (at least until the next (major) storm...

OUTPOST CAMP SNOW HIKE/SNOWSHOE - 01.24.2024

Road Conditions: Road Closed Sign up...I was going to recommend caution as there were some sections of snow/ice on the lower part of the road, but by 5:30pm, it was gone. Rode the motorcycle up to within a mile of the WPS (where continuous snow started). Car tracks and a snowmobile track up to the Portal...NO GATES LOCKED yet.

I'd probably be exaggerating if I said there was 2" of new snow...
But, there were drifts up to 30+"...(How the heck does that happen?)

I went up the Old Trail to the Main Trail up to Outpost Camp...
Encountered rain, sleet, snow and a bit of spindrift...

It was a gloomy day, so the photo quality is poor...














Log Crossing...



Whitney Zone...








I've got a birthday coming up and I've never made the summit of Whitney on my birthday...I keep seeing a bare Thor Peak in the Webcam...I think I would rather have the Winter turn severe, but if it doesn't, I'll be spending some time wearing in tracks towards the top...I'd really rather do a North Side trip up-and-over Whitney/Russell, with a climb of the West Face (my guess is it's barren/wind blown), but don't want to deal with a heavy pack and snowy/icy E-Ledges...

ermine and Richard,

Thanks for the conditions reports with photos. One gets the impression that the amount of snow along these two approaches (at least below 11,000') is hardly overwhelming.

Maybe in 2024 there will be an early start to the usual hiking season? Watching carefully how things play out the next couple months.

Jim

Richard, the quality of your photos are NEVER "poor" !!! I'd say that 11 out of 10 are keepers! ;-)

TRAIL CAMP SNOW HIKE/SNOWSHOE - 01.29.2024

This hike was supposed to happen last Friday - Nope, too tired...
This hike was supposed to happen last Saturday - Nope, oops, other commitments...
This hike was supposed to happen Sunday - Canceled a climb of Baldy with Shin, but didn't wake up on time...
Finally got out of bed early enough...rode to McD's in Lone Pine for breakfast...
Was planning on riding around the WP Rd damage...BUT, they are working to repair the road... :-)

Still a good track to Outpost Camp...
The trail gets considerably harder higher...
When I passed Mirror Lake and climbed up to the ridge (decent boot track, but DEEP...), I traversed left off of the "trail" and put in a track direct to Consultation Lake and up the gully to Trail Camp...

Fantastic Day...had to be 50 up at Trail Camp...no wind...considering the conditions, I was amazed to make it in 5 hours...

Looking up from Trail Camp, my strategy would be to head up the Old Trail (some exposed) and do the Direct to Trail Crest via Doug's Rib and snowshoe the rest...

There is so much spin on the Switchbacks, I don't think they'd go without a lot of work and risk...

OFF COURSE, NONE OF THIS MATTERS IF THE THURSDAY/FRIDAY STORM COMES IN...Being optimistic, last time they were calling up to 16 and not even 2 fell...


Here are some photos:


Parked near the Meysan Trialhead.
























If you happen to go up and see this...left was down, right was up...left is more direct, but steeper...And yes, snowshoes made the trip a whole lot easier...


Oh, BTW, there was enough WHOOMPING that if there were more snow on Candlelight and Irvine, I'd have been ******* my pants...

Richard, I just don't know how you do this, even alone. Amazing!!! Way beyond my capabilities, or just thinking about it.

Thanks for ALL the pictures and the trail reports.

I'll have to work up a payment plan with Doug this summer.

paul

Richard,

Awesome outing and photos (ranking: 12 out of a possible 10!). The snow coverage on the route from the ridge above Mirror Lake to Consultation Lake and beyond looks like it did in June and July of 2023. It's late January and, indeed, Doug's Rib is certainly visible.

Question from me (who has very minimal snow shoe experience): With sparse snow coverage between the ridge above Mirror Lake and Trail Camp, was punching through into rocks below a real concern in the current conditions? Also, is it currently possible to get water from the Spring in Bighorn Park (just before Outpost Camp)?

Thanks, Jim

I was going to mention it...water at Rockwell's Finest (I almost always stop at that spring to take some water home.) I put 3L in my pack on the way up yesterday...water is still running at the end of Outpost Camp and water is still running at the Mirror Lake outlet.

I was crossing and crunching thru to rock on the climb up to Trail Camp. I've been "testing" a pair of Decathlon snowshoes that I got on clearance for $50, so I don't really care if I damage them. They seem to be holding up to the abuse.

If I go up again, the MSR's will be going with me...they have better edges for traction on all terrain and have a heel lift that really helps to take the strain off your calves on steep terrain.

Thanks.

BTW, you guys probably know that I like naming things...Bob was giving me a "lecture" on water in the Sierra and told me the story of how the FS used to do backcountry water testing on a regular basis. He told me that they quit testing that spring because they never got any negative on water from it. I've been calling it Rockwell's Finest ever since...

Great report Richard The perfect snow shoe is 7 feet long 4 feet wide with the attached railroad iron to drag as a brake! Ya but... I have and they work great,the shoe depends on the snow condition and the slope angle notice these condition change by the hour . I tend to be a cruster wait until a firm surface has formed and hope to stay on top .
I found a pair of running shoes that worked well but would throw a whiteout over your head with each step back was soaked shortly, one shoe has an extention on the back to help when soft snow is traveled my hought is to correct the oversight on the design.
Last winter I fell into a well with the shoes on , very soft powder I was down about 4-5 feet , my first thought OK this will be easy just get the shoes /shoe off and boot kick in a ladder , How do you get the shoe off? This took about 20 minutes to get one shoe off then I could make the ladder after regaining forward travel a 5 PM dinner date with family I took all the short cuts down the steep areas shoes on again recalling from the past Oh shoot sometimes you fall because of the speed and the shoes somehow don't keep up, after about the 5th fall shoes off and hit the road using the track.
I like winter and snow travel! Oh the woomp , snow build up and pressure moving down slope, also at times you may see a ripple /ridge on the surface near the bottom of a slope , always avoid runout areas and narrow canyons . The surface on the slopes are icy crusts and any new snow can set up avalance conditions.

Tree wells.....
I now remember (fondly) the time I fell in a tree well with snowshoes on...1st thing was take the pack off (not to make me lighter) so I could get to SPOT in case I couldn't get my foot free...(similar experience to the bike in the mud bog when Hillary came through...)


A couple of shovels to keep the bike upright and a come-along to slowly pull the bike out of the bog...I pulled the 75 lbs. battery (black thing in the background) out before starting the rescue...put it back in and the bike ran...it was a few miles of walking from the truck and trailer back to retrieve the ATV...The previous day, I was stuck to the crotch next to the bike...Oh, and it was something like 4 1/2 miles (mud-packed and heavy) to where my wife could pick me up...she was so concerned that she stopped a Kern County Deputy to let him know she might need his help...


Some describe the Decathlon Snowshoes as "running shoes," but I don't see how something so "cumbersome and heavy" could work while running on snow...

A pair of wide, long, BC skis might work better, but they'd have to be rock skis with the conditions as they existed because they'd get destroyed by the exposed and unexposed rock...

Over the years, I seen a few avalanches off of Candlelight and the peaks around Arc Pass...

And I just remember that there was a pretty large rockfall off of Thor on Monday...

CV19 had me ballooning up to 180+...
I started using Augmented Reality Cycling programs to lose weight...
It wasn't working, so I started watching lots of videos on Nutrition...
Controversial Topic...but I got off of sugar and highly processed food...started limiting fast food to about 1-2 per month...
Dropped into the 130's when my wife left to visit her family for a month...
(In the low 140's now.)

Drs Attia and Milan San Remo (not his real name...I can't remember...) focus on Zone 2 (reminds me of LSD from the old days...)

Morpheus was recommended by Attia...it keeps me from going overboard on the training...

Can't say I'm anywhere near as fast as I used to be and the soreness after these "big" climbs is a real pain to deal with...but what's the alternative...

BTW, can I say I'm sponsored by paul...maybe with one, I can get some more.....:-)