Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board TRIP REPORT--3 AUG

Well, after a year of planning, I have realized my most ambitious dream of climbing the Mount Whitney. Here, then, are my observations:

Whitney Portal: A nice place and the folks at the store are friendly and helpful (although they go to bed too early). Parking is adequate. The air seemed thinner though than it did when I left Pico Rivera on Saturday.

The Route: I did the Whitney Direct route, leaving at about 3:00 AM. The trail to Lone Pine Lake is very simple and can be easily jogged except go slow over the logs to avoid falling in the river. The trail to Outpost can also be jogged. Beyong Outpost you should mix jogging with fast hiking because there are some large rocky steps. I should mention that I stopped at Outpost to use restroom--very nice! At Mirror Lake I stopped to take bath, as I got up too early in thr morning to do this. I highly recommend this to anyone because it serves as a wake-up rejuvinator. The trail was pretty boring from here to Trail Camp, where again I used the restrooms. I like this country a lot for this reason. I had lunch at Trail Camp (2:00PM) and headed up the difficult switchbacks. Most of the snow is gone at the cables section, but many people were still taking the time to put on crampons for extra safety--I did not. At Trail Crest was most beautiful sight I have ever seen--a pretty blonde girl with a hurt/possibly broken ankle. I consoled her for a while then left her there sitting on a rock, hoping she would still be there on my return. I continued to jog along until I reach scary windows section and finally summit at 7:00PM. I take a couple sample rocks and consider a marmot pelt for souvenir. BTW-There is no water hidden in Summit Hut as was earlier alluded to. I "borrowed" some from a hiker who had gone to take someone's picture. I decided to take nap in hut and was interrupted by Jehovah's Witnesses knocking on hut door. They were kind enough to give me some more water for my return trip. I descended at about 8:00PM. Pretty girl sitting on rock at Trail Crest was gone, but her pack was still there so I got more water and a snack from it. I finally arrived back at Portal at 11:00PM--just in time to get cheeseburger after waking proprieters. I am still very tired and sore today from my adventure. I want to thank everyone who helped me realize my dream of climbing the Mount Whitney. In my country I am now celebrity for having done this thing.

What a load of cow s**t.

No mention of whether you loaded your pack with rocks for the descent??? I'm guessing you must have, to be well-balanced enough to make a 3-hour return to trail head after a 16-hour ascent.

This is priceless. Danke for your entertainment, mr. Andreas.

This is a classic Bravo !!! Well done!!

Ausgezeichnet, Herr Hinterstoisser, sehr gut geschrieben!

As a parody this is quite good. I don't think saying it's a load of cow dung is accurate, since this is obviously meant as satire. I liked the part about the Jehovah's Witnesses.

I started humming a Paul McCartney tune after the Jehova's comment...

Someone's knockin at the door...someone's ringin the bell...

...do me a favor..DON'T open the door.. an let em in...
Where do you get the time to just sit and type a load of...
Very interesting though, however, I'm curious as to why waste your time in such a manner?

Probably just a cube dweller with nothin' better to do.......

huhum.. because he/she has no life?
Should have been a stand-up comedian instead. At least it has a remote possibility of making $$

Greg,it amazes me how anxiuos people are to criticize others and then to turn around and do exactly what they've been crtical of others about. You've classified Andreas's post as a waste of time yet you found the time to "waste" by reading it AND replying to it. LIGHTEN UP PEOPLE.

One highlight, for me, was Andreas taking water and a snack from the pretty girl's pack. She had presumably limped (on her broken ankle) behind a rock somewhere for a bit of privacy, only to come back and find her food stash dangerously reduced.

Next year, Andreas can return to the scene of his heroic hike and find her skeleton. Sort of like finding George Mallory's body on Everest after 75 years. Hey, wasn't Andreas part of that trip too?

This is simply one of the best trip reports I've read. I wish you could have joined us on our trip couple of weeks ago as we would have enjoyed your compnionship and been able to take advantage of your amazing survival skills. I would have also been able to add a few more lessons learned to my trip report including:

Lesson 15: There is not need to carry extra water to the summit if you can find other unsuspecting hikers to do it for you.

Lesson 16: Marmot pelts can keep you warm, but beware the pelts with fleas as they can carry the plague.

Lesson 17: It's best to not aid injured hikers so that you can rummage through their packs after they die.

Lesson 18: Jehovah's Witnesses are a very persistant group.

Andreas-
Thanks for the laughs and you are always welcome around our campfire, but we'll be watching you like a hawk.

There is nothing more refreshing then a good sense of humor. Thank you...I crack up every time I read a new post on this thread.

Well, guess what Mark? I do find that I wasted my time reading it, but probably because I didn't, at first realize it was a crock of bull....; you understand? I thought I was starting to read something of "significance"!
Also, I don't think I became anxious (maybe that's your department), so why don't YOU lighten up a piece! I was merely hoping that I was reading an actual trip report. I mean what's the use of posting something on this board unless it can be of some use to those of us who are serious about the mountain. I'll watch Seinfeld or Cheers for some relaxed vegetative humor when in need.
Relax Man! Like, drop a chill pill!

Well, I did crack up every time I read a post here...but...

Sorry Greg didn't enjoy the humor in this post. I agree with Current7 and laugh everytime I read it. Much better than the potty humor and name calling that others call 'humor'. I love how hinterstoisser tied his story in with Shirleye's "Angel" post. That one floored me.

Kind regards,

Mark A. Patton

Mark A. Patton - you were floored by the way Hinterhoisser tied in Shirleye's "Angel" post. Get up off the floor - his post was August 4th - her post was August 5th. Just lost all respect for you too.

Hugh...

I believe Mark was talking about Andreas post on Shirleye's thread. (On August 5th.)

I think I just lost respect for you.



Mark, I was laughing at that one too.

That was a waste of reading time! Doug, please remove this post.
Thanks