Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Winter Access Forum Heading up third or forth week in april

I will be heading up whitney via mountaineers route late april. My wife does want me to go alone but will wont mind if she knows someone else will be on the mountain at the same time. Anyone have any trips planned for that time?

There is a group of us from REI -HB planning to do the mountaineering route in mid April. I don't have an exact date yet but i will keep you informed.

dayhike or overnight

overnight....i like to enjoy my trips.

You can't enjoy doing it in a day?

Some of us who are lucky enough to stay acclimatized, and are in good enough shape, like doing it in a day so we don't have to sleep in a bag. We do miss out on that second sunrise though.

Tom, I'm sure you and Jim will have the MR on your to-do list this Spring. Let me know if you want more in the party.

I could surely enjoy in a day. But if you have the time why not spend more on the mt. I spend most of my life off the mtn. Sleeping in a bag isn't bad at all either. But, to each his own I guess. Spending a few days on whitney feels like a short time compare to the longer trips I have been on in China.

Last year I only spent 78 days on the mountain - which was down from 108 from the year before. I prefer day hikes - some of which I will start and/or finish in the dark. Dayhikes mean I do not have to feel like a moose carrying a heavy pack - a plus for us middle aged folks.

Ummm... I don't really know if that was meant as a good or a bad thing... I mean, no matter if I day hike or overnight, the pack's heavy. Period. Can't say that I've EVER had a bad time: some are harder than others, but never bad.

But really guys, come on. Seriously? Are you really being snarky over day hikes vs. overnights? Please. Be glad that we are so insanely fortunate to be able to do either if we so choose.

I just got back from the MR where I carried 56 pounds up to the valley in front of Whitney. I wish we had known ahead of time that we could have done it as a long day hike. I think we could have done it round trip in 12 hours. Fast and light is the way to go.

My self and another guy are also headed up the last week in April. We are going up the Whitney Trail, not the mountaineer route. We will be a few days.

I might be up April 10-13.

Now that I've turned 60, I've decided to climb all the California 14ers again. I'm planning Whitney, Muir, and Russell for late April to avoid the quota hassle. Looks like I'll have plenty of company at Iceberg Lake. Maybe we can all take turns breaking trail and kicking steps for each other.

I'm heading up the Whitney Trail towards the end of April, maybe start hiking about the 27th.

Should I plan on renting a bear canister this early in the season? Is that a requirement year-round or just in the warmer months? Thanks!

BTW - let me know if anyone wants to try and meet up. I'm planning on doing this on my own but wouldn't mind some company as this is my first trip to Whitney.

I'm heading to San Jose/San Francisco for work (I'm from VT) and am planning on driving down on the 22nd and soloing something (will decide once I see conditions) April 23-25th.

As for bear canisters, I don't believe they become a requirement until later in the season.

You don't need a bear canister until the Friday before Memorial Day. You never need one in the North Fork drainage (Mountaineer's Route). See this link

A group of 4 to 5 of us are headed up the MR on the 4th weekend of April, Friday through Monday. We'll be taking our time to take in the scenery and enjoy ourselves. We plan to summit Sunday morning if everything goes well. Hopefully we'll get to cross paths!

I am heading up this weekend (17 - 19). My group bailed on me so if anyone would be ok with me hiking with them on any of those days I would be more than happy to join.

email me at colin.delehanty@gmail.com

A few of us are doing the MR starting early Saturday and coming back late Sunday. Let me know anyone needs a partner.