Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Whitney on October 23/24......

Due to work/family considerations I have had to plan my 1st Mt. Whitney trip for Oct. 23/24, overnighting at Trail Camp on the 23rd.
I know that things such as weather, snow pack, hungry Marmot tummies, etc,etc, can vary widely year to year, month to month, day to day, but overall, what can one expect during late October? From all the pictures I've seen lately, it looks like there is very little snow at this point.
I live in Phoenix and we are in the middle of a horrible drought. What kind of precipitation has the Whitney area experienced recently? Are long range forecasts calling for a wet or dry fall??

Any info/advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
AZHusker

I did a day hike to the top last Oct. 26, and have been up in mid to late Oct. several times in the past 5 years and the weather has always been fine. You should watch the following site for temperatures at about 10,000 feet elevation; http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryLonger?459 near Whitney. This will give you an idea what it's like within 10 days of your trip. Good luck!

Plan on below freezing temperature from the Portal to the summit. If there is snow on the mountain there won't be much melt up at the higher elevations, so if it is there you might need crampons for travel. Your chance of seeing snow is about 3 in 10.

No one can forcast this far in advance.

FYI, in the three times I've been up Whitney in October in the past 5 years I've never experienced below freezing temps. True, you can't forecast, but you can have a good idea of temps (and if you back off the URL I posted earlier, you can get precipitation) before you go. The problem with October is more the (short) length of daylight.

I summitted early Oct last year. Beautiful weather up and back. HOWEVER, the two days prior to my trip saw snow and low temps and very few people summitting. People who were on the way down while I was headed up were really *****in' about the lousy weather. Snow was fairly deep on and above the switchbacks. The cable section was icy although I choose not to use crampons.