Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Forester Pass

This is a couple days out of date, but conditions going over Forester Pass were the hot topic among people hiking the John Muir Trail when I did a solo trip from Onion Valley to Whitney this past week. If I talked to 50 people, 45 said the pass is a real mess -- that you have a choice of postholing across a lot of snow or clambering over boulders, or probably both, near the top of the pass; three said it wasn't as bad as they'd expected and two said what I usually tell people about the Whitney Main Trail 97 Switchbacks when there's serious snow involved: that you've got to judge it for yourself based on your own abilities and comfort level. (One big difference is, you do have the option of turning back on the switchers, and you really don't on a multiday hike.) Most also said it was better early in the morning, when the snow is still relatively firm. These people were all northbound, remember, while I was headed south.

I hit the pass late in the day on Wednesday, July 15, and I have to agree with the "real mess" group with one further caution: Route-finding is a major consideration. There's a high lake to the north of the pass, and once you get to a ridge above it, the trail disappears under the snow cover. I ended up picking out the lowest point on the horizon -- the actual pass is almost a gunsight notch -- and heading for it. Mostly I headed for it over boulders, frequently with some old-fashioned, two-hands-down Class 3 scrambling, with occasional forays across the snow, including two boot-trapping postholes (one per foot).

Once I reached the pass and its "Welcome to Sequoia National Park" sign at 13,200 feet, I could look back and see maybe a couple hundred yards of actual JMT to the north; but where it disappeared into the snow didn't look much more appealing than what I'd bushwhacked across. And the southside switchbacks were a piece of cake.

Anyway, that's the way it was as of Wednesday, July 19. Crampons or an ice ax would be a total waste; any slip (and there were slips, for sure) would end up with a worst-case sinking into the scalloped snow before you could even think about self-arrest. And one final caveat: This was a day or two before the afternoon showers/thunderstorms returned to the Whitney Zone. But I can't imagine that any rain would do anything but make the postholing worse by further eroding an already undercut snow base.

So if you're headed that way anytime soon, northbound or southbound, good luck, and judge for yourself.

I'll try to post a little more of a trip report over the next day or two while waiting for my amazing collection of blisters to heal. Meantime, happy trails, y'all.

Phil

I second that...We were on the same route Onion Valley to Portal. I was south bound with my daughter 11 years old. It took 2 hours from the first snow to the pass. We hit the top at noon. The first hour was not too bad but the last was mush. She summited Whitney Friday morning. She was the ( The girl with the Bear ) First Whitney Hostel Bear to summit ??? anyone know.

My brother dayhiked Foresteer out of Bubbs Saturday and he said it wasn't too bad. A couple of small detours. He reports there was actually a crew up there SHOVELING snow off the trail in preparation of a pack train coming through. That's the first time I have ever heard of anything like that! I'm actually glad I missed this hike - he had rain, lightening and he claims the bugs were the worst ever - and the bugs are always bad out of Bubbs. ........................................................DUG

just got back from my summer adventure.

i came over forester from the south on june 26th. the snow up it was getting to the point of postholing. a 1/2 mile of snow before the switchbacks, then once you where at the top it was 2 miles of pure snow, then it got patchy all the way until bubbs canyon starts. postholing got bad after 3 pm....but it was passable. a lot of snow is better and safer than a little, at least it seemed like it for me.

mather pass was the hardest this year. july 2nd, no trail on the south side, a boat load of snow on the north. should be clear by now tho