My goal was to hike up the MR with my brother in law as far as possible with a turnaround time of 12pm. Encountered heavy snow at the 7000ft level on the way up to the trailhead at 5am. I had read numerous weather reports forecasting anywhere from 6"-2' so I parked here to avoid having the car possibly stuck upon return. Reached the trailhead a little before 6am and the snow was still falling heavily. Route finding was difficult as we entered the E-Ledge area, but we were able to find our way. Snow drifts in this area were sometimes chest deep near the base of the ledges. Went back and forth across the stream and found the start of the ledges. Ledges were a little hairy with snow drift and underlying ice. Trail markers were a big help in this situation. The sun came out at one point and ice began to shed off of the cliffs above. After clearing the ledges it was slow going with snow depth at mid thigh to waist with the trail completely obscured. I opted for snowshoes, but that didn't ease the effort much. Crested at LBSL about 12:30pm. Water flow was good. It began to stop snowing. We had passed our turnaround time so we began descending. On the way down I noticed the fresh snow had already begun consolidating and refreezing after the 20 min of sun. Got off the ledges as a couple of people were making their way to the south side of the stream apparently geared up for an overnighter (I hope they appreciated our effort as leading through the fresh snow was hard work).Got back to the car at 5:30pm.
Pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/maxwellanelson/MtWhitney
