Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board thor peak trip report

yesterday sierragator and I had the pleasure of making our first summitt of Thor Peak. We went up the north fork to lower boy scout lake and went straight up the side from there. The crampons helped in the morning with this section of snow. Some of the snow was still frozen solid in the top shady spots. From the plateau we approaced and summited west to Thor Peak. Truly a majestic view of the entire Whitney area. We descended down the southwestern slope and down to mirror lake - then hiked down the Whitney trail. The conditionso were fantastic and the weather was great. We were surprised to see very few people in the area on Sunday. We have now decided that this peak is a must at least once a year and highly recommended for others.

My friend Dave and I did our first Thor summit yesterday (5/16) as well. We went up the north fork but instead chose the Smiley Face route. Tomcat, I wonder if it was you guys we saw up high on that slope from Lower Boyscout. Maybe about 9am.

There was more snow than we thought, and we hadn't brought crampons. But the snow was nice and easy to walk in with lots of tracks to follow. First time I've basically bypassed the slabs all the way to Barney Lake, and that was nice. Ate lunch on a cliff ledge at the right side of the smile and couldn't believe the view. We turned the "smile" into a deep, big smile, dipping a little lower because of snow, but after that it was a short shot to the summit. We descended via the east couloir Bob R has described.

This is my new favorite day hike. As Tomcat said, hardly any people, spectacular views, and no permit hassles from the north fork. Wonderful day.

We will be summiting Whitney from the JMT and hiking out to Portal. Would it be feasible to climb Thor on the way down? If so, where is the best place to turn off the main trail? We should be off Whitney by mid-morning on our way down.

On the way down the trail you can camp at outpost camp and climb the southwest slopes of Thor peak from Mirror lake.

You could also camp at Lone Pine lake and climb the southeast chute, which starts about 10000 feet and ends up in the top bowl on the east side. This seems a better option since it would not have as much loose scree as the southwest route from outpost camp/ Mirror lake area.

hey Mark - yeah that must have been us you saw above lower boy scout lake - we thought about the smiley route - but the the ice might be too slick - always the next time - worth doing multiple times -