Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mt. Whitney tripp report 8/7 and Mt. Muir?

I was able to join a group that summited Mt. Whitney on 8/7/2004. There was a total of 6 of us. We completed the 21.4 mile round trip in 15 hours from 1:30 AM to 4:30 PM. We actually started with a huge and delicious meal at the 24/7 restaurant in Lone Pine at midnight. During the hike, we took additional breaks due to the two persons with altitude sickness which probably added about 3 hours to our time. This group was a great bunch of people, but I prefer a slower pace and more picture taking. The leader of the group runs competitive 100 mile ultra-marathons. The high temperature for the day was about 60 degrees Fahrenheit near the end of the day – the low temp about 29 degrees on the switchbacks before sunrise. We summited around 10:30 AM. Everyone was athletic and in good shape. I did well, and did not experience altitude sickness, though the speed of my pace was about halved by the lack of oxygen for the last 2 miles before the summit.

Question: I know, on the way up, that the start of the trail/climb to Mt. Muir is past the intersection with the JMT - but I looked and searched, and could not find it - I'm going again on 9/21, and I really want to summit Mt. Muir also - I don't have GPS, so exact coordinates won't help - how do I find the start to Mt. Muir.

Thanks, Tony

Congrats on your summit. Was the ultra marathoner the one with AMS? 15 hours for someone that fit seems slow. I'm using "slow" in relative terms here compared to being someone who runs in 100 mile races. Seems like 7-9 hours would be right for those types of fitness levels.

Muir is hard to find, I had to ask someone where it was. There doesn't appear to be a trail, it's all talus and rock. Because I'm basically a wimp who only does Class 1 hikes, I wouldn't do it. It's fairly far past the Muir Fork as I recall, at least a couple of switchbacks up.

Just completed 4th dayhike 8/8, and have thought the same about Mt. Muir each time. This time, on the way back down, I looked for it, and actually found it! It was marked with stacked rocks (cairn?), and a slightly used trail (more like a tack in the rocks). I did not attempt it this time, but I would recognize it easily again.

Cakie - thanks. The ultra marathoner was definitley not the one with AMS! We all really held him back; and when we were back down at the Portal, he had so much hyper-energy, I thought he might just run up and back again while we ate our burgers.

On Muir, is it before all of the Needles - or like, after the first one? or ... ?

Tony B

Bob R has pictures of the route up Mt. Muir at this web site:

http://members12.clubphoto.com/robert634908/943486

The Muir pictures are about 2/3 down the page. Some of the thumbnails are black, but the picture appears if you click on them. Good luck!

I'm not quite sure I bagged Muir or not. It was the last of the trifecta (Russell, Whitney, and Muir), and while on top of Whitney and down past the needles while on the WT I had a lock on Muir. Then as I got closer, I lost it. There was a guy who pointed out the peak and I went for it. The summit register looked like a military ammo box, and right by the summit lay a big slab of rock on its side. Was that Muir? I understand if this isn't enough info. Thanks.

-F

Ed,

Check out one of Snow Nymph's photo albums, beginning with picture 31 of 41, which is here:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/162939037/163024866ODLgpb

Picture 31 and the 5 that follow show, among other things, the view of Muir from the Main Trail, and also mentions the ammo box summit register. She could better tell you if you made it for sure, but from the description of the ammo box summit register on her site, it sounds like you probably did make it.

CaT

Thanks a whole lot, CaT. Those photos really helped. #31 looks really familiar, and the comment about the broken ammo box is accurate. If the box had been replaced or fixed, it was broken again, because I almost lost it too, as the thing came apart in my hands. But the picture that convinced me that I was on the right peak was #33. The spire in the background is very very familiar, and I think you can barely see the WT to the right of it. Thanks again.

-F

Just got back (yeah, did it again), and the ammo box is still broken.

If going towards Whitney, its 1500' past the JMT junction, after the big switchbacks that go north-south-north. The cairn is hard to miss.

I'll have more photos up later this week.

Tony, Here is what the Muir headwall looks like from the trail. It's a talus scramble of about 200 vertical feet to get to the base of the headwall. <img src = "http://home.mindspring.com/~spc3/muir6.jpg" width=720>

Thanks spc and snow - I don't think I'll miss it next time. Tony