Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Approaching Whitney Portal from the west

I'm planning on doing an early summer trip from Giant Forest to Yosemite Valley via the HST and the JMT. I'd like to resupply at the WPS, but I am concerned about getting down from Trail Crest.

I know the chute would be a no-no because I wouldn't have come up it.

Does it look like the main trail will be completely covered in late June with the light snow this year?

I'll have an ax and I plan on hitting Trail Crest from Guitar Lake at about noon when the snow has the best odds of not having too much ice.

I need to book tickets soon. Unless you guys get hammered really lately, it looks like the snow is way way lower than last year. I'm thinking of leaving Giant Forest around the 15 of June and hitting Guitar Lake around the 20th of June.

If we don't get anymore snow and the warm weather persists then it's possible the trail could be completely clear by then. The amount of snow for this time of year is definitely low. It is still March however and although it seems unlikely at the moment it's always possible a big storm or two could blow through and change things. I think dmatts forecast indicated possible precip next week so we'll have to see what happens.

You might actually have more trouble elsewhere on the JMT on some of the high passes.

-Rick

Thanks for the input.
Right now, it's a trade off of booking tickets early vs. leaving enough time for more snow to dump.
It looks like it's stabilizing, but you never know with el nino.

If you are starting mid to late June, you will have stream crossing issues in addition to snow issues. The Wallace Creek crossing just before Junction Meadow and the Wright Creek crossing above Junction Meadow and below the JMT-HST junction could be very difficult and dangerous at that time of year.

Ditto to Tim's suggestion that high water may be a bigger problem than snow. In August of 96 my group was unable to cross the Kern after a start from Cresant Meadow. It was so high that we were not even sure that the bridge was still there. After an hour of wading up to waist high we retreated up Rattlesnake Creek to Mineral King.

TwoFortyJeff, I'm planning a trip from the Giant Forest (starting at the General Sherman Tree) to Yosemite Valley too, except that I'm starting in August not earlier like you are planning to do. I have been planning to do this trip for the past several years, but one injury or another has prevented me from completing this trip in the past. Here are some inspiring and fitting words from a legend of the High Sierra:

"Giant Forest is the starting point of the High Sierra Trail to Mt. Whitney, a well built trail about 48 miles long, passing through a high region of great beauty and scenic grandeur to meet the Muir Trail at the headwaters of the Kern River. It seems fitting that the trail should be made a part of the official Muir Route, for it would add both to its length and to its attraction. John Muir loved the great trees as much as he loved the high mountains. The John Muir Trail would then become a High Sierra Route from Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park to Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park via Mt. Whitney, having a total length of about 260 miles, and would traverse most of the finest and grandest regions of the High Sierra. I wish to suggest and urge the adoption of this as the official route of the John Muir Trail."

Walter A. Starr, Jr., Starr's Guide to the John Muir Trail and the High Sierra Region, 1934.

Nice inspiratinal quote!

Are there any headwaters of the Tuolumne or Merced to deal with if hiking from Tuolumne Meadows to Mammoth Lakes? On my hikes to Half Dome and Waterwheel Falls both rivers were flowing hard and fast -- there was this booming sound as the water crashed over the boulders.
Just into my hike up Whitney last year I passed a couple heading down to the portal. I asked them if I was on the right trail, not expecting to see anyone coming from the opposite direction that early in the morning. It turned out that the husband had fallen into one of the streams and was going back to his car to get a change of clothing.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003628388_hikers21m.html

Assuming you take the JMT, you will be going over (at Donohue Pass) the divide that separates the Tuolumne headwaters in Yosemite National Park from the headwaters of Rush Creek and of the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin in the Ansel Adams Wilderness. I don't remember any difficult stream crossings from TM to Reds Meadow. In July 2003, I had to take off my shoes to cross the outlet of the lake at 10,300 feet below and north of Donohue Pass, but the crossing itself was quite safe. If you want to avoid bad stream conditions, go in or after August (maybe July for this year if dry conditions persist). The article linked to your posting was very sad -- it is so easy to underestimate stream conditions. I think drowning was the #1 cause of deaths in SEKI for the past 2 years, perhaps due to the heavy snowpack in 2005 and 2006.