Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Regarding Snow, how far can we go?

My brother and I have a permit for hiking the trail this weekend. 15 Years ago we hiked to the summit in late summer (great weather, great fun). I have no snow/ice gear and am just curious how much trail we can walk before it becomes an issue. Clearly, I am not expecting to go all the way but would appreciate any comments on how far a dry weather hiker might go under the current conditions.

We came down on Sunday may 26th and there was snow clear down to the parking lot. I imagine this will clear fairly quickly at the lower elevations, but I suspect you still will run into snow and I would plan accordingly. I would think if the temps drop below freezing that it would be best to have an ice ax and crampons above 11,000 ft. unless someone else can confirm that the trail is clear.

You should be able to make it up to Mirror Lake without too much problem, although certain sections may be quite slick with the freezing/thawing cycles. We saw a kid wearing Vans (not waterproof) walking up the trail in the snow above Outpost Camp on Monday, but I think he turned around at Mirror Lake. He probably had a pretty miserable hike back down.