this is a very long trip report. sorry, but i can be verbose.
my friend brian called me several weeks ago to let me know his friend wes had scored a permit to climb whitney at the end of may. since brian is about to leave california for browner pastures ;-) i thought it would be a great time to hang with him doing something we both love - spending time in the mountains.
brian picked me up friday morning, we loaded up gear, and met up with our other 2 travelers, wes and randy, in vacaville. all loaded, we drove the long and winding road over tahoe to 395. the drive south on 395 was even more beautiful than usual, with the freshly white peaks shining in a perfectly blue sky. lunch at the whoa nellie deli in lee vining, then on to lone pine where we picked up some gear and then to the permit office. reading up on whitney, brian and i decided we would like to try the mountaineer's route since it is an aesthetic, direct line and more challenging than a simple trail walk, yet not too intense. it was my understanding that an overnight permit for the "whitney zone" would allow us to climb whitney by whichever route we chose, but no. alas, the powers that be have restricted the rules even further, and you get permited even for where you are allowed to place your tent. sheesh. we got a ton of misinformation from the rangers at the permit office, too. according to them, no one had summited in 10 days, there was 6 feet of snow on the trail above lone pine lake, and the snow up high was magical stuff that didnt consolidate but stayed powdery without blowing off the ridge - we were guaranteed chest-deep wallowing and snow shoes wouldnt help. what? based on the sizable paunches of the rangers, i should have stuck with my intuition and info from this board, and NOT carried snowshoes or ropes or snow anchors. instead we were prepared for anything and brought everything.
a little disheartened, we went up to the portal, set up our tents and sorted backpacks & gear. we went back into town for dinner at the mt. whitney restaurant (i think). pretty gross, really. the place was decorated exclusively with john wayne photos, the spaghetti tasted EXACTLY like the stuff served at my college dorm, and everything on the menu had beef in it. we all ordered pasta except for randy who got the meatloaf, which was ginormous. he ate the whole thing, somehow.
our campsite at the portal was right by the river and the rushing water made for sound sleeping. it didnt get very cold at all that night, and when the alarm went off at 2:30 saturday morning, we could get ready without gloves on. it took us until 4 to start hiking, and my pack weighed in at 52 pounds, which is a lot for this skinny boy. after an hour or so, i was hurting, and brian graciously relieved me of the tent. that man can hike! a cliff bar and expanding vistas brought me my second wind, and i was back in good spirits. we encountered snow patches in most shady spots above lone pine lake, but nothing we couldnt easily walk across with our trekking poles. by 9am, we were at trail camp under bluebird skies and not a lick of wind. we found a couple camp sites, improved the wind barriers, set up and settled down to soak it in and rest some. it really is so beautiful up there...
after a couple hours, we assessed our options. we could get it together and head for the summit today, then have a leisurely morning sunday, or we could rest more today, maybe mess around on the nearest snowfield then wake up early sunday for an attempt and a very long day before getting home. it was only 12 noon and with 8 more hours of daylight and perfect weather, we decided to go for it.
wes and randy had never been above 12,000 before, so they were psyched, but moving slowly. brian and i encouraged them through the fatigue and the thin air, and by 3pm we made it to trail crest. it felt so much better to be able to climb straight up the snow instead of dealing with all those switchbacks! i like immediate results, and it's much faster. at midday in the full sun with no wind, we got really HOT climbing the gully to the crest.
we found a sheltered nook to rest in just below the crest, ate and drank some, took photos, then started down the muir trail towards whitney. we were expecting deep, sugary snow, but instead found a nice, sticky, well-packed trail. thanks to all those who packed it in before us, and no thanks at all to the loafers in the permit office! wes and randy were moving slow up there - they had gone further than we all thought they could, but they were wearing down. at 5pm, we discussed whether to turn back - putting us back at trail crest before the sun went too far down and the chute iced up, or whether to continue. i was ready to head back - i was tired and didn't want to deal with sketchier conditions in the chute, especially with two who had never glissaded or used crampons. but brian cheered me on, and we decided to leave wes and randy in a comfy spot, while brian and i picked up the pace.
we kept in radio contact, checking in every 30 minutes. we moved fast, amazed by how much time we were making up. soon we came across a group of three that had come up the mountaineer's route and were heading back on the main trail. they had gotten a little more than bargained for, and seemed pretty worn. we offered to hook them up with food and water at our camp then continued up towards the windows and keeler. at the final notch, we noticed the trail diverged into a long switchback or a steep line straight up to the top. we decided we would drop our packs, take a big gulp of water, and bring only our cameras and a bar to the top. straight up we climbed, too winded to speak to each other. we summited around 6:15, took photos, admired the view, then ate a little in the hut.
hiking downhill is so much easier at altitude than going up! we passed the 3 on their long tour and then caught up with our friends, who had napped in the sunshine and recovered some. we got back to trail crest at around 8pm. conditions in the chute involved a couple inches of ice on top of sugary snow, so we donned crampons, axes and helmets and taught wes and randy how to down climb, plunge step, side step, and glisade. once the angle backed off, we could manage an icy slide, breaking through the crust. we got back to camp just as the last light faded.
in the following hour, we finally saw the headlamps of the 3 we had passed earlier, and i went out to meet them with a hot cup of mint tea. back at our camp, we were happy to give up one of our yucky dehydrated meals, while other nice folks replenished their water supply. after our long day, i was very glad i was already at my destination and didnt have another 6 miles of hiking in the dark ahead of me! way to go ya'all!
sunday was glorious. i ate some oatmeal, humbled by the beauty of all that granite. we hiked out at around 9ish, got to the car by 12:30 or so. a late lunch in bishop at the amigos mexican restaurant is HIGHLY recommended. this place is the real deal. then the long and expensive drive back to the bay area. definitely a fantastic weekend!
all in all, i'd say conditions are IDEAL for summiting mount whitney right now, as long as you are comfortable on steep snow. bring crampons and ice axes and know how to use them. we had originally wanted to climb the mountaineer's route, but we definitely did some "mountaineering" on the main trail and may not have been able to summit had we gone the other way.
some photos here:
http://web.mac.com/rbuchwald/iWeb/rbuchwald/whitney2008.htmlcheers!!!
