Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Climb on Wednesday

I am going to drive to Lone Park tomorrow and climb on Wednesday (One Day). Does anyone know if this is possible w/o picking up a pass and I will be only using basic gear (water, food, boots, flashlight, warm clothes) I am an experienced hiker and in great shape.

1) Can I do it passless (as even if I had one I would not be able to get it b4 noon tom)

2) Is it possible w/o crampons, ect.? this time of year.

Thanks

1) Not legally

2) You can try it without crampons and ice ax, but be prepared to turn back around 12,500'.

If you have only basic gear, and are only an experienced hiker and it doesn't matter what shape you are in, I suggest you wait at least a month. Mt. Whitney this time of year is still solid winter mountaineering.

As Bob indicated, now is not the best time to go, given your constraints. Keep an eye on this board for trip reports, and when the conditions get better, exercise Step 6 of the Wilderness Permit Options.

Thanks for the reply. I will be getting there around 6pm. Is there a place in town to pick up crampons?

Since you are double-posting, I'll repeat what I wrote in the other thread:

Now that you have posted about being permitless, the ranger may be watching for you. Inyo NF people read this board too, you know.

But why don't you give the Visitor Center a call tomorrow, and ask if they would be kind enough to leave a permit in the overnight pickup box for you. They do that all the time for late-night arrivers who have reservations. ...in fact, if you spend the $15 on the reservation (which may be too late, already, but there ARE PLENTY available), I am sure they would accommodate you with a night-box pickup.

Looking at "step 5" in Versatile Fred's Permit Reservation Decision Tree, if you had called on Monday, $15 would have reserved a permit for Wednesday, which they could have put in the night pickup box on Tuesday. But call and ask anyway. Let us know what you find out.

Sorry Steve, not much of a computer guy, but I will call tomorrow and figure it out. Will let you know.

I know, I may be bringing up notions that have been brought up a million times before, but this statement scares me a bit. As BobR noted, and he knows a bit about Whitney, this is a solid winter mountaineering trip right now. Have you ever used crampons? Ice axe? Is self-arrest in all 4 major postitions engrained in your head and second nature? This is NOT the place to learn these skills. It is shaping up to be a dangerous season right now. Plenty of SAR activity going on in California right now and we're still early in the season.

If you're ready, it's a beautiful time to be on the mountain, and I wish you a wonderful trip.