Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Summit on 7/31?

Did anyone summit on Thursday, 7/31? I was wondering how people faired with the weather being so unstable. My son and I had planned to summit from Trail Camp, but decided against it after experiencing the odd weather on Wednesday. We had a brief bit of hail at 2:30 pm, then lightning, thunder, and rain pretty much nonstop all night. It was still raining when I woke up Thursday at 5:00 am. The rain stopped at around 5:30, but the clouds coming in looked extremely ominous. I didn't see us making the summit and back to camp before 2 or 3 pm, which would put us in a bad position as it appeared there was no way the weather would hold that long based on our previous experiences. We decided to end our trip a day early and hike out while the weather was still good. This was disappointing, but the situation just looked too unsettling. In fact, on each day of our trip, the weather got progressively worse earlier in the day. As it was, we still hit rain the entire way down from Lone Pine Lake to the Portal. So, I was just curious to hear about how the rest of the day went at the top. On a side note, we passed numerous day hikers between Trailside Meadows and Mirror Lake between 10:00 - 11:00 am that were going very slowly, looked totally unprepared for serious weather changes, but said they were going to the top. I can't imagine that they made it. If they did, then I guess I overreacted to the weather and should have just hung in there. Oh well, we'll try again next year!

My nephew had a permit for yesterday for a day hike. He had the same experience as you. He had it in his mind that a summit wouldn't be possible because of the *****y weather all week. He wanted to start out real early to give himself the best shot, but something came up and he couldn't leave Portal till 5:40. That brought him to Trail Camp around 10:30. He got as far as Trail Crest and turned back. Said the sky was so dark it looked almost like night and that it was hailing, raining and totally ominous looking. Sounds like you made the right call, Whitney. This off-shore Mexican hurricane thing is screwing up the weather all up and down the Sierra's.

My nephew hung around the campsite the rest of the day and said no one knew of anyone sumitting Thursday, everyone turned back or bailed.

Not sure what you mean by "offshore Mexican hurricane." There is no hurricane off of Mexico. The cause of the thunderstorms is monsoonal moisture.

Thanks for the info., Grand Canyon Hiker! I don't know where the weather came from: Mexico, or if it's monsoonal moisture per Shawn. All I know is that yesterday it looked really nasty no matter where it was from! Glad to hear I made the right choice.

Hi Brian (Whitney). You made a wise decision, I think. Rob and I had fun running into you guys on the trail and giving you a greeting. We made it up to the to top at 10:30. There were about a dozen people at the top when we arrived. We left quickly since it was a bit nippy up there. The views were not great but the clouds parted for a few glances around. Stopped to bag Muir on the way down and aborted that after we heard some serious thunder. We still had that recent memory of the electrical activity from the night before! Back at the switchbacks it was getting ugly and we tried to indicate to upward bound travelers that it was not pleasant up there and that they consider what they were getting in to. I know it is probably hard to take advice from two guys wearing running shorts and silk weight capilene shirts. As you observed, there were some folks who appeared to be unprepared. We were glad to get down off the switchbacks. Fortunately it wasn't terribly windy. We managed to make it down without putting on the Gortex but we were generating some pretty steady body heat. Besides it is a drag to run in a jacket....

To Whitney, I am sure we exchanged greetings at Trail Camp as we spent the night there Wednesday, July 30. See my first ever posting for my report. Best regards.