This is a concise trip report of our summit experience on September 15th and 16th, 2003. We left the portal around 2pm on the 15th, and made it to Trail Camp around 7pm using a leisurely pace. The trail is in great condition. We had no trouble following it any point. Interestingly, we saw a helicopter fly into the trail area about an hour before we got to Trail Camp. About a half mile below Trail Camp, we passed the helicopter sitting in a very small landing spot. A short time later, we saw 3 men coming down the trail carrying a woman with a broken ankle. Man, we didn’t like the looks of that scene!
On this board I’ve seen Trail Camp described various ways, from ugly to beautiful. I think it is beautiful! Along with the stark landscape, the sense of community with the other campers is neat. I still feel this way although the wind howled 20-30mph in short intervals all night! It was even too cold for the marmots to come out. I was up at 4am looking around and didn’t see one marmot anywhere.
On the 16th, we departed for the summit around 8am. The switchbacks to Trail Crest were not bad at all. (There were several frozen water sources in this area during the hike up, but by early afternoon on our trip back down they were trickling abundantly.) I started to slow down considerably just after Trail Crest, but managed to summit around 1pm. Unlike me, my friend was not affected by the altitude and beat me to the summit by several minutes. After I got to spend a few minutes at the top (it was cold and very windy!), we left the summit around 1:10pm and made it back down to Trail Camp around 3:15pm. We packed up our remaining equipment, and departed for the portal around 4:15pm. We finished at 7:30pm just as darkness fell on the trail.
Tidbits:
1)We ate at the Mount Whitney Café and the High Sierra Café during our time in Lone Pine. The food was okay at both, although the service was friendlier at the High Sierra Café.
2)Don’t underestimate the trail from the Portal to Trail Camp. It was tougher than we thought it would be.
3)We were afraid the bears would tear up our cars, so we used Dave (760-876-8232) in Lone Pine to drive us instead. GREAT GUY, and the price reasonable: $45 round trip for the two of us. We liked him so much we tipped him an extra $10.
4)Power Bars and other energy bars get hard in the cold weather. I found them tough to eat in an environment where your appetite is already challenged. Gatorade and lots of water worked better for me.
5)Lastly, and probably most important….this board is an invaluable source of info for your questions. Use the SEARCH function and you’ll be amazed at what you’ll find. Type in your questions and watch the responses you’ll get. Thanks to Doug and all the people who make this board what it is.
Have a great trip!
