Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board What happened to the marmots

I finally made it to Trail Camp last evening. (The summit will have to wait till next summer, and hopefully I'll lose at least 30 pounds by the time I make the second attempt ... but that's beside the point.)

Everyone seems to imply that there should be marmots all over the place. I haven't seen any? There were chipmunks, and mice, and some of them were brave enough to investigate the cookpot standing 2 feet in front of the tent. But no marmots.

What gives? Did all of them get eaten by bears? Or by humans? Or maybe they are in hibernation by late September?

On a separate, unrelated note, why does everyone seem to take their stuff (tent & such) with them for the final stretch from Trail Camp to the summit? Does it really look so dangerous down there that you're afraid to leave your stuff behind lest it gets stolen by poachers?

I saw no marmots Guitar Lake tarns on 8/18, or Trail Camp on 8/19

Global Warming has move their habitat higher. They now live at 16,000 feet.



This phenomenon of carting tent, et al, up, sounds like a new trend I've not seen in the past. What a waste of effort.

I've seen just as many marmots this year in the Sierra and White Mtns as I ever have.

What I did notice on the increase is the number of pikas, at least on the Whitney trail when I last did it on Sept 15th. I saw 8-10 of them between Bighorn Meadow to just below Consultation Lake. Many more than I've seen in the last 10 years combined. On the way down, near Bighorn Meadow, I paused for a moment looking at the bog, and one ran right over my foot - his mouth full of vegetation. Looked like he/she was preparing for winter.

I saw quite a few in the Cottonwood Lakes Basin last month.

LOL Laura !!

They hibernate pretty early - in late August they are all fat and rolypoly already. At this time of year I rarely see them either.

I've noticed more pikas this year too - not necessarily seeing them but I've heard them and run into their 'pika piles' of greenery on random rocky slopes too (like this one on Royce peak)