Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board mountaineers route

three of us are going to climb the mountaineers monday the 17th. we would like to climb it in a day but are concerned with the start time. we would like to start at 2-3am but we're concerned about route finding and the ledges in the dark. if we leave at 4-5am, i'm concerned about getting to the top before afternoon storms. we would like to tag along with another group. if anyone is going to be on the route monday and doesn't mind company, let me know.

steve b

i fogot to mention, we have not climbed that route before.

I would plan on leaving early, just to ensure you have enough time to finish. Route finding is not that tough on MR. Study the route as best you can (youtube helpful) . If you get to Portal early the day before, talk with Doug or anyone available. That conversation might ease your mind and give you more confidence in your hike. Have fun and enojoy it.

we're probably going to start around 4am. we started at 11pm last month on shasta, but route finding is easier on snow. we think we have a good understanding of the route, but you never really know until you try. looks like the weather is going to be pretty good.

thank you for your advice,
steve b

we started at 5:30am, took our time and arived at the summit at almost 3:00pm. we were at the summit until 4:00pm and hiked out the main trail. we were at the car by 10:00pm. not fast, but we took our time and stopped for alot of pictures. i will post a trip report later, but had a few thoughts....
we saw zero wag bags,met alot of great people and had the best pancakes ever. we were bummed that we missed doug as he was on the mountain tuesday morning.

A great excuse to go back...