Began the day hiking from Crabtree Meadows, past Timberline Lake and Guitar Lake once we hit the switchbacks leading up to Trail Crest the bad weather hit. It started with some drizzle and then deteriorated into full on pea sized hail. The higher up the switchbacks we climbed the worse the weather got. Soon there was thunder and lightening less than a mile away and it was snowing. Once we got to Trail Crest we made the sad but necessary decision not to go to the peak. Our decision was mostly influenced by the fact that our hair was standing on end from the amount of static electricity in the air and none of us wanted to get hit by lightening. The bad weather, the thunder and the lightening continued until we were about half way down the 99 switchbacks and it all cleared up and got almost warm. We continued all the way down to Outpost Camp and spent a mosquito filled evening there and then the next day hiked out. It was a disappointing end to a great trip. I guess I'll have to go back again and try to climb Mt. Whitney when there's some good weather.
swampclimber - Jul 4, 2006 6:39 pm Date Climbed: May 1, 2006
Mountaineer's Route
30 days early or 30 days late. It was hot, postholing, freezing at night. Too windy and no gear for the East Face in winter so we opted for the MR. Challenging route. The descent from the summit to the Notch is pretty exciting.
madmallard - Jun 24, 2006 4:03 pm Date Climbed: Jun 20, 2006
seventh peak in four days
I waited a year to be able to sign this. in june of '05, whitney won the battle, but this year, I did. total travel time was fourteen hours and five minutes. crampons and ice axe were mandatory. this summit was my forth ultra-prominence and seventh peak in four days. what a way to spend a vacation!
tb00957 - Jun 21, 2006 11:55 pm Date Climbed: Oct 23, 1999
trail
my first sierra peak. Felt the altitude.
Steve Gardner - Jun 20, 2006 6:29 pm Date Climbed: Jun 19, 2006
Single Day Summit
Up and down the main trail in a little over 14 hours. Snow above trail camp required crampons but otherwise pretty straight forward hike. Great weather.
dervin - Jun 20, 2006 3:44 am Date Climbed: Sep 23, 2005
The Tourist Highway Route
Ran into a bit of snow, and ice that made the descent challenging for some of our group.
Very fun route. We were wanting to do East Face but small avalanches and poor conditions made us re-think our route options. Decided to do the "for sure" thing and did the Mountaineer's route. Was surprisingly fun and decent challenge. Wish I wouldn't have carried all that rock climbing gear in though. Will try East next time in summer.
jleduc - Jun 8, 2006 9:29 pm Date Climbed: Jun 4, 2006
Normal Route
Up and down in 2 days. Weather couldn't be better. Glissading was the best part.
lingana - Jun 2, 2006 7:47 pm Date Climbed: May 28, 2006
Fast-Paced Climb by MR
Lost a day in Vegas, because of Airline people goofing up my luggage (sending it to Chicago).
1st Day - Portal to UBSL
2nd Day - UBSL - Summit - UBSL\
3rd Day - UBSL - Portal - Vegas - Houston - College Station, TX
It was exhausting ! But we made it !
downbooties - Jun 2, 2006 5:58 pm Date Climbed: Oct 15, 2003
Mt. Whitney- Main trail hike
The day before, I was able to walk right into the Lone Pine Ranger Station and pick up a permit. Didn't know any better at the time, but now I feel lucky (maybe because it was a weekday after school started?) Spent a peaceful night at the Whitney Portal Trailhead campground (also just walked-in). Began hiking 0300 and witnessed a spectacular red sunrise when I got to the Trail camp. Summitted around 1030 and down by 1500. Thinking of the views from the junction with the JMT onward to the summit still make me shiver with happiness.
Bill562 - May 30, 2006 8:30 pm Date Climbed: May 27, 2006
Main trail
Climbed from Trail Camp, snow was rock hard, winds were strong and gusting. Had the summit to myself - now how many people can say that on Whitney? And yes, ice axe/crampons and knowledge how to use them came in handy (seems to be the burning question for the area) :-)
kommish - May 22, 2006 5:05 pm Date Climbed: Oct 15, 2003
Main trail
Left at 3am made the top and was down having a burger by 3pm. Fun day friend had a touch of altitude sickness though.
Walked up in Sept 2003 and have not been back since. The drive is too long.
esugi - May 4, 2006 8:07 pm Date Climbed: May 1, 2006
MR Route finally
After having been unsuccessful on the MR route 3 times before (first time we accidently went up the wrong fork, second time we turned around at the notch due to conditions, and third time weathered in at high camp), I finally summitted under beautiful conditions.
We camped at Clyde Meadows and left camp too early in the morning (1am). We did not want to summit in the complete darkness so we froze our asses off at iceberg for couple of hours while waiting for little daylight.
Overall a fantastic time. Got little nervous going through couple of avalanche debris field on the way up to LBSL. It looked like more stuff could be coming down with the weather being so warm.
eggheadsherpa - May 4, 2006 5:58 am Date Climbed: Apr 30, 2006
Route Climbed: Mountaineer's Route
Camped at Iceberg Lake and summited the next day. Had great weather throughout!
Quadaxial - Apr 5, 2006 3:50 am Date Climbed: Apr 2, 2006
via MR route 4/2/6
Hello,
My girlfriend, Niki, and I summited Mt. Whitney via the Mountaineer's Route after a winter of substantial storms. We started at 7am on Saturday, camped at Iceberg Lake, summited at 11am and returned to our car below the Portal at 6:15pm.
The weather was perfect! We really got lucky. I'll post a detailed trip report and pictures on my website.
Jason
Tracy - Mar 31, 2006 10:11 am Date Climbed: Sep 1, 1973
2x from Whitney Portal - 38 years apart
I was 11 years old, my older brother Barton was 12 and my younger brother Eric was 9. We all made it to the top with our Dad. Beautiful clear day and mobs of other hikers. Camped at Lone Pine Lake. Completed within 24 hours start to finish.
38 years later (8/10/2011) I hiked this one again via the Mountaineers Route with Doug (summitpost member "Holsti97"), his niece Megan, and Ed (summitpost member "Edsclimb"). Great group to hike with. We overnighted at Iceberg Lake. It was Doug's 48th state highpoint, Ed's 30th, and Megan's 4th. For me it was a first state highpoint repeat (of my first state highpoint); however, it was by a more adventurous route.
Matt Worster - Mar 29, 2006 3:51 pm Date Climbed: Jun 4, 2005
MR day trip
MR up, summer trail down, 17 hour day, snow continuous from Lower Boy Scout Lake. Awesome day.
Smith93 - Jul 6, 2006 4:59 pm Date Climbed: Jul 4, 2006
Bad to worse weatherBegan the day hiking from Crabtree Meadows, past Timberline Lake and Guitar Lake once we hit the switchbacks leading up to Trail Crest the bad weather hit. It started with some drizzle and then deteriorated into full on pea sized hail. The higher up the switchbacks we climbed the worse the weather got. Soon there was thunder and lightening less than a mile away and it was snowing. Once we got to Trail Crest we made the sad but necessary decision not to go to the peak. Our decision was mostly influenced by the fact that our hair was standing on end from the amount of static electricity in the air and none of us wanted to get hit by lightening. The bad weather, the thunder and the lightening continued until we were about half way down the 99 switchbacks and it all cleared up and got almost warm. We continued all the way down to Outpost Camp and spent a mosquito filled evening there and then the next day hiked out. It was a disappointing end to a great trip. I guess I'll have to go back again and try to climb Mt. Whitney when there's some good weather.
swampclimber - Jul 4, 2006 6:39 pm Date Climbed: May 1, 2006
Mountaineer's Route30 days early or 30 days late. It was hot, postholing, freezing at night. Too windy and no gear for the East Face in winter so we opted for the MR. Challenging route. The descent from the summit to the Notch is pretty exciting.
madmallard - Jun 24, 2006 4:03 pm Date Climbed: Jun 20, 2006
seventh peak in four daysI waited a year to be able to sign this. in june of '05, whitney won the battle, but this year, I did. total travel time was fourteen hours and five minutes. crampons and ice axe were mandatory. this summit was my forth ultra-prominence and seventh peak in four days. what a way to spend a vacation!
tb00957 - Jun 21, 2006 11:55 pm Date Climbed: Oct 23, 1999
trailmy first sierra peak. Felt the altitude.
Steve Gardner - Jun 20, 2006 6:29 pm Date Climbed: Jun 19, 2006
Single Day SummitUp and down the main trail in a little over 14 hours. Snow above trail camp required crampons but otherwise pretty straight forward hike. Great weather.
dervin - Jun 20, 2006 3:44 am Date Climbed: Sep 23, 2005
The Tourist Highway RouteRan into a bit of snow, and ice that made the descent challenging for some of our group.
rockrat2 - Jun 20, 2006 3:03 am
Mountaineer's routeVery fun route. We were wanting to do East Face but small avalanches and poor conditions made us re-think our route options. Decided to do the "for sure" thing and did the Mountaineer's route. Was surprisingly fun and decent challenge. Wish I wouldn't have carried all that rock climbing gear in though. Will try East next time in summer.
jleduc - Jun 8, 2006 9:29 pm Date Climbed: Jun 4, 2006
Normal RouteUp and down in 2 days. Weather couldn't be better. Glissading was the best part.
lingana - Jun 2, 2006 7:47 pm Date Climbed: May 28, 2006
Fast-Paced Climb by MRLost a day in Vegas, because of Airline people goofing up my luggage (sending it to Chicago).
1st Day - Portal to UBSL
2nd Day - UBSL - Summit - UBSL\
3rd Day - UBSL - Portal - Vegas - Houston - College Station, TX
It was exhausting ! But we made it !
downbooties - Jun 2, 2006 5:58 pm Date Climbed: Oct 15, 2003
Mt. Whitney- Main trail hikeThe day before, I was able to walk right into the Lone Pine Ranger Station and pick up a permit. Didn't know any better at the time, but now I feel lucky (maybe because it was a weekday after school started?) Spent a peaceful night at the Whitney Portal Trailhead campground (also just walked-in). Began hiking 0300 and witnessed a spectacular red sunrise when I got to the Trail camp. Summitted around 1030 and down by 1500. Thinking of the views from the junction with the JMT onward to the summit still make me shiver with happiness.
Bill562 - May 30, 2006 8:30 pm Date Climbed: May 27, 2006
Main trailClimbed from Trail Camp, snow was rock hard, winds were strong and gusting. Had the summit to myself - now how many people can say that on Whitney? And yes, ice axe/crampons and knowledge how to use them came in handy (seems to be the burning question for the area) :-)
kommish - May 22, 2006 5:05 pm Date Climbed: Oct 15, 2003
Main trailLeft at 3am made the top and was down having a burger by 3pm. Fun day friend had a touch of altitude sickness though.
ElCapitanKoolAid - May 22, 2006 3:55 am
Normal routeWent with my friends to hike to the summit. It was their first time on such a high altitude and I am sure they enjoyed it the lack of oxygen.
Wandering Sole Images - May 15, 2006 11:47 pm Date Climbed: Jul 4, 2005
Whitney TrailThere was still lots of snow on the ground, but the weather was perfect for my first 14er! An awesome day out!
lakenyon - May 14, 2006 10:24 pm
trailWalked up in Sept 2003 and have not been back since. The drive is too long.
esugi - May 4, 2006 8:07 pm Date Climbed: May 1, 2006
MR Route finallyAfter having been unsuccessful on the MR route 3 times before (first time we accidently went up the wrong fork, second time we turned around at the notch due to conditions, and third time weathered in at high camp), I finally summitted under beautiful conditions.
We camped at Clyde Meadows and left camp too early in the morning (1am). We did not want to summit in the complete darkness so we froze our asses off at iceberg for couple of hours while waiting for little daylight.
Overall a fantastic time. Got little nervous going through couple of avalanche debris field on the way up to LBSL. It looked like more stuff could be coming down with the weather being so warm.
eggheadsherpa - May 4, 2006 5:58 am Date Climbed: Apr 30, 2006
Route Climbed: Mountaineer's RouteCamped at Iceberg Lake and summited the next day. Had great weather throughout!
Quadaxial - Apr 5, 2006 3:50 am Date Climbed: Apr 2, 2006
via MR route 4/2/6Hello,
My girlfriend, Niki, and I summited Mt. Whitney via the Mountaineer's Route after a winter of substantial storms. We started at 7am on Saturday, camped at Iceberg Lake, summited at 11am and returned to our car below the Portal at 6:15pm.
The weather was perfect! We really got lucky. I'll post a detailed trip report and pictures on my website.
Jason
Tracy - Mar 31, 2006 10:11 am Date Climbed: Sep 1, 1973
2x from Whitney Portal - 38 years apartI was 11 years old, my older brother Barton was 12 and my younger brother Eric was 9. We all made it to the top with our Dad. Beautiful clear day and mobs of other hikers. Camped at Lone Pine Lake. Completed within 24 hours start to finish.
38 years later (8/10/2011) I hiked this one again via the Mountaineers Route with Doug (summitpost member "Holsti97"), his niece Megan, and Ed (summitpost member "Edsclimb"). Great group to hike with. We overnighted at Iceberg Lake. It was Doug's 48th state highpoint, Ed's 30th, and Megan's 4th. For me it was a first state highpoint repeat (of my first state highpoint); however, it was by a more adventurous route.
Matt Worster - Mar 29, 2006 3:51 pm Date Climbed: Jun 4, 2005
MR day tripMR up, summer trail down, 17 hour day, snow continuous from Lower Boy Scout Lake. Awesome day.