Mt Whitney, CA

Contemplating the different sections of the route up Mt Whitney – the steep approach, route-finding through broken snow fields, the final gully – we never thought that the crux of the climb would simply be getting to the trailhead. The road from Lone Pine is a 13 mile stretch that gains almost 5000 feet of elevation mostly in the last 5 miles or so. Bouts of dropping into first gear and creeping along at around 5 mph and overheating made Emily (and almost myself) doubt the Goose’s ability to get us up there. We powered through it, however, and 80 minutes later we were at the trailhead, packing up our gear and camping in the parking lot for the next day’s hike.

Talking with some of the other climbers the next day, we heard some spotty reports of snow still being on the east face approaches (rock climbing routes we were initially considering), so we confirmed the Mountaineer’s Route, the gully approach avoiding roped climbing. As an added benefit, our packs would be about 50% lighter without all the climbing gear. Score.

We made pretty good time up the well-beaten trail, surprised how well maintained it was considering they only let 10 hikers enter the trail per day. Props to the Inyo Nat’l Forest. We climbed the 3000 or so feet in around 4 hours, jumping over (at the time) small creeks and dodging waterfalls, and found ourselves at our campsite at around 11am. Crap. No shade, no wind, full sun; even at 11,200 feet it was agonizingly hot. So we baked, initiating our sunburned faces, made some dinner and hit the sack at around 5pm - there was pretty much nothing else to do. 

We were up and on the trail by 5:45am the next morning – not really an alpine start, but as we were the first on the trail to the summit, I guess it was early enough. We struggled to initially get into a groove, as the snow fields were too steep and iced over to go without crampons yet they were interspersed between rocky scree fields. I should mention at this point that Emily had never used crampons or an ice ax before (why not learn on the tallest mountain in the lower 48?), so the constant taking off and putting on of the gear was good practice. We got to the last shelf before the Mountaineer’s gully, Iceberg Lake, around 8:15am. A couple of Aussies we ran into on the trail up camped here the night before and froze all night, so I guess we made the right decision to stay lower out of the wind.

We donned our crampons for the final time and headed up the 1200ft gully at a snail’s pace. The altitude and step-kicking in the uneven snow made for a tiring 3 hour session. We got to the final 3^rd (or 4^th) class gully above the snow around 11:45a and made the summit around 12:15. There was quite a party up there of people who summited via the traditional Mt Whitney Trail, an 11 mile wrap around the south ridge, staying free of the technical snow fields and steep sections. There was even a dog up there.

After a 45 minute break at the top, we climbed back down the gully and prepared for the long, precipitous glissade back to Iceberg Lake. We had a sick feeling as we secured our gear and sat at the top of the glissade chute. I’m not sure what the incline of that chute was, but the fact that you couldn’t see it 40 feet in front of you as it went over the edge made me feel like a kid on his first ride down the “big  kids” waterslide (except that this slide ended in a pile of rocks). A quick speed test on the slide and a subsequent, dramatic self-arrest advocated a slower plunge step down to easier terrain. The last 400 feet was much more fun glissading.

We got back to our camp, broke it down and continued down the remaining 3000 feet to the van and anticipated beer and burger at the Portal Store. The hike out was not without incident, as it being late in the day, the snowmelt had turned those little creeks we passed on the way up into dramatic rivers. A few slips and dunks in the icy water made the thought of food all the more welcome. But in true Geisen planning, we arrived at the store 5 minutes after the kitchen had closed.

We went back to Lone Pine for a shower and bite at the local pizza joint and camped again in the Alabama Hills. As a going-away present from the great mountain, we were treated with a spectacular display at sunrise below an approaching storm. Emily was less than pleased being awaken that early, but I think she enjoyed it.

Surprisingly, the sore muscles the next day were not our legs, but our arms from the ax work, so at least we’re getting used to the hikes. It will come in handy for climbing Half Dome in Yosemite, a couple of days away.