[Summit team: Targo]
We arrived in the town of Lone Pine in the late afternoon of Sunday, June 19th,
2005. Warned by scary messages on the Inyo National Forest web site, I had
reserved my climbing permit and campground spot something like four months in
advance. In fact, it turned out to be quite unnecessary, as most of the spots
were still vacant and people were registering at the last moment. After a crappy
dinner in a local joint and replenishing our supplies, we drove up a small paved
road to Whitney Portal campground and set up camp.
Next morning I got up at 3:30, my earliest highpointing start to date, ate a few
slices of watermelon and left the trailhead at 4:15am. It was midsummer but
still completely dark at that time of day. Crossing Lone Pine creek was a little
scary in the dark as I couldn't see anything downstream and could only hear
water falling over rocks (it turned out to be perfectly safe when I got back but
everything's different at night). I was also somewhat sleepy and missed the
sudden switchbacks a few times, thus having to backtrack after losing the trail.
It was getting lighter pretty soon though; I could turn off my headlamp at 5:30
and soon after that, the sun started painting the mountaintops. After Outpost
camp the trail continued mostly on snow, occasionally forming a trench more than
two feet deep, a mark of high popularity of the trail. Once I got to Trail Camp
the trail became steeper and I started catching up with other hikers who had
started earlier this day, or had camped on the trail; this was also the place
where most people put on their crampons. The infamous 97 switchbacks were all
buried in snow and people just attacked the slope headfirst. This was probably
the most physically intensive part of the whole hike and I saw at least one guy
turning around here.
I had developed a considerable headache by the time I reached trail crest, not
sure if it was caused by altitude, effort or dehydration, probably a combination
of each. In any case, I just dropped down and didn't move a limb for a while,
not even noticing the absolutely awesome view that had opened up to the west.
The last portion of the trail followed the west side of the ridge, and had taken
quite a lot of effort to construct. It was also mostly clear of snow and
crampons were no longer needed. In the end my headache got stronger and
stronger, so I had to rest a minute after every two hundred steps or so. In the
very end, the trail reached a talus field and became indistinct. Gathering my
last strength, I got up to the summit hut at 11:40am. The hut itself was all
full of snow although it had completely melted in surrounding areas.
The hike back was obviously much easier, especially the snow slope before the
trail crest. Snow that had been really hard and icy in the morning had softened
up and provided an awesome thousand foot glissade. Somehow I still managed to
get off trail in places, but finally got back at about 4:45pm, a 12 and a half
hour total.
I had been hoping to replenish my strength with a famous Whitney Portal Store
pancake but the store was a disappointment. They only make the pancakes until
about noon, and the rest of the food wasn't all that great. But this was a minor
worry after standing on top of the contiguous 48 states.
Map of the trail (large file!):
My approximate splits for different parts of the hike:
Leg | Elevation Gain/Loss (ft) | Time (hr:min) | |
Whitney Portal - Lone Pine Creek lower fork | 700 | 0:30 | |
Lone Pine Creek lower fork - Lone Pine Lake | 1200 | 1:00 | |
Lone Pine Lake - Mirror Lake/Outpost Camp | 600 | 0:35 | |
Break | 0 | 0:15 | |
Mirror Lake/Outpost Camp - Trail Camp | 1300 | 1:25 | |
Trail Camp - Start of (buried) switchbacks | 500 | 0:30 | |
Start of (buried) switchbacks - Trail Crest | 1200 | 1:15 | |
Break | 0 | 0:15 | |
Trail Crest - Summit | 900 | 1:40 | |
Break | 0 | 0:20 | |
Summit - Trail Crest | -900 | 1:30 | |
Break | 0 | 0:15 | |
Trail Crest - Start of (buried) switchbacks | -1200 | 0:15 | |
Start of (buried) switchbacks - Trail Crest | -500 | 0:20 | |
Trail Camp - Mirror Lake/Outpost Camp | -1300 | 0:55 | |
Mirror Lake/Outpost Camp - Whitney Portal | -2500 | 1:30 | |
Total: | 6,400-6,400 | 12:30 |
Pictures of the climb: