Mount Whitney Hike – September 4, 2009

Note that this entry is broken into two entries.

Here is the trip report for our hike up to the Whitney summit on September 4, 2009. We (Jim and George ) arrived at Lone Pine around 10:30 in the morning after leaving Orange County at 6:00 am. We finally figured out that we needed to pick up the trail permits at the visitor center located at the 136 intersection just before town. We collected our WAG bags, dropped off our coolers and anything else with food at the Dow Hotel where we were staying.

Eager to start the day, we drove to Whitney portal for an acclimation hike to Lone Pine Lake. We arrived around noon and started our hike. This part of the trail does not need a permit. Permits are required about ¼ mile above the lake. We hiked the 2.8 miles and stayed at the lake for 2 hours. I brought my fly rod and caught about a dozen small, very hungry rainbows. My two hiking buddies took a nap on some rocks and talked to a few fellow hikers. Yosemite man was an interesting character. He had been on the trail for 18 days. This was his last night and he decided to stay and sleep at the lake before going down the next day… I would have certainly walked the 1 ½ hours down the trail and have a burger in town.

A few notables for the acclimation hike was a marmot sighting. I have never seen one so it was a nice surprise to see these big, fat looking golden colored squirrels. He was sitting on a rock and looked very content. At the lake, there was a group of kids supervised by 2 moms. The kids where very loud and not very considerate for other hikers and campers. I commend the moms for making the hike but they needed to restrain the kids from their loud, almost yelling conversations. A small, very quite applause was barely discernable when they finally left.

We left around 5:00 pm and arrived back in town around 7:00. Had a pizza, a few beers and went to sleep eagerly anticipating the 3:45 am wake up call. My two buddies where up before the wake up call and waiting in the lobby for me to show up. It is usually the other way around. After a cup of coffee and a handful of trail mix at the hotel we started. We where very eager and could not stop talking about the days events. We arrived at the trail head just before 4:20 and had trouble finding a place to park. All the spots were taken but we did find one spot left in the overflow parking. We noticed most of the cars had not moved since the day before. We then thought of Yosemite Man and he had been there for 18 days. We took a few required pictures and headed up the trail with our headlamps.

The section to Lone Pine lake is a series of switchbacks and a very well maintained trail. We passed a few water crossings and arrived at Lone Pine lake around 6:30 am. We took the headlights off around 6:00 am or so and happy to have the little light available. The trail flattened out for a bit before ascending a small ridge that led to a gorgeous meadow at outpost camp. The trail in this area was flat, fast and nice to hike. We past outpost camp and headed up a small ridge the lead up to Mirror Lake. Another gorgeous alpine lake filled with fish.

We had about 12 hikers pass us from the start until this point. I was expecting about a 100 people on the trail based on the number of permits issued. I also expected to see all 100 starting around the same time we did. Where were all the other hikers? The weather at 7:30 this morning was in the 50’s with a light breeze. There where clouds already forming at the peaks and looking a bit ominous. The hike up to this point was very pretty as we passed pines and low shrubs on a well maintained dirt trail. We passed the last of the trees on our hike out of Mirror Lake and started hiking on mostly rock of all sorts and sizes. In some spots, it is more like climbing stairs. The trail was blasted out of the rocks in several places as it climbed up the valley to trail camp. This was the first time we started loosing breath and taking a few more breaks. We where passed by a few more hikers. We stopped and talked to a few. There were many people from out of state and a few from other countries. Most of the hikers where couples in their late 20’s or 30’s. There where several groups of mountain men ( guys that could stay out in the wilderness and build a log cabin with just their hands ).

The trail flattened thankfully for a bit just as it reached trail camp at 12k feet at 9:00 or so. We stopped for a bit, took a few pictures and downed another handful of trail mix. We were all in good spirits but starting to feel the altitude. We had shortness of breath and our steps a little shorter. Our moment of truth was upon us. This was the start of the dreaded 97 switchbacks up the side of a mountain. This is a grueling climb up to 13,600 where many hikers fall victim to altitude, too high expectations and in experience. We had no experience at this altitude but we did have our training to fall back on.