L2H – Whitney

L2H Day 7 – 10/9/16
16 miles (137 total)
Of course we got to the trailhead and started hiking just a bit later than we’d intended, but it was nice to only have the headlamps on for the first 10 minutes or so of walking.  At 0.8 miles in, Snorkel and I split off from the main Mt Whitney Trail to head up the Mountaineers route, a class 3 scramble steeply ascending 6500ft in about 5 miles instead of the ~10 miles it takes for the highly switchbacked trail.  I like scrambling, so this was a fun option. We planned to meet Naomi on the summit, and devised a complicated system of using our Delorme InReaches to text each other via Mike, Naomi’s husband (we couldn’t get our Delormes to communicate directly for some reason).
Unbelievably pink light of dawn illuminating the Sierra granite
Unbelievably pink light of dawn illuminating the Sierra granite
traveling up the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek
traveling up the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek
It seems the mountaineers route is quite popular, because there was trail much of the way.  We bypassed a few icy spots, but there was no snow to speak of this late in the season, which was good since we’d chosen to leave our ice axes and microspikes behind.  We did choose to wear helmets for the final 1000′ of ascent up a gully full of loose scree.
dodging some ice
dodging some ice
scramble
scramble
pano from Iceberg Lake. The tallest peak in the photo is Mt Whitney, the red arrow is the notch we are ascending for the Mountaineers Route.
pano from Iceberg Lake. The tallest peak in the photo is Mt Whitney, the red arrow is the notch we are ascending for the Mountaineers Route.
View from the gully down to Iceberg Lake and the valley floor below.
View from the gully down to Iceberg Lake and the valley floor below.
Beautiful walls
Beautiful walls
It was about 6 hours from the trailhead to the summit for Snorkel and I, and we were surprised to not find Naomi already there.  We learned from Mike that she was feeling sick but was close.  It was surprisingly warm enough at 14,495′ for us to relax and enjoy some snacks and wait.  Unfortunately, a bit later we got an update that she had to turn around somewhere on the final traverse – so close at ~14,000′!!  It was really sad to not be able to all celebrate together on the summit, but I don’t blame someone who’s puking their guts up for doing the smart thing and turning around!
Snorkel and DnR on the summit!
Snorkel and DnR on the summit!
Snorkel and I decided to take the Mt Whitney Trail back down to try to catch up with Naomi in case she needed any help.  We took it as a good sign of her health that we couldn’t catch her until a mile from the trailhead!
On the way down the Mt Whitney Trail - a look west at Mt Hitchcock and Guitar Lake.
On the way down the Mt Whitney Trail – a look west at Mt Hitchcock and Guitar Lake.  I couldn’t believe how bare everything looked compared to when I hiked the PCT in 2011!
Goodbye, Sierra!
Goodbye, beautiful Sierra!
All together for the end of our hike!
All together for the end of our hike!
A bittersweet ending to an incredible week.  All of us thoroughly enjoyed the route and it was great to hike with Snorkel and Naomi!
Thanks Brett Tucker for creating this route and putting together thorough maps/data/planning info!

6 Comments to “L2H – Whitney”

  1. Sam Lambert
    · Edit

    Congratulations! You made that mountaineers notch climb route sound perfectly manageable though your photos did show it to be clearly serious.

  3. Dori Hoch
    · Edit

    I am always happy to read your posts knowing that you are finished and have survived or else you wouldn’t be blogging. Great pictures!

Comments are closed.