It’s our local mountain and it’s 14,497 feet high. We’ve never been there, just driven by. So after having too much turkey and pumpkin pie we thought it would be fun to give it a try. On the way home from Reno we (Jordan and Karen) stopped at Lone Pine, got a day permit and planned to climb the next day. We camped in the SOLEmobile at Lone Pine Campground, just below Whitney Portal. Whitney Portal is now closed for the winter and covered in snow.
It was a beautiful day and the weatherman called for more of the same. We woke up at 5:00 a.m. and quietly packed up and pulled the SOLEmobile out of the campground as everyone else slept. By 6:00 a.m. we had driven up the Whitney Portal Road all the way to the trailhead. The last 1 mile of the road was covered in snow. At the parking lot there were 2 other cars parked. We put on our packs, turned on our headlamps and headed up the snowy trail.
We made good time and didn’t see a single other person. Jordan was strong and kept a good pace. In no time we were at 9,850 feet, Lone Pine Lake. The trail was still good with plenty of tracks marking the way in the snow. At Outpost Camp, 10,360 there were a few less footprints to follow but the going was still good. No need for snowshoes or crampons. Just a fleece was enough even though we were still in the shade of the high surrounding peaks.
Mirror Lake at 10,640 was beautiful, completely frozen and covered with snow. We both were quite impressed with the beautiful surroundings. The hike from Mirror Lake to Trail Camp was a little harder. We could tell that the tracks we were following were from fewer and fewer people. At one point we even lost the trail and found ourselves postholing in thigh deep snow (okay we know, our thighs aren’t that deep), but it was hard work. We found the trail again and made it to trail camp where we stopped to enjoy the view and lunch. Now is was about 10:00 a.m.
From Trail Camp the trail gets really steep and is the famous switchback section. We started up following tracks until soon the only tracks we were following was a lone coyote who found it much easier to stay on the top of the snow. We followed the switchbacks for a bit, but soon the snow became quite deep and crusty. It was steep and the trail was filled in with windblown snow. We carefully walked to each new switchback assessing the situation. The weather was beautiful, but the slope was steep, the trail was buried, there were no tracks and it was not getting better. At about 12,500 we decided it was best that we wait for a better time to challenge the summit.
We both felt good. Jordan was strong and comfortable with his pack. We certainly could have pushed on, but we agreed it was best to call it a day. It was a good training trip and good for us both to find the will to turn around before the summit and feel good about our decision. We chatted about it on the way back down the trail and agreed it was the right thing to do. Whitney will always be there and we’ll definitely be back.
We sure enjoyed the serenity of being the only two people on the mountain (except Tomas who we met climbing up as we climbed down).
Ad Alta! Karen and Jordan
Whitney is just amazing! That is my favorite climb to date. Although I don’t have too much to compare it to.