In May 2009, I went on a hike with a great friend Michael Monson to Ben Lomond Peak down in Utah. Mike mentioned that he and some friends were planning to hike Mt Whitney in just a few weeks. This piqued my interest: on idahosummits.com, I had read Dan Robbins trip report from when he went to Whitney. So, hearing Mike talk about this got me interested. In fact, last summer I contemplated going with Mike and his crew, but schedule didnt work out.
Shortly after the Ben Lomond hike, my wife and I met up with good friends Brig and Steph down in Salt Lake. I told Brig about Mike's trip to Whitney.We tossed around the idea of doing Whitney together, but not too serious :)
Fast forward to January of this year. I get a call from Brig. "Dude, you still want to hike Mt Whitney?" With a big gulp, I said Yes.
I had already been training, mostly to stay in shape. I quickly bumped up routine. DANG the treadmill.....lots of hours spent there.....mostly walking with the incline up. I hiked the D Mountain south of Declo a few times. Great place to train!!
Two weeks before Whitney, I decided to do a training hike up by Pomerelle, our local ski hill. I parked at the bottom of the Pomerelle road and walked the 7 miles to the ski hill parking lot. I put on the crampons (never been used) and hiked to the top of the mountain. Pretty routine hike. On the way down, with 3 miles left to go, my right foot started hurting. By the time I got to the car, I could barely walk. I went and talked to my dad. He thought I had plantar fasciitis. The Rx was to take it easy the next few weeks and to take Ibuprofen 3X a day.
Jeremy Bennett and I left Burley at 6:00 Tuesday June 22nd. We made it down to Lone Pine in about 11 hours. Brig met us at the Visitors center an hour later. We cruised up to the Whitney Portal to try to find a walkin campsite: there were several still available. We went to the Whitney Portal Store for the legendary burgers and fries. They didnt disappoint. It was fun to meet Doug and Earlene Thompson, the owners of the store. Doug wrote a book called "Mount Whitney: Mountain Lore from the Whitney Store".......which is a very good read.
My brother Scott and his step father-in-law rolled into camp sometime around midnight.
We had breakfast at the portal store. The pancakes were massive and yummy.
To burn time and to acclimate, we went on a hike to Cottonwood pass, a trail that starts at 10,000 feet elevation. Very cool area and hike.
Here is Brig and Jeremy chillin' !
Picture out of place: Visitors center
Trailhead to Mt Whitney
Jeremy
Dave
GQ Brig
Looking towards Cottonwood Pass
This area was very sandy. The trail felt like walking at a beach.
Self- portrait: mostly wanted to show off $10 glasses from Maverick. Tom Cruise eat your heart out!
The Portal Store
Breakfast!
Morning of the hike: We woke up at 3:00 and were on the trail by 3:45. It was awesome to hike with headlamps on. The sunrise here was amazing.
The crew taking a break.
Mike Monson described these mountains as "dramatic". They were indeed.
Mt Muir from Trial Camp
Whitney and the Needles from Trial Camp
A good look at the switchbacks and the chute to the right that most people were ascending. Lots of snow on a few of the critical switchbacks.
Upon arriving at Trial Camp (12,000 ft), I had a hard decision to make. My foot had flared back up. I didnt know if it could handle going up the chute on my tippy toes with crampons. After thinking it through, I decided to call it a day. To make it significant to me from a hiker's standpoint, I decided to press on to at least get to the same elevation of Mt Borah, the high point in Idaho, 12,662 ft. I wanted to see that I could at least hack the elevation in Idaho.
This picture was taken a few months ago.I like it cause it shows the chute and the switchbacks. Pretty steep stuff. No wonder they made 97 switchbacks to get to Trail Crest.
Marmot on top of the rock! Hungry sucker wanted all our food.
Whitney from 12,662 ft.
Looking down on Trail Camp
Jeremy and I made it down the trail safely. Scott, Brig, and Dave all summited! Congrats!
Picture from the Portal Hostel.
From the McDonalds parking lot
Boundary Peak, high point of Nevada
What a great trip I had!! Great hike and great company. I would like to return someday!!!!
This picture was taken a few months ago.I like it cause it shows the chute and the switchbacks. Pretty steep stuff. No wonder they made 97 switchbacks to get to Trail Crest.
Marmot on top of the rock! Hungry sucker wanted all our food.
Whitney from 12,662 ft.
Looking down on Trail Camp
Jeremy and I made it down the trail safely. Scott, Brig, and Dave all summited! Congrats!
Picture from the Portal Hostel.
From the McDonalds parking lot
Boundary Peak, high point of Nevada
What a great trip I had!! Great hike and great company. I would like to return someday!!!!Check out these other pictures and trip reports:
Glad you had a fun time. Plantar fasciitis is bad business. I had that once and it took several months to fully recover.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures and post! Wish I could have been there.
ReplyDeleteLooks like an awesome trip, I have to admit that I am more than a little jealous.
ReplyDelete