Mt. Whitney Hiking 2016
A video to show what
the trail looks like!!
First of all, I
would like to share a video I took during the hiking this year. It was not really easy to get a right video
shooting with a head mount. Since the
head kept moving when I walked. However,
it might be a better way to share what the trail looks like. In the past years, I only tool photos and
this was my first time to shoot a video during the hiking.
Approach
My permit this year
was an overnight permit on June 25, that I was allow to hike there on June 25
and 26. Overall my basic plan was set
based on the past experience, which is picking up the permit in the morning on
the entrance day. Then I just hiked up
to Trail Camp on the first day. The
second day, I attempted the summit and came back to the trail head. So I leave very early in the morning on June
25 around 3 am.
The driving route
was I-580 ~ CA-120 / CA-108 / CA-120 ~ US-395 going through Yosemite National
Park. It took about 6 hours. One big difference was the sunrise was
earlier than the past hiking since this was my first time to hike there in June. I felt like that the driving was much easier
than driving in a dark. Around 5am when
I passed Yosemite National Park, the sky was not dark anymore. It was really fun driving this time to Lone
Pine.
The arrival time at
the visitor center was 9 am. I got the
number to get permit which is “39” and when I was arrived, “30” was in
processed. I only waited for 30 minutes
to get the permit. As I checked in
advance, I asked a ranger if it would be all right to park my car on the road
side at Whitney Portal. The answer from
the ranger was that he did not think I would have a problem to park at hiker’s
parking / overflow parking on that day.
It was really true, there was not any space in the hiker’s parking, but
I saw many space in the overflow parking lots.
The ranger issue an parking permit at Whitney Portal for 2 days.
On the way to Whitney Portal, the construction
project was really on going. However,
there was no construction work due to a weekend. There were some sections the road was
unpaved. Overall, it was really smooth
approach to the Whitney Portal this time.
Hike on the Day 1,
Whitney Portal ~ Trail Camp
When I was looking
for a parking spot, there were a several people at the trail head and they were
almost ready to go. After picking up
the permit, I was arrived there around 10am.
I left the parking lot at 10:09am, the temperature was already around 85
degrees F (28 degrees C). There were a
several places to cross a stream. The
water was more than my past experience, but they were not big problems to
across. I might need to put a few steps
on a rock in a stream. However, it was
not deep and I did not get wet. I think
as long as people wear a reasonable water proof boots, it would be all right. They just need to be careful to jump a stone
to the other to avoid slipping. The
main stream of Lone Pine Creek, the amount of water was much more than the past
years.
There were a few
parts where had a patch of snow on the trail before Trail Camp. They were no problem at all, just tiny
snow. Also I only saw one tent at the
Outpost Camp. In the past year, I saw
more than that, but probably fewer people were heading to the summit this
time. Along the trail, there were many
wild flowers which were different from late summer season. It was really fun to hike a mountain in
different season. I always found
something new or different every time!
Tents in Trail Camp
were also less than the past years.
There was much snow around the camp.
Even in the Trail Camp, it was really hot and I could not stay
outside. I set up my tent in a shade and
stayed in the tent until the sun was behind the mountains. Since I planned to leave the camp site very
early in the morning, I tried to sleep earlier.
However, the daylight was much longer than the other season and it was
not really dark around 9pm. So I spent
some time to take some photos.
Trail Camp
Hike on the Day 2,
Summit attempt and descending to the trail head
The second day, I
left the camp site at 4 am. I saw some
people had started earlier than myself, lights from head lamp was moving on the
middle / top portion of the switch back.
But many people were still in their tents. I guessed they might wait for sunrise to
start. The switch back was almost snow
free until right before the cable section.
Right before the cable section, snow was shown, but it was not a big
deal. Even at the cable section, the
snow was melting and people can easily pass inside the cable. It was much better condition than a picture
somebody post a week ago. After the
cable section, there was no snow until right before Trail Crest. There was some snow where the trail is traversing
to Trail Crest. The first part was no
problem, I just need to walk carefully, not to slip there. It was flat and a trekking pole helped to
keep balancing. Very last section,
which was only a several steps down, I was thinking if I need to wear crampons
or not. But it was really short and I
can see some hold on the rock and snow.
So that I did not wear the crampons at all. But it was icy and needs to be careful when
people across this section very early in the morning. In my case, right before this snow section,
I saw sunrise and the sky was getting bright.
After this part,
there were still some sections had very small snow patches, but they were not
any problem at all. I saw much more
snow on the Sequoia National Park side.
It was really beautiful moment after a several ten minutes after the
sunrise. I enjoyed the nice view. At the last traverse to get into the last
slope to the summit, there was snow.
When I hiked in August in 2011, there was also snow here. However, the amount of snow this time was
less than 2011. On the snow there were
nice steps and I did not think any problem at all.
From the last part of the switch back
On the way to the
summit, I saw a several groups came back from the summit. Some of them were from John Muir Trail, they
started really early in the morning.
Some of them told me they started around 2 am!!
Since I needed to
go back to the trail head in the second day and driving back to home, I was
rushing to descending from the summit before the trail was getting crowded with
day trip hikers. I was almost no
resting for the round trip from the Trail Camp.
Once I got to Trail Camp, I packed my stuff quickly and headed to the
trail head right away.
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