Hiking Mt. Whitney Part II: Multi Day

Dale Matson

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Mt. Whitney In Center Along Whitney Portal Road

Even with a 2am start this year, this hike dragged on much further into the day than I had imagined. Finishing at 6:30pm I didn't have much left in my 70 year old ‘day hike’ legs and confirmed my prior resolve not to do this hike as a single day hike again. I don't know what percentage of folks hike Mt. Whitney from the east as a day hike versus those who do it as a two or three day hike.  However, if and when I hike Mt. Whitney the next time it will be at least one and perhaps two nights on the trail. Most folks use trekking poles. I needed to put on MICROspikes because of snowy and ice trail conditions.

From Fresno, even a Whitney day hike amounts to a two-night, three-day commitment. You are required to pick up the trail permit before noon on the day before the hike. This means an overnight in Lone Pine before the hike and another overnight following the hike even starting well before daylight the day of the hike. It is reasonable to believe the 21-mile hike with over 6,000’ of elevation gain will take between 12 and 16 hours for a young fit person.

The next question then is, “Where should I camp out along the trail the night before the hike?” There are two spots that folks generally choose. The first area with established campsites and access to water (Lone Pine Creek) is “Outpost Camp” at about 10,000’ and four miles from the 8,300’ trailhead at Whitney Portal. While this does not give one a huge jump toward the top, it has certain advantages over “Trail Camp” which is six miles from the trailhead and 12,000’. Generally, one is less likely to suffer from altitude problems at Outpost Camp as an overnight. Additionally, the trip back is closer to the trailhead before you have to break camp and pack out your overnight gear if you decide to hike all the way out after summiting Mt. Whitney. This is probably the place I would camp if I were to do Mt. Whitney again. There is no camping allowed near Mirror Lake.

Plan B would be to pack all the way to Trail Camp. My conversations with folks who spent the night there was that it was windy and colder than further down. There are stone enclosures around the campsites to help block the wind. I have talked to several people at Trail Camp on my three trips up and down Whitney and more than a few have complained of headaches loss of appetite and nausea. You do not acclimate to altitude in 24 hours. Those are symptoms of altitude sickness and I guarantee that sleeping is difficult under those circumstances. Aspirin or Ibuprofen may help the headache. Trail Camp is the last place for water resupply along the trail climbing up to the Whitney summit.

Some folks get a prescription for Diamox to help deal with the altitude and the results are mixed. Check the side effects before you decide to use it. It is a diuretic and one danger of climbing at altitude is dehydration. The effort also requires you to breathe through your mouth a lot.

If sleeping at 12,000’ at Trail Camp is not a problem then it is only a 4.5 mile 2,500’ climb to the top in the morning. You could even start at daybreak from this spot. Remember though that you will have a six-mile backpack out if you chose not to stay another night at Trail Camp. I suppose plan B1 would be to camp down at Outpost Camp on the way down.

My first day hike to the top of Whitney was in 2004 and I developed a headache at about 13,000’. It was a long climb to the top and I didn't stay long knowing that the only way the altitude sickness would diminish was to get down. My headache didn’t go away until I got back to Whitney Portal and drove down to Lone Pine (4,000’). This is an out and back hike, which means that you can turn around and head back down at any point.  My final caution is, do not do this hike if you are not fit and sound.

Hut On Top Of Mt. Whitney   

Mt. Whitney Day Hike 2014 Part I

Dale Matson

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Partial Map Of Route With Odd Triangle Leading From Trail?

I decided last year after day hiking Mt. Whitney that I would do it one last time after turning 70. This time of year trail permits for single day hikers are usually available and the weather forecast for the Lone Pine area indicated sunny for the entire week. We did have rain in Fresno on Sunday and I worried what would happen to the trail. Whitney is not just about the weather the day of the hike. It is also about trail conditions the day of the hike. This is a very difficult day hike of 21 miles round trip with over 6,000' of elevation gain.

When I picked up my trail permit Wednesday morning, the rangers did not know the trail conditions, which is par for the course. They said something about maybe needing microspikes, which immediately made my palms sweat knowing the trail from two previous hikes. It was also very windy in Lone Pine on Wednesday.

Mt. Whitney Center From The Alabama Hills

(14,505') 

I drove up to the Whitney Portal store and one of the clerks did not offer much encouragement either. As I was pulling out of the parking area, I was thinking of plan “B” which would be a day hike to Lake 5 at Cottonwood Lakes to see if I could spot some Bighorn Sheep. Just then two folks came down the trail and I asked if they had been up to the top. They said yes and the trail was not bad. That was comforting enough to make the decision to go but I wanted to talk to some folks about getting microspikes. This of course breaks the old rule not to change something the day of a race, hike, whatever.

Sony Cybershot X30 Cropped Showing Folks On Top Of Whitney From Portal Road

I went to the Elevation Hiking and Backpacking store on Main Street and he showed me some microspikes. They looked good but he did not have any in a “Large”. There had been quite a run on them lately, which told me more about the trail conditions than I really wanted to know. He said they might have my size at The Whitney Portal Hostel and Store. They did and the salesman showed me how to put them on my trail shoes. Thank You! I bought a carabineer at Elevations and hung them off the back of my daypack.

I thought I'd get a bigger jump on the clock than last year by starting out at 2am on Thursday instead of 3am. [It was a good choice because for some reason, I was an hour and a half slower than last year.] It’s not like I didn't have the trail miles under my belt with 280 miles of hiking and backpacking this summer.

I pulled up at Whitney Portal and had my choice of good parking spots. I took care of business and was glad I wouldn’t have to use the “pack it out” bag. The trail can be somewhat sketchy in the dark but the worst place for me is always where the trail passes through Outpost Camp. Some young guys, Rubin and Alex pointed to the trail with their headlamps and I continued on. They were just getting ready to set out from there, having camped out overnight.

I didn't have daylight until I began climbing out of Trail Camp on the switchbacks. I walked up through the snow on a few switchbacks and decided it was time to put my microspikes on over my Speedcross III trail shoes. They really dug into the snow and had great traction on the icy spots too. After about a half an hour, I realized I had the right shoe spikes on backwards. I fixed that and continued on. In the meantime Rubin and his hiking friend passed me on the way to Trail Crest (13,600’) the highest pass on the JMT.

 Guitar Lake

I was doing OK to this point and climbed past the cable railing area, which seems to always have some snow and or ice. I had forgotten that after Trail Crest, the trail actually begins to drop down again for a time. I made a note of that for the return trip knowing that mentally, it would be a bad patch. Some folks had told me I wouldn't need my spikes after Trail Crest, so I took them off and hung them back on my pack. The section from Trail Crest to the top of Whitney is 2.0 miles and it took me 2 hours. I had to sit a few times to rest.

 One Of The Knife Edges

I got to the top about 10:30 am and signed the register. I rested and realized that I had used up all my water. I asked if anyone had extra water and a young man mercifully filled up my water bottle. It was a rookie mistake for me and I should have known to take two bottles up from the last water supply area at Trail Camp. The weather was perfect and the wind negligible. The air was clear also.

Getting back down was slower than expected too and I rested again at trail camp where I got more water and had some food. One guy from Grand Rapids who had walked with me for a while and eventually passed me was beginning to break camp but I never saw him again. Rubin and his friend Alex were still behind me and caught me at Mirror Lake where I rested, ate and resupplied water. My legs were holding up and my lungs were working better below 11,000’.

 Owens Valley With Inyo Mountains To The East

 Mirror Lake

Lone Pine Lake

I passed them at Outpost Camp and never saw them again. The last 2 miles reminds me of heading to Onion Valley from Kearsarge Pass. You can see where you have to go but it doesn't seem to be getting any closer. I arrived back at Whitney Portal and 6:30 pm. This was too long to be out on the trail for a day hike. It’s time for another plan if I ever do Whitney again. The $64.00 I spent on microspikes was money well spent.    

   

St. Francis And John Muir

Dale Matson

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A Statue Of St. Francis Resting At A Wooded Retreat Above Assisi

I will readily admit that I am not an expert on either John Muir or St. Francis. Because of my experiences in the Sierras, I am drawn to the writing of John Muir and because of my vocation; I am interested in St. Francis. Muir was essentially self-taught and did not graduate from college. St. Francis never aspired to the priesthood and remained a deacon until his early death at age 45. After a recent visit to Italy, I was struck by the common ground between these extraordinary men. John Muir could just as easily have written this excerpt from The Canticle Of Brother Sun.

“Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Moon and the stars Formed by you so bright precious and beautiful.

Be praised, my Lord, for Brother Wind and the airy skies, so cloudy and serene; For every weather, be praised, for it is life-giving.

Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Water So necessary yet so humble, precious and chaste.

Be praised, my Lord, for Brother Fire, Who lights up the night, He is beautiful and carefree, robust and fierce.

Be praised, my Lord, for our sister, Mother Earth, who nourishes and watches us while bringing forth abundant fruits with colored flowers and herbs.”

 St. Francis could have written an excerpt from John Muir’s My First Summer In the Sierra.

“Here I could stay tethered forever with just bread and water, nor would I be lonely; loved friends and neighbors, as love for everything increased, would seem all the nearer however the many miles and mountains between us.”

“It would be delightful to be storm bound beneath one of these noble, hospitable, inviting trees, Its broad sheltering arms bent down like a tent, incense rising from the fire made from its dry fallen branches, and a hearty wind chanting overhead.”

Townsley Lake In Yosemite

Both of these men led reform movements aimed at restoring human souls and gaining the ear and respect of men over them. Pope Innocent III supported the mission of St. Francis and Theodore Roosevelt supported John Muir’s efforts.  Both were at home in the woods communing with nature. While some would say that Muir was spiritual not religious, I would note that much of the language used by Muir alluded to the unseen hands that created the beauty around him.

St. Francis led a simple life of poverty but not one of severe asceticism. John Muir’s wilderness travels were outfitted with the bare necessities. Both men rejected the values of their fathers. They were primarily wandering evangelists wanting to reclaim what had been lost.

It is somewhat sad that a humble man like St. Francis who embraced poverty and resisted life in a monastery would be enshrined in an enormous basilica covered with Frescos. It speaks against his legacy not to it.  It is also sad that John Muir’s followers in the Sierra Club have forgotten their anthem, “Faithful Defender Of The People’s Playgrounds.” Do the people still matter?      

Day Hike To Robinson Lake From Onion Valley Trailhead

Dale Matson

Robinson Lake (10,551’)

36°45’48” N 118° 20’ 24” W (approximate Google Earth places this below Robinson Lake)

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 Independence Creek Outlet From Robinson Lake

 Trailhead Is Near Here

 Onion Valley Trailhead Parking Below

 Robinson Lake

Independence Creek Inlet to Robinson Lake

 Above Robinson Lake

 If Only I Had Climbed To That Ledge!

 Owens Valley

Telephoto Looking West

Robinson Lake is to the southeast of Kearsarge Pass in Inyo County and is about 1.5 miles from the trailhead in Onion Valley Campground near campsite 8. There is about 1,220’ of elevation gain outbound to Robinson Lake on a trail that is sometimes sketchy. Outbound, I mistakenly found myself going around the lake on a trail that led along the eastside above the lake and had to descend through a boulder field to get back down to the south end of the lake. On the return, I found that there was a better trail around the west side of the lake.

There are probably two main reasons folks go to Robinson Lake. It is a short hike with not too much ascent even though it is steep. The second reason is that Robinson Lake is a stop along the way to a shortcut to Center Basin over University Pass. I ran into some young day hikers that were headed that way the morning I set out to Center Basin going the long way over Kearsarge Pass. If only, if only I was younger, I would have tagged along and could have done an overnight loop hike coming out via the JMT.

I did the Robinson Lake hike in the afternoon after picking up my wilderness permit for the Center Basin overnight that would begin the following morning. I was partly interested in at least seeing where the University Pass gap would appear above me. All I knew was that it was southeast of University Peak. Even though University Pass is named, it is not noted on the map. I had intended to climb high enough on my hike to see it but it would require climbing off trail above Robinson Lake following Independence Creek. I ascended the creek on the northwest side and climbed up to another ledge. I was running out of time and didn’t climb to the next ledge, which would have given me a full view.

I didn’t want to tire myself for the next two days so reluctantly; I headed back down to the trailhead. My entire hike was about 5 miles round trip with about 2,000’ of gain. Round trip, it was about 3.5 hours (2 hours up and 1.5 hours down). Had someone been willing to hike over University Pass with me, I would have given it a try but alone at my age was too much of a risk. A young experienced solo backpacker Gregory Muck had gone missing and his photograph was in the permit station at Lone Pine when I picked up my permit. I later learned that he had fallen to his death in the Gardiner Basin area north of me.

I do not believe this hike by itself is worth the four plus hour drive over Tehachapi from Fresno but in conjunction with other hikes including Kearsarge Pass, it would be an excellent “add on”. Additionally, the Onion Valley Campground (9,000’ plus) would be a great base camp for additional hikes.