Mount Whitney (12x) Mountaineers Route "On Pinns & Needles" I was up there yesterday (7/22). This was actually my first successful summit in July. Other than January and March, July was the only other month I hadn't successfully dayhiked. Having been chased off by thunderstorms in July before, this time I decided to increase my chances. From the weather reports I was convinced a thunderstorm was a sure thing. Thus, I left the trailhead at 12:45am. This turned out to be overly aggressive. I reached Iceberg Lake in under 3 hours. Unfortunately, as I knew it would be, at 3:42am it was still quite dark (especially since the moon was not out). Hearing rockfall I decided I would rather wait for at least a little light before heading up. Finding the most comfortable rock I could I curled up and did my best to avoid hypothermia and waited a little more than an hour for the faintest amount of twilight. Though I was certainly feeling the elevation now the climb up to the Notch was fairly enjoyable. I went up the gully/crack to the left which allowed me to avoid most of the remaining snow. I also avoided the sandy spots wherever possible, preferring to scramble up solid rock. At the Notch I paused briefly and then climbed up the 1st chute. There was a fair amount of water trickling down but fortunately it wasn't too slipperly. I quickly moved to the dry rock on the left side of the chute and continued up until I reached the snow in the upper half of the chute. Here I traversed over to the right side and continued up easy class 3 to the top. One other person was on the summit signing the register when I arrived. Air quaility was rather poor for photographs so I didn't stay too long. I talked with the other fellow on the summit for a few minutes. He asked about the mountaineers route so I showed him where it came up. Along the way I noticed a number of tents/bivys that I had somehow not noticed before. We then parted ways. After leaving the summit I realized I had quite a bit of time on my hands. It was still early so the thunderstorms had not yet begun to form. I decided to kill some time by hitting as many needles as a could. First Keeler, then Crooks, Third Needle, and so on. I continued this all the way to S'Brutal Tower where, sensing greater difficulty, I then dropped back to the trail. After passing by S'Brutal Tower and the next pinnacle I then left the trail again to summit Mount Muir. Having accomplished this I then dropped back down to the trail and finally hit one or two more points before finally arriving at Trail Crest. Cloud activity was still increasing but it appeared I still had some time so I continued on for one last point: Discovery Pinnacle. With cloud activity still restrained I did some scouting further south along the ridge toward Whitney Pass. Having satisfied my curiousity I then backtracked and dropped back down onto the uppermost switchback of the main trail. I had forgotten how much I hate the switchbacks. I began to think a glissade on the remaining snow would have been far more preferable, even if it were a solid sheet of ice. Oh well. Too late now. Nothing left to do but continue down one switchback after another. Just past Bighorn Park it rained for a bit and there was some thunder and lightening but nothing too scary. I was glad I hadn't spent any more time up high though. Having taken a shortcut here and there I finally returned to the trailhead at 2:40pm for a slightly less than 14 hour day. Notes Brought crampons and ice axe but never needed them. The 12:48am start was too early. Next time a 2am start would probably be about right (assuming 3 hrs to Iceberg Lake). Brought a breathable shirt, thin thermal undershirt, thin fleece shirt/sweater, and Sierra Designs light rain shell. Wore all these layers at Iceberg Lake and stayed just barely warm enough. Log 12:48am - Left Trailhead 01:02am - Reached North Fork Junction 01:29am - Reached E-Ledges 01:53am - Reached LBSL 02:37am - Reached UBSL 03:42am - Reached Iceberg Lake 04:56am - Left Iceberg Lake 06:05am - Reached the Notch 06:37am - Reached Whitney Summit 06:55am - Left Summit 10:28am - Reached Trail Crest 10:49am - Reached Discovery Pinnacle 11:33am - Dropped down onto the main trail below Trail Crest 12:28pm - Reached Trail Camp 12:51pm - Trailside Meadow 01:26pm - Reached Outpost Camp 01:53pm - Log Crossing 02:26pm - John Muir Sign 02:40pm - Returned to Trailhead Stats Time from Portal to LBSL: 1 hr 5 mins (May: 1 hr 12 mins) Time from Portal to UBSL: 1 hr 49 mins (May: 2 hrs 5 mins) Time from Portal to Iceberg Lake: 2 hrs 54 mins (May: 2 hrs 53 mins) Time at Iceberg Lake: 1 hr 14 mins Time from Iceberg Lake to the Notch: 1 hr 9 mins Time from Iceberg Lake to Summit: 1 hr 41 mins Time from Portal to Summit: 5 hrs 49 mins (May: 4 hrs 35 mins) Time on Summit: 18 mins Time from Summit to Portal (Main Trail): Total Time: 13 hrs 52 mins (May: 8 hrs 51 mins)