Mount Whitney

Dayhike - Main Trail

1/27/07

Richard Piotrowski
Rick Kent

Richard Piotrowski and I did a dayhike up the main trail yesterday (1/27/07). This makes 16 summits for me and somewhere between 40 and 60 for Richard. March is the only month remaining that I haven't dayhiked. After that I can join the Piotrowski club.

Conditions for the main trail were about the best that could be expected for January. We could drive to the trailhead, could use the switchbacks, and encountered relatively light snow for this time of year. Our time from trailhead to summit and back was about 12.5 hours. Conditions may have changed a bit in the past 24 hours due to new snow, but we did not bring nor require snowshoes. Required gear right now includes crampons, ice axe, and trekking poles.

Above Mirror Lake there is enough snow accumulation to bypass the trail taking a faster and more direct approach to Trail Camp (hint: stay left of Trailside Meadow).

Last running water is at the outlet of Mirror Lake. Everything beyond that point is frozen or covered.

Status of the snow slope next to the switchbacks is unknown however I tested a snowfield next to the lower switchbacks and decided the risk of postholing was too great. The snow varied greatly with patches of hard smooth crust, thin breakable crust on top of powder, and drifts of deeper wind blown powder. Thus, we used the switchbacks. Though time consuming the switchbacks were fairly straightforward. Snow on the trail actually made for rather good footing. The cables section wasn't difficult but you'll probably want to put on crampons at this point. Be careful on the traverse just below Trail Crest. This is one place you don't want to slip.

Beyond Trail Crest conditions are much the same: relatively light snow. A few spots beyond the JMT junction require careful foot placement (use crampons) but again the conditions were rather good. Approaching the summit much of the trail is clear of snow. As is typical, the summit itself has been blown almost entirely clear of snow. The door on the hut remains intact and the hut is useable though there is some snow accumulation around the door.

Temperature was on the cold side. On the summit at 1pm the max temp was about 15F. There was also a substantial wind that created a significant wind chill. We frequently had cold fingers and toes that took some time to rewarm.

Log (my times)

05:20am - Left trailhead
07:18am - Mirror Lake
08:37am - Trail Camp
10:53am - Trail Crest
12:53pm - Reached summit
01:08pm - Left summit
02:11pm - Trail Crest
03:32pm - Trail Camp
04:12pm - Mirror Lake
05:29pm - Trailhead

Stats

Time from trailhead to summit: 7 hrs 33 mins
Time on summit: 15 mins
Time from summit back to trailhead: 4 hrs 21 mins
Total Time: 12 hrs 9 mins

Notes

This marks my 16th summit and first successful summit in January.  March is now the
only month I have left to dayhike.

Weather was rather cold.  15F max temp on summit during mid-afternoon.  Substantial
wind chill resulted in cold fingers and toes.

Without acclimation I summitted 20 or 30 minutes after Richard.  Richard's blood
ox % (if correct) on the summit was 98%.  Mine was 77%.  Strangely my blood ox
was higher than Richard's down at Trail Camp.  Not sure what to make of these
results but I was definitely feeling the lack of acclimation on the switchbacks and
up to the summit.

My blood ox:

At the Portal the night before: 97%?
Mirror Lake: 92/93
Trail Camp: 96/97
Trail Crest: 81
Summit: 77