Mount Whitney (17x)

3/11/2007

Mountaineers Route
Solo Dayhike

What a difference a year makes. Last March we had endless snowstorms that piled on foot after foot of snow. This year it's entirely different. Currently conditions are more typical of May than March. There are bare spots in the couloir leading to the notch, the chute above the notch is half melted out, the E-ledges are clear, the north fork is a mess. To top it off yesterday in the afternoon you could have worn shorts.

Another last minute trip I decided I couldn't pass up on the unseasonably warm weather. Because of storms last year I missed out on a March summit. I was going to wait another week or two but decided I shouldn't pass up this opportunity.

I left the Portal at 5am and took only a casual pace. I figured I'd try to enjoy the day as much as possible. Just before UBSL I bumped into Miguel Forjan who I had last climbed with on the north ridge of Lone Pine Peak. I also had the pleasure of meeting Tina (TRETINA), Deb, and Andrew. They were there to do some ice climbing. Since I wasn't in a hurry and felt I had plenty of time I stopped to gab for a few minutes.

At Iceberg there were quite a few tents. These belonged to a large group from Cal Tech that I met up at the notch. They were in the process of rappeling down the upper chute. With the lower half of the chute completely melted out this resulted in a lot of rockfall. Without my helmet I wisely waited for a safe opportunity to proceed. The upper half of the chute looked icy and ugly so I did the easy class 3 climb on the right side. I also did this to stay out of the way of the group in the chute.

I had the summit to myself. The temperature on top was extremely pleasant and I basked in the sun soaking up the warmth. This incidently marks the final month that I needed to get all 12. Like Richard Piotrowski I have now dayhiked Whitney in every month. Another goal completed.

With the warm afternoon temps the hike out resulted in some postholing and I did use my snowshoes at least for a little bit. 

Log

04:57am - Left Whitney Portal
06:53am - LBSL
07:40am - just shy of UBSL
09:32am - Iceberg Lake
11:45am - Reached the Notch
12:43pm - Summit
05:58pm - Returned to Trailhead