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Mount Whitney continued (Use the "BACK"
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View from near Trail Camp looking up towards the endless
switchbacks. There are nearly 100 of them, mostly because you go only 8 feet forward,
reverse direction, go 7 feet forward and do the same, all the way. The path ascends
gentler rocky slopes just left of center (near red line), avoiding most of the slope
showing snow. Above the switchbacks is Trail Crest, where you cross the crest of the
Sierras, go behind the rock needles and head right. I carried crampons and axe but really
needed only my ice-axe here.
A party of three on the
switchbacks above Trail Camp, with lovely deep blue sky above. I was joined by another
soloist, Mark, from Los Angeles (a mere 2 hrs drive away). He used a heavy camera tripod
for an ice-axe; I used my ice-axe for a camera tripod! Duh!
Keeler Needles near Trail Crest. A bit of cloud appearing now... Temperature was about 10
degrees C or 50 degrees F with a slight wind. A smattering of fresh snow covered the trail
at this height.
Near Trail Crest on the west
side of the Sierra Range in Sequoia National Park. We passed a party of four, huffing
along. Like Mark, they had camped at Trail Camp.
(Click to enlarge if you dare) The summit of Whitney is a
huge flat area with a building on top. The summit area is almost as big as Mount Rainier, bigger than Robson and way
bigger than The Matterhorn! Considering that in excess of 200
people summit in an average summer day, it's lucky the top is huge. My ascent
time was about 6.5 hours from Whitney Portal, thanks to being in good physical shape,
prior acclimatization and a light day pack. Click here for
suggestions for doing Whitney in one long day.
Round trip time was 12.5 hours including 1 hour on top.
A hot shower at the Budget Motel in Lone Pine was a fine ending, and after
that I was headed back home to Calgary, Canada, my beloved Rockies and looking forward to
doing some ski-touring and peakbagging there.
For more Whitney info, check out the Highpointers
Club and http://www.americasroof.com/ca.html
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© All photos copyright by the author 1999.
View from near Trail Camp looking up towards the endless
switchbacks. There are nearly 100 of them, mostly because you go only 8 feet forward,
reverse direction, go 7 feet forward and do the same, all the way. The path ascends
gentler rocky slopes just left of center (near red line), avoiding most of the slope
showing snow. Above the switchbacks is Trail Crest, where you cross the crest of the
Sierras, go behind the rock needles and head right. I carried crampons and axe but really
needed only my ice-axe here. 
