I had a great sleep last night and was ready to go when we got the wake-up call at 3AM. The temperature was certainly pleasant for this elevation and time of day - about 10C in the tent. And - the skies were pretty clear. Yay! Hot drinks at 3:30 with a goal to be on our way by 4:30. Here's our view at that time of day.........
As we emerged from our tents we could see many headlamps already on their way up at various stages of the ascent. We certainly weren't first off the mark this morning! They were strung out along the switchbacks and traverses and also up high on the ridge. It gave us a pretty good indication of where the route was. The ones up high just looked like stars in the sky. The (almost) full moon was shining directly on Whitney - very cool! No real breakfast this morning. Everyone was given three Clif Mojo bars to get them through the trip up to the summit and back down. I had one for breakfast and tucked the other two in my pack. We got away just before 4:30 and the moon was gradually setting. It cast a lovely glow on Guitar Lake as we started to climb. Too bad my photographic skills are so limited; it would have been a beautiful picture. Maybe Mike was able to capture it...... Before long the moon set entirely and we were at our darkest point. It was short lived, however. I was able to turn my headlamp off by about 5:30. The views kept getting better and better as both we and sun climbed up higher and higher.
As you can see from the pictures above, we were not directly in sunlight on the ascent. The sun was behind the mountain, which kept us in the shade for most of the climb - always a good thing as I generate enough heat on my own! It was lovely to see the sun gradually illuminate the surrounding mountains and lakes. I stopped once (at about 1000' up) to have another bar and admire the scenery. At this altitude it was difficult to eat and breathe enough to walk at the same time. The whole group took a break at Trail Crest (about 2000' up). Trail Crest is the junction with Whitney Portal Trail. It is the most direct route up the mountain for day hikers. The elevation gain from the trailhead to the summit is over 6000'. The route is just shy of 11 miles one way. Certainly a very long and strenuous day. We're not taking that route down. Apparently commercial trips are prohibited from using it. Sounds like we're the winners, though. We can leave our camp at Guitar Lake and travel up Whitney with day packs. It will take us two more days to get out, but we get to see more of the Pacific Crest Trail and not have to deal with the steep descent of the Whitney Portal route.
The temps were pretty darned nice. I was in shorts all the way up, and just put on an extra layer on my torso near the top. Here's a good view of Guitar Lake on the right - so named because of its shape.
There were great hunks of fractured rocks all the way up and some areas where you could see through them down either side of the mountain.
There was lots of traffic on the trail going both up and down. Although it was a bit scrambly in places near the top, it was one of the easiest summits I've ever done (if you exclude the 18 days it took to get here!). The trail was in great shape and there was nothing technical about it. I went slow and steady and felt great the whole way up. There was some talk the night before about some people maybe staying behind in camp - sore feet, general fatigue, crappy weather, etc. Instead, everyone was up for the attempt at the summit and everyone made it - so glad for them all!
Unlike the small areas at the top of some of the recent passes we have done, there was lots of room to roam at the top of Whitney. There is a hut for warming & emergencies, lots of rocks to climb on at the highest point (14,505' or 14,496', depending on which source you believe), and about 4 different geological survey metal disks. There is some cell reception up there so there were lots of people talking on their phones and texting - which just didn't seem right! BTW - Mount Whitney is officially the end of the JMT. While on top of Mount Whitney we could see smoke from a couple of distant forest fires. We were fortunate to be so early in the season. Notes and pictures that I saw from later in August showed heavy smoke and difficult breathing conditions along the trail.
It was cold and windy up there, so I put on 4 layers to stay warm - tshirt, fleece, puffy & raincoat plus rain pants, toque and gloves. Ah - that's better! The clouds are starting to build, though. Maybe that storm is going to move in.
Great views all around!
The rocks at the top, and some along the trail, are interestingly sculpted - by water, sand, wind. Their surfaces are sometimes something you would more often see in a canyon.
I was up by about 8AM and we left to go down about 8:40. More time (and breath) for pictures and play along the way...........
A good view of Guitar Lake (where we'll have lunch at last night's camp)
Miscellaneous views on the way down..............
All in all, a successful day. We made it back to Guitar Lake in time for lunch. Rain was looking more and more like a certainty, and in fact it did rain a bit during lunch. The temperature had cooled off and it looked like impending rain to the west, our direction of travel. It rained on & off as we retraced our steps down to Timberline Lake and beyond. Nothing major, though, as we hiked about 5 miles down the trail from Guitar Lake. We set up camp at Crabtree Meadow just as it started to rain again. On and off for a while more - a good excuse to crawl in the tent early after a wonderful but tiring day.
Stats for the day: about 15 miles, 3000 feet up and 4080 feet down. Elevation at camp about 10,500'.
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