| Ah California...I had been planning to climb Mt. Whitney for quite some time and
a convenient time came around when my friend Chris Howell announced plans for his wedding August
17th. Chris had been climbing with me previously on Snowmass Mountain the year before. Chris and his
good friend Jeff Belatto arranged the drive to Lone Pine. It is a six hour drive from Stockton, CA, and we
managed to find the shoddiest hotel possible to hold over until the morning. At 5:00am we started the drive
up to the Whitney Portal. On the right is a view of Whitney and the Needles in the distance from the start of the trail.
It was already incredibly warm, even for a 8,300' starting elevation. It didn't
take long to arrive at the junction for Lone Pine Creek to the Northwest. I had read a lot of reports characterizing
this route as not having a trail. Using Colorado standards, I would venture to say there is a pretty good one.
Our first objective was to gain the crest of the gully leading to Lower Boyscout Lake.
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The trail crossed the creek perhaps four times before we came to the bushwhacking difficulties of the route.
I was surprised to see quite a few deciduous trees at the elevation we attained going up the creek. On the left is a photo
of the route up to Lower Boyscout lake, with Chris and Jeff slogging up toward the bushwhack. While there is a path,
a lot of strange maneuvering occurs once in the dense vegetation. We never saw the lone Foxtail Pine on the rocks, and we were
able to find our way up to the lake after a short spell. After taking a break at the lake, we joined up with the trail visible to the
South on the other side of the lake. We wound up through the talus and arrived at some incredibly large slabs. Without noticing, I led us
up to Upper Boyscout Lake. I continued to lead us about 700' above the upper lake before I realized my route finding mistake. Trying to be
an optimist, I told myself it was worth it to get the close-up views of Mt. Russell, though the lake was fascinating. Back-tracking to
The eastern base of Upper Boyscout Lake, I could make out a good route to the Basin beneath Whiney's East Face. I was correct, and there
was a good trail leading up. Unfortunately for Chris, the altitude had overcome him at this point.
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| After scouting the route a little further, I could see the remainder of the trail leading up to some ledges.
I waited a short period for Jeff to catch up, and we took turns leading to the ledges. I didn't read anything about these ledges
being difficult other than the possibility that they can get wet and slick. The problem is that to avoid the slick part of the ledges,
a few lower class 5 moves were required to ensure a safe, dry ascent of the ledges. I told Jeff that would probably be the crux of the route,
and that the rest would not be too difficult (the chutes above the main gully would later surprise us both). Atop the ledges, Iceberg Lake finally came into view. I was a little concerned at this point, as it was already noon. We took a short breather at Iceberg Lake and continued
on up the class 2 talus to the gully. On the right is a view of the gully from above Iceberg Lake. Another concern was the quantity of water
we had available. With 1,700' vertical feet left to go, and a 6,000'+ descent, I knew I would have to talk someone into water donation. I think
at this point the day started to take its toll on Jeff & I, as we were moving at a labored pace.
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Arriving at the base of the real climbing in the gully, I began up what looked like the easiest climbing line, in the center of
the gully. My experience in Colorado had led me to choose this almost clairvoyantly, until I realized that the rock was more loose
than anything I had ever encountered at that incline. I then switched over to the solid rock on the North side of the gully (the photo
on the left shows a better point of departure than I chose), which was far more solid,
though required some seldom but awkward moves. The gully took over an hour to complete, and while I could no longer see Jeff, I was sure he wasn't
too far behind. I felt bad about advancing in front, as my summit fever took me over. Arriving at the top of the gully was quite a relief, and I was
now confident about my chances to reach the summit.
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| On the right is a picture of the remaining route to the summit plateau. There are two choices from this point as to the approach to the plateau.
One can either climb class 4 up the chutes or traverse along the talus slope to the western point of the plateau and then back-track to the east. I chose
the more direct 'chutes' route and zig-zagged up some slabs and moderate rock faces. It was 2:00pm at this point, and the weather wasn't looking the
most desirable. This entailed some high-skill level route finding, and some semi-technical climbing skills. Below is a picture of what I consider the crux
and the route up to a notch in the center on the North-facing side of the summit plateau. There was a really awkward move on some very loose rock between two
rock faces. The flattened top of the summit was a welcome sight after this difficult section. It was a three or four hundred-yard hike to the highpoint, where
a couple from Vancouver shared some water. I descended down the same route, to find Jeff above the top of the main gully before the chutes.
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| I explained the two options to the summit, and commented about our descent preferences. We agreed it would take a much shorter amount of time to
descend the Whitney Trail route. I bid Jeff farewell, and did not intend to climb the chutes again. The traverse, while class 2, was incredibly loose and
dangerous. One talus slope began completely sliding while I was on it. The route down the Whitney Trail was a welcome contrast to the bushwhacking and loose rock. It began to rain intermittently, though it was pleasant. I stopped in at the Whitney Portal store for two jumbo dogs, and we awaited Jeff's return. At 8:30pm
Jeff returned. I must say I was quite impressed, as this was his first alpine climb, and practically solo. We arrived back in Stockton later that night, and the wedding
duties took form. It was a very elegant ceremony and well worth the trip.
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