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| JOHN MUIR TRAIL |
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| Mount Whitney |
| Mt. Whitney - The Mountaineers' Route |
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| DAY 14-16 We obtained a Whitney Mountaineers' Climbing Permit at the Ranger Station in Lone Pine, spent one night and set off to summit the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states, Mt. Whitney, at 14,494 feet. The rangers provided us with details and |
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| Mount Whitney |
| information on the route and advised us that no technical equipment would be necessary to reach the top. The trail is a basic one-day hike with some minor scrambling up to the high camp at Iceberg Lake (see map below). From this point, the mountaineers' route heads straight up a snow-filled gully with some serious scrambling on steep terrain, to reach a saddle on the north side of the Whitney ridge. From there the grade levels out as the route winds around the more gently sloped west |
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| side of the mountain towards the summit. Unfortunately, a large icy snowfield lies between the saddle and the summit and is a little dangerous to negotiate without an ice axe or crampons, wearing only approach shoes. Therefore, our summit attempt fell about 400 feet short of the top, but the views from the ridge were still very spectacular! |
| Mount Whitney Mountaineers' Route: Picture above is taken beside Iceberg Lake, near the high camp, looking up the east face of Mt. Whitney. The topographical map to the left details the hikers' route (in black) as well as the mountaineers' route (in red). |
| Mount Whitney topo map - Click to enlarge (LARGE FILE 325k) |
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