Great Times On Mount Whitney!

“Mount Whitney Day Hike...22 miles and a 6,137' elevation gain
and a 6,137' loss in elevation on the way out.

Participants...

Altairsoar
Anita
Bill
Elulofs
JD Smiling
Josh
Snow Nymph
Tery4u
Wingding
WLD
Wind Walker

Eleven of us met at a pizza restaurant in Lone Pine at 6:00 PM Sunday (8/4) evening.
WLD passed out the permits and we ate and talked about many of you folks here on TT, were your ears burning??? After dinner and socializing we headed up to Whitney Portal to sleep at the trailhead so we could get an early start on the trail.
We were visiting and packing our food and stuff into our day packs when....we noticed we were being watched by a black bear sneaking around the cars in the overflow parking lot, it had gotten within 30' or so before we noticed it. So we chased it off and got back to packing.
Most of us slept in our vehicles and at about 3:00 AM we started to stir.
My son Josh and I hit the trail at about 3:30 AM, WLD was cooking on his tail gate and Tery4U, Elulofs, Altairsoar, Anita and Bill were already on the trail ahead of us. We hiked with headlamps until 5:30 or so... then it was light enough to see.

Josh and I were stopped near Mirror Lake taking pictures, when Snow Nymph and WLD came racing up the trail....those two keep a pretty fast pace! We wouldn't see them again until near the summit of Mt Whitney where they and Tery4u were coming down while we were still going up.

Altairsoar and Elulofs were on the summit when we arrived. The views from the summit were spectacular!!! We some how missed Wingding on the Summit but when comparing notes later that day we were up there at about the same time...but there were many hikers on the summit.

The 99 switchbacks are much easier going down!!!
When we arrived back at the trailhead, Snow Nymph, JD Smiling and WLD were waiting to make sure everyone made it out ok. After visiting for a while we headed down.

I must say it was a pleasure meeting and hiking with each and every one you
and hope to hike with you again sometime!!!

It took my son Josh and I 14 hours 15 minutes to complete the 22 miles and my dogs were barking when we finished but ....No Blisters for either of us! Cool!

My Pics are up at...

Whitney Day Hike

Whitney Part 2”

“dang that must be nice! Going into the Mnts. when ever you want!!”

“Thanks again for the permit!
It was Awesome!!!!”

“Nice! Great that Josh is into it.”

“Wish I had known,I was at site #7 at the camp ground Sun. night.Came home monday at noon. Fun hike isn't it?Maybe see you next time.”

“Those pics are great! I sure want to do that hike!! Ahhhhh maybe next year!”

“Nice meeting both you and Josh, Windwalker!

I feel great today, only one blister on the heel.

WLD and I left the Portal at 4:15am, summitted at 9:55am (I wrote down 10:55 in the register), and hung out at the top for an hour. A few minutes after we left, WLD asked what time we left the summit, and I told him 11:55. He told me it couldn't be, it was just only a little past 11am. (duh!)

JDSmiling started her hike from the portal later, since she was only going to Trail Camp (12,000'). We ran into her just before Trail Camp, and on the way down WLD, being the great husband he is, stopped suddenly (I almost ran into him) at Mirror Lake, and said he was waiting for his wife and would walk back with her. WHAT A GUY!

I said I wasn't stopping (that darn blister bothered me only after stopping/starting), and jogged down to the trailhead, exiting at 3:00pm.

I'm feeling pretty good today! Not a PR, but better than last year!”

“WindWalker: Great pics! Mine are still in the camera. Been up there so many times I didn't take many of the scenery, mostly people.

WLD: Thanks for getting the permits and organizing this!

Reservation service or whoever: Thanks for giving WLD the permit for Aug 5th, so I could extend my vacation by a day and end a totally awesome vacation by summitting a 14er! That totally kicks all forms of @ss!!!”

“Great pics. It was one year ago on August 5 that I summitted Whitney...wish I could have been there.”

“Nice trip report and cool pictures. Especially Waton Peak with the morning alpine glow and the Whitney Windows painted yellow by the sunlight behind. That is an awesome picture.

It was a pleasure meeting you and Josh. I hope to hook up with you guys on a backpack trip soon.

Congratulations on your success!”

“Just where the heck do y'all live...
I wanna move near there!!!”

“The Whitney Hike was great not just because it's a good workout and great scenery, but because of all the nice people that showed up for it! It was really nice meeting you WindWalker and your son Josh too and it was so very nice to see the So Cal Hiker faces that always make me smile.”

“There are no fish up there.”

“Nice pix. Loved the Marmot varmint. Lucky thing that telling time is not a requirement for enjoying the wilderness, eh Snow Nymph?”

“Sounds like she was still on OUR (Mountain/Montanapalooza/Winds) time.”

“Prowler....it is very nice :)

Uncliff...sorry we missed you and yes it is a fun hike!

Tango...there is always next year...come to Cali I'm sure we can get a group hike going!

Snow Nymph it was a plaesure to meet you! So what is your PR for Whitney...now I'm curious.

WLD ...that was my favorite pic of the trip. That is the very same pic I was taking when we saw you and Snowy at Mirror Lake.

Phil, wished you would have been there too!

Buddur...California! Most if not all of us drove 3 to 3.5 hours to be there.

Wingding, "The Whitney Hike was great not just because it's a good workout and great scenery, but because of all the nice people that showed up for it!" I AGREE!!!
Nice to meet you too!

TheFlip...There were flying fish all around the summit...or maybe it was just the altitude.”

“Sounds like you guys had a blast. Three of the four in our group summited Whitney on August 7. We didn't break any records for sure...17 hours up and back, but at least we made it.

Got the pictures developed and hopefully will get them posted soon.”

“Congratulation Hikin Mike to you and your group!”

“Congratulations! Hikin Mike! The first time is always special.

WW, my PR is 9 hrs 55 minutes ('97). I've done this peak so many times now, its the only one I do for time. Reminds me of the days I used to do trail races.”

“Sounds like a great time!”

“awesome! damn, i miss the west.”

“Congratulation to you and your group Hikin Mike!”

“s”

“Like Phil said we were up there last 8/5 does that kind of tie us in to your group as in the many ways to Kevin Bacon stuff? Great pics, glad you all got to meet each other and have a great time.”

“Quite an awesome trip eh?
I just had to buy a t-shirt to commemorate the trip...
Whitney in 1 Day”

“That is a cool looking shirt Wind Walker....

"You came, you saw, you Summited!"”

“I almost stayed the extra day to go up again,with you ,but foot problems changed my mind.I was camping in the family camp the night you at the walk in and didn't even get up to meet you.my fastest time ,up and back was about 10 hours,,,,30 years ago.”

“I was real happy with my just over 14 hour hike - we all move at different speeds.”

“uncliff,
sorry you were having foot problems, maybe next time....eh?

Wingding...I was real happy with the 14 hour hike too!”

“Fun fotos, Windwalker. Thanks for posting 'em.

A pleasure to see everyone together. And that picture of altairsoar at the edge like that was a good photo.”

“I finally got my photos together for the dayhike. I didn't take too many scenic shots since I've done it so many times. Those are in last years album. Enjoy!

Mt Whitney Dayhike, a great way to end a 3 week vacation!

Still working on Wind Rivers pics, will post when done.”

“Now there's toast of confidence! WLD just looks too cool.

BTW, the McGee Creek photos were awesome too (I peeked). Bummer about the camera though.

Thanks for posting 'em once again.”