[pct-l] Trail Crest to Whitney Portal/ Lone Pine

[Will M]

Thanks for the info.  I have opted to bring an ice axe.

I'm still hoping that I won't need it but  I've decided to err on the side
of caution.

Just out of curiosity, will there likely be people climbing Whitney from the
Portal in Mid June.
 The last time I hiked Whitney, late September, there was a veritable conga
line going up the mountain.

Hopefully, carrying an ice axe won't hurt my hitchhiking odds going down the
mountain.  :)



On Mon, May 18, 2009 at 4:04 PM, Brian Lewis <brianle8 at gmail.com> wrote:

> To Will's comment of "Hopefully the trail down from Whitney will be
> relatively ice/ snow free by the time I arrive around June 19th",
> Brick Robbins replied: "Not likely        Bring an Ice Axe".
>
> FWIW, I started in the Sierras on June 7th last year, and after some fairly
> easy snow down near Guitar Lake, the trail up to and at the top of Whitney
> were essentially snow free on June 11th.  If anywhere I might have used the
> axe at Forester Pass the next day, but in fact really did not, and mailed
> it
> home later on, before finishing the Sierras.
>
> I'm not saying that my experience is necessarily typical or that my choices
> of equipment to use (or not use) in snow are inherently correct for
> everyone
> (!), but in a low snow year I would at least suggest looking at trail
> journals of early hikers to see what they have to say about actual
> conditions.
>
>
> Brian Lewis / Gadget '08
> http://postholer.com/brianle
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