The culmination of our summer climbing plans was Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the continental United States. All summer, we had this climb in mind. We would need high-altitude fitness, good route-finding and efficient climbing to make it successful. After our successful time in Tuolumne, we felt prepared to give it a go.
The crux of climbing Mt. Whitney is getting the elusive permits. Only 10 individuals each day can enter the area that we needed to camp in to attempt the technical East Buttress route. Six of these are available to reserve 6 months in advance. Rewinding to February of 2019, Mike and I were trying our luck to obtain 2 of these permits during the peak climbing season. Mike scored and got the permits on Valentine’s Day – a great present!
We spent 2 days prepping for our climb in Lone Pine, CA at a nice B&B. Lone Pine is a small, hot, dusty town catering to Mt. Whitney climbers. Back in the day, Western movies were filmed at Alabama Hills just outside of town. We didn’t do much in town besides rent bear canisters and eat a few meals. We were too busy trying to pack.
As usual, we had an ambitious plan to maximize our permit time by camping for 5 nights. As we starting to organize our gear, we realized that our packs couldn’t fit 5 nights of food, so we dropped it down to 4 nights – exactly what we could fit into the 2 bear canisters. Bear canisters are bulky, heavy and just do not pack well. We each had to carry one, plus our camping and climbing gear. Our packs were heavy – 42 lbs for me and 46 lbs for Mike, but everything fit without looking too much like a yard sale! We were ready to give it a go.
As we were making our final preparations at the trailhead, we saw familiar faces from Portland – Pat Cook and Rhonda Ramirez. These two ladies helped with our Advanced Rock class with the Mazamas where Mike and I learned how to climb trad! It was fun to see them and tell them that we were using our skills to climb Mt. Whitney!
I was nervous for the approach due to heavy packs and the steep grade of the climber’s trail (4000’ in 4 miles). We decided to take the same mindset as we did on the Grand and just take it step by step. The first challenge was the 2 lower creek crossings. The creeks were rushing with snowmelt, and the rocks to cross were slick as snot! It was a bit scary, but we managed without getting wet. The next challenge was making our way through the Ebersbacher ledges. We had to walk along a narrow ledge with a steep drop off. A fall would have been very bad, so we took our time and tried to stay as balanced as you can with a very heavy pack on! This was my least favorite part of the hike!
From here, the hike eased up in terms of bad consequences, but ramped up in terms of steepness and slowness due to the altitude. We moved at a steady pace and enjoyed the views of the lakes and eventually the imposing East Face of Whitney. As I was staring at the face, I had moments of doubt that there was actually a climbing route up it that we could climb!
After 6 hours of hard work, we arrived at Iceberg Lake (12,600’). The lake was still partially frozen, so it was well named. We were pooped. The approach with the heavy packs was really hard work! We found a great rock shelter to call home and set up camp where we could scout our route. We spent the afternoon relaxing and watching other climbers descend the Mountaineer’s route. Based on their feedback, we happily found out we could leave the crampons behind! The original plan was to take the next day as a rest day, however, the morning’s weather forecast showed it was the best day to climb. We also found out that no other groups were planning to climb our route, so we would have it to ourselves!
The route that we chose to climb was called the East Buttress, 2000’ of technical 5.7 rock climbing. We got an early start, as the route is in the sun from 6am to 2pm and then gets cold. After 45 minutes of scrambling/hiking, we arrived at the base of the first pitch. Since the climbing was fairly sustained for the entire 2000’, we planned to pitch it out (no simul-climbing). The first several pitches were fun, varied climbing – stemming, jamming, slabs, and pure joy. We had a little route-finding issue about 600’ up, but we managed to get back on route quickly. Never a good sign when you start climbing rock with lichen! Surprisingly, the follower—not the leader–encountered the hardest aspect as we wanted to climb fast, but we would get out of breath as we were so high. So even as a follower, we had to pace ourselves.
After 7.5 hours of climbing and 13 pitches, we summited! We were happy, but tired. The summit was very large, and there is even a hut on top to be used as an emergency shelter. We shared the summit with 2 other teams that came up the neighboring route. The views were incredible. We could look east and see our entire route up from the car. Every other direction was filled with mountains and lakes.
We enjoyed our first real break of the day and enjoyed eating snacks including my favorite… Snickers bar! Then it was time to descend. I was very happy that it was a non-technical descent via the Mountaineer’s route. It had a little 4th class scrambling and then mostly scree/trail down. We were back at camp 1.5 hours later!
Back at camp, we feasted on Raman Noodles and Mountain House! Then early to bed as we were tired from the full day. That night was a full moon. When I got up to pee, it was so light outside that I didn’t need my headlamp. The moon was high over Whitney and was so incredible!
The next day, we slept in until it was too hot to stay in the tent any longer as it felt like a sauna. We debated over breakfast what we should do next. Our options were to hike out or rest a day and climb something the following day. We were beat. I think our active summer caught up with us in addition to the exhausting pack in with the heavy load. We just didn’t have much left in the tank. Plus, resting in the hot sun all day didn’t sound appealing, so we opted to hike out and shorten the trip.
Truthfully, I was not excited about the hike out; I guess who is? I kept thinking of how slick the rocks in the creek were, how steep it would be on tired knees, and the exposed ledges. However, the hike out was easier than expected and felt like 4 miles. We made good time and arrived at the parking lot in 4 hours. The Yeti did a good job, and we enjoyed cold Peroni to celebrate.
I had an incredible time on our 3-day trip. The rock climbing was some of the best of the whole trip. Good granite, good gear, and long varied pitches. The scenery was awesome – granite everywhere and crystal, clear, blue lakes! I was extremely proud of how well we did the whole time – good route-finding, teamwork, and efficient climbing. I was thankful for the time we spent at altitude as neither one of us had any issues, which was huge! Overall, I’m just so happy that Mike and I were able to climb Mt. Whitney. We were teasing each other that this was our Machu Pichu of this summer. Our last big thing before the next segment of our trip. It sure did not disappoint! What an epic summer of climbing – we are so very lucky!
Sounds like a magic trip, and the views – just WOW!
Yeah!! You guys made good time. So fun to read the trip report – what a way to cap the phase 1 of the adventure ;-).