Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Meysan Lake Exit?

A poster on the JMT Yahoo group has an Inyo permit reservation entering at Rush Creek with a Meysan Lake exit. Planning to tag Whitney at the end of the JMT. Is there a reasonable route from Whitney to Meysan?

I looked at the topo and satellite views on Gmap4.

While he could get up and over the ridge at Trail Crest, and even traverse to Whitney Pass. But Mt McAdie is just plain rugged, so a traverse along that clear over to where he could descend to Meysan Lake seems like a big grind.

It could be easier to drop down to the last Crabtree Lake, cross Crabtree Pass, then traverse over to near Arc Pass, and descend from Mt Mallory.

However.... I'll bet he's just getting that as an initial permit, and hoping for a walk-in Trail Crest exit permit. Since Rush Creek is so far north -- close to Mono Lake -- it would take several weeks to get to Whitney, so he would be the first in the queue to pick up a walk-in TC Exit permit.

This is just a JMT alternate entry/exit, isn't it.

In Mount Whitney, The Complete Trailhead-to-Summit Hiking Guide by Paul Richins, Jr., his Route 7 goes from Meysan Lake to the Whitney summit via LeConte-Mallory Pass (south side of Mt. Mallory), Miter Basin, and Crabtree Pass.

I've wondered about LeConte-Mallory Pass as a route into the Miter Basin. I've been over it from the canyon below Arc Pass to about half way down the other side toward Meysan Lake on a Mallory-Irvine traverse, and that's all straight forward Class 2 scree. But I'm uncertain about the lower part and I'd be interested to hear what it's like.

Glenn: I found that, too, and advised the Yahoo OP of it, including the cautions that Richins includes in the latest edition. Haven't heard back yet.

Cautions? I'd be very interested to know about said cautions if anyone is able to comment.

I'll have to see if the Richins book is available on Kindle.

HJ

Hmm. I was able to find a copy of Richins' book on Google. I don't see any cautions regarding the route except that one needs an ice axe and crampons if one ascends one of the snow filled couloirs -- which makes sense.

Are there other cautions? I assume the standard cautions about rockfall etc. apply.

HJ

Hi hikin_jim,

My copy is the first edition and it describes ascending the chutes above Meysan Lake as the crux, on steep loose scree and/or snow. I was able to find the second edition in Google. In the "In a Nutshell" section he mentions difficulty people have had there and that he re-routed that part for the second edition. But he says the route "is still rugged and strenuous and should not be attempted by inexperienced cross-country travelers." Unfortunately, the pages for the route description aren't included in what I found in Google, so I can't see exactly what he did to modify the route. (Note to self: pick up latest edition of Richins' book.)

Glenn