Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Early June Mount Whitney Trail

Hi all. I was looking for any advice on hiking the Mount Whitney Trail in early June. My group is experienced at hiking, but we don't really know what to expect on the trail in early June. Should we plan on bringing snow shoes or crampons? Both? Is the trail difficult to spot in the snow, or are there blazes/cairns that are still visible?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Since it is unknown what the weather will be between now and early June it is not possible to say exactly what you might encounter. However, one thing that I would recommend you do is browse the trip reports for hikes done in Late May to Late June. You will likely encounter conditions similar to one of those previous hikes. Most trip reports have photos, and some even have video.

Go to Trip reports, and you will find they are arranges in chronological order (newest first). Jump down to page 5 or six, and you will find May/June of 2014. Check those out, and then skip back to 2013, 2012, 2011, etc... 2011 might be a good "frame of reference" since that was a similar snow year to this year.

Of course you best information will be from trip reports just prior to your hike. Just keep checking as your date approaches.

Good luck.

Thanks so much for pointing me in the right direction John! That's exactly the info I was looking for!

You can also browse the Current Conditions threads. We keep one each year, and each year's has a link to the prior year's.

You certainly won't need snow shoes. Crampons might be helpful if there is considerable snow. Some years the switchbacks aren't accessible until mid-June. Look at the Unused Whitney Permits threads -- I've tried to note when the switchers are first being used. When people first use the switchbacks, there is lots of ice and snow, so for a few weeks, crampons, or at least microspikes are helpful.

Thanks! I'll be sure to keep checking the reports!