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Whitney Main Trail Day Hike 9/19/17
#52241 09/20/17 10:31 PM
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Bonnie Offline OP
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We hiked the entire trail in one day, 16 hours (3:40am to 7:22pm). We had excellent conditions on the trail aside from the blistering frigid winds that started whipping us just after sunrise and continued basically until we hit Outpost Camp on our descent. I brought along sandals for water crossings but never needed to use them. Any parts of the trail that were flooded had rocks that were just high enough to use them without getting my feet wet which was amazing. There were parts of the trail that were iced over in the 97 switch backs but again there were ways to carefully get through or around them. The snow field crossing near the summit was definitely scary but we just took the time to plant one foot in front of the other. I would never do this hike without trekking poles, they were so important for sketchy parts of the trail. We hardly brought any water and instead filled up our bottles using a pump filter at Trail Camp and from springs coming out of the rocks at the bottom of the switchbacks. I think this was really helpful to lessen the load we had to carry. We saw a lot of people struggling for different reasons. One guy who was flying at a crazy pace up the mountain had to turn back around at mile 6 after he started throwing up from altitude sickness, another gentleman who was flying up the trail had to come back down after a bad bloody nose, and we saw an entire family of 6 coming down that got stranded up at Trail Camp at night and had to cram into a kind stranger's tent because they tried to summit at night. Please, take your time, be smart, use common sense, and be prepared for the elements. Enjoy this incredible beauty of a mountain!

Last edited by Bonnie; 09/20/17 10:33 PM.
Re: Whitney Main Trail Day Hike 9/19/17
Bonnie #52243 09/21/17 01:18 AM
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hi Bonnie, thanks for the report! Did you bring microspikes and use them? Or were they not necessary? I'm backpacking Whitney next week. smile

Re: Whitney Main Trail Day Hike 9/19/17
crito #52257 09/24/17 04:26 PM
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Hi! We did not use or bring them. They certainly would have made me feel more secure on the snow field before the summit but if you have really grippy hiking shoes then that might suffice. You would only need them for about 10 seconds so you have to weigh it out. If someone would just throw some gravel on the spot it would be way less treacherous. Have a great time!

Re: Whitney Main Trail Day Hike 9/19/17
Bonnie #52258 09/24/17 07:57 PM
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Hi, how did Guitar Lake look from the summit? Any word on the JMT from Guitar Lake? We are starting 9/29 from Horseshoe/Cottonwood Meadow and sleeping at Guitar Lake before the ascent on 10/1. Thank you.

Re: Whitney Main Trail Day Hike 9/19/17
MtWhitney2017 #52260 09/24/17 09:34 PM
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Bonnie Offline OP
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Hi! I can't really give you a report on that one. We were too busy trying to summit while preventing ourselves from being blown off the side of the mountain in the crazy wind to really survey the JMT down below. I hope you have a great trip and the weather is nice!

Re: Whitney Main Trail Day Hike 9/19/17
Bonnie #52274 09/25/17 08:25 PM
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Haha Thanks! Glad you made it.

Re: Whitney Main Trail Day Hike 9/19/17
Bonnie #52354 10/11/17 03:43 PM
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Did you put gravel on the spot where it was needed for safety so the next group’s experience would be better? The trail belongs to and is the responsibility of all the hikers. The transition from pointing out problems, especially easily fixed ones, to fixing the problems is very rewarding.


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