Ok, now for pictures...
View of the lower switchbacks from Trail Camp. Many of the lower ones are buried under snow. I walked a zig-zag line up to the first ones left of the main tracks thru the snow. (click on each picture to see the full-size view.)
![](https://photos.smugmug.com/Hiking/2019WhitneySwitchbacks/i-FPM36Nf/0/6efd9839/L/IMG_3542-L.jpg)
Switchback trail thru the cables section.
![](https://photos.smugmug.com/Hiking/2019WhitneySwitchbacks/i-7szkRfr/0/a7b3f8fb/L/IMG_3537-L.jpg)
The bend at the top of the cables. It is a steady incline, even though the picture doesn't look that way.
![](https://photos.smugmug.com/Hiking/2019WhitneySwitchbacks/i-fZwB4wB/0/1fc6df1d/L/IMG_3536-L.jpg)
Looking back down the cables section.
![](https://photos.smugmug.com/Hiking/2019WhitneySwitchbacks/i-TpVVJpD/0/0ef29ad1/L/IMG_3540-L.jpg)
Mid-way traverse, looking eastward, Consultation Lk below. You can see my tracks where I walked the switchbacks below, then climbed up, looking for the next sign of the trail. Not finding it, I checked the EarthMate map on my iPhone, and realized it crossed this big snow field heading up and west.
![](https://photos.smugmug.com/Hiking/2019WhitneySwitchbacks/i-Gg9hZGw/0/98cecf45/L/IMG_3551-L.jpg)
The same midway traverse, looking west.
![](https://photos.smugmug.com/Hiking/2019WhitneySwitchbacks/i-X8FvMg9/0/4df96bf1/L/IMG_3552-L.jpg)
The top switchback traverse. Spot my hiking poles
![](https://photos.smugmug.com/Hiking/2019WhitneySwitchbacks/i-p8Q7W9C/0/8c1ed814/L/IMG_3550-L.jpg)
The top switchback traverse. (to the right of the picture above).
![](https://photos.smugmug.com/Hiking/2019WhitneySwitchbacks/i-SsXSTB2/0/19be5be3/L/IMG_3549-L.jpg)
I finished digging out the traverse above, and reached Trail Crest at 4 pm. The traverse should have been made a little wider, but time was ticking away, and I needed to get down! The traverse is just a few feet up that incline to the right of the sign.
![](https://photos.smugmug.com/Hiking/2019WhitneySwitchbacks/i-M4XNKCX/0/7c013454/L/IMG_3548-L.jpg)
Here's my view of the Whitney summit and the hut (red arrow). That is Mt Muir on the left. This is as close as I got to the summit this year.
![](https://photos.smugmug.com/Hiking/2019WhitneySwitchbacks/i-kRTtTTH/0/66cf3fa2/L/IMG_3545_a-L.jpg)
All my pictures from the trip
are here with captions.