August 15, 2017
The first night at Outpost Camp was uneventful. Our foods hanged on a high tree limb was not touched by any animals during the night. After breakfast, we leisurely started for Trail Camp that was 1,600 feet higher and 2.2 miles away. We passed Mirror Lake (10,640' 4.0 miles), Trailside Meadow (11,400' 5.0 miles) and Consultation Lake on the way. We arrived at Trail Camp at 1:00 PM.
Having set our tents at Trail Camp (12,000' 6.0 miles), we checked in for the second night. The timer was set at 1:30AM, so that we can leave the camp at 2:00AM.
The second day's climb from the Outpost camp to Trail Camp.
8:44 AM, 8-15-2016: The flat area for the camping sites in Outpost Camp. Generally people don't spend a night here. They will sleep at Trail Camp further up and finish the summit trip in 2 days. We are three-day climbers for a good reason. There were a plenty of camp sites available in this high season.
9:00 AM: Looking down the wide meadow of Big Horn Sheep Park and Outpost camping site.
9:01 AM: Passing through another steep slope in well-built switchbacks.
9:14 AM: Crossing the Lone Pine Creek on neatly arranged stepping stones.
9:19 AM: We are passing the Mirror Lake (10,640' 4.0 miles) soon after leaving the Outpost Camp.
9:52 AM: After another harder steep climb, we were on a ridge top.
The valley got much wider with better views of the far ridges. Thor peak in the center skyline.
9:58 AM: Passing through an area of ancient bristlecone pines.
9:59 AM: Here's a lone "Bristlecone pine" standing at the side of the trail and watching the climbers going by for hundreds years in the past and future. Now, we are passing the timberline. No more trees above here.
10:53 AM: The Trailside Meadow: at 5 mile from the trailhead at 11,400 feet high. No camping is allowed here but it was a good place to rest our legs and catch our breathing at least for a while.
On a flat bed of rocky soils, the "Trail Side Meadow" extended itself for a good distance. This is the upper part of the Lone Pine Creek with surrounding vegetations. This was the last place in the Whitney Trail to enjoy the greeneries. Being way above the timberline, there are no trees or bushes here.
11:12 AM: Then, on the well-built trail, we climbed up a steep ridge.
We met a group of silent climbers going down. Wondered if they reached the summit but did not ask.
11:23 AM: On a rocky trail, climber's traffic was heavy. Some going up and some going down.
11:43 AM: The Consultation Lake, meaning we are about a half mile before the Trail Camp. As you see, we passed the timberline already on the way up here, and there is nothing at the lake shore, totally desolate with no grasses or trees. There may be some high-altitude small wild flowers between the rocks. We didn't bother to go to the lakeside.
11:44 AM: Resting at the trailside at the Consultation Lake. Jung-Chul and Sukhoon.
The backpacks had been getting heavier as the day went by. It was a good relief for a change.
Sukhoon and Steven finally got off the backpacks.
11:57 AM: Eriogonum ovalifolium var. nivale, a kind of buckwheat. Variety nivale is found at subalpine and alpine elevations west of the Rocky Mountain crest. The leaves are densely covered with white wooly matted hair. There were a few of them near the Consultation Lake. The first time for me to see.
1:16 PM: We arrived at Trail Camp. I was worried about the space but there were a plenty of camp sites available. Generally, people stay a night here coming up from the Whitney Portal. They will start 3AM in the early morning for the summit and descend all the way down to Whitney Portal. We were going to do the same. A place like this tends to be very windy but today it was not.
1:20 PM: After having set our tents at Trail Camp. On the rocky bottom, it was not easy to place tent pegs. We had to use rocks to support the tent lines. Fortunately, it was not very windy.
As soon as we got the tents done, marmots came to visit for something to eat. We put all the foods into the "Bear Canister" that is bear and marmot proof. At 12,000 feet high, there are no significant vegetations. Therefore bears seldom come here since there are nothing for them to eat. The marmots are the ones who rule this area eating on camper's food. We were told to keep the backpack and tents wide open. Otherwise, the marmots will chew holes to get into the inside.
2:04 PM: Two marmots came to visit in the picture. These guys were not shy at all.
3:38 PM: After having come up through the deep valleys below, we are way up here. Finally, the Whitney ridge was in front of us now. The summit appeared to be still far and high up from here.
The view of the summit. The rounded flat topped peak at the right end of the ridge is the Whitney summit. Again, due to the distance and direction, it looks lower but it's not.
3:40 PM: The Trail Pond (or Tarn, a small alpine lake) at the Trail Camp. This pool of water is the last water hole before the summit. The steep cliff beyond the lake is the lower part of Wotans Throne.
Note: "Wotan" is the Scandinavian God comparable to Greek Zeus. Wotans is not meant to be plural but is an abbreviation of "Wotan's" where apostrophe is removed in geographic naming convention.
The view of the "99 Switchbacks" that climbs to the Trail Crest at the small left-most needle. We were to tackle this infamous steep slope during the night. The slope at left just above the cliff is what we were to climb to gain the ridge line.
Close up of the "99 Switchbacks". Even now, there are climbers descending or ascending. Carefully see the rocky slope. You can see a few small dots (about 10), showing you a good sense of the scale. It is a enormous mountain slope. There would be about 2,000 feet of rocky slope before reaching the Trail Crest.
We set the tents, cooked the dinner, and would be trying to sleep. The moon was bright and very little winds came up. The night air was not very cold. All of us felt pretty good with no significant altitude symptoms. At 12,000 feet high, my partners might have great trouble to fall into sleep though. Theoretically, I would not have much trouble because I had been well acclimatized to this altitude in Colorado already. However, the darn theories aside, the reality was that I would be just lying there with my eyes closed and wait till 1:30AM. I knew it too well because this was not the first night in high altitude.
