Mt. Whitney to Mt. Langley Traverse~ September 2016

The summit of Mt. Whitney 14,500'.

In the spirit of Alastair Humphrey's Microadventure I took off for a quick late season adventure into the High Sierra last weekend. In an effort to fit as much adventure into a 'micro' amount of time I decided to climb the two nearest 14'ers in the Southern Sierra and hike the distance between each one via a 30 mile cross country route along the way.

To make this a mini-thru hike I left a car at Horseshoe Meadows at the southern end of the route and took a shuttle to Whitney Portal in the north where I would begin. Although the route was only 30 miles the total elevation change was over 23,000 feet via mostly cross country terrain with a few class III climbs to keep things interesting.

Once the shuttle dropped me off at Whitney Portal the only way back to the car was to commit to the route. . . and I began to wonder if my plan was too adventurous for just one weekend.

Mt. Whitney & Mt. Langley Microadventure route.

John Muir Trail Thru Hike: Day Eleven

Tarn above Guitar Lake to Whitney Portal: 16.5 Miles

Sept. 22nd, 2011.

I woke up to the sound of groups of hikers passing by at 3:45 am. They were heading up the switchbacks by headlamp. I wasn't comfortable hiking on an unfamiliar trail at high elevation by headlamp, so I relaxed and dozed off.

Within an hour or so I could see their headlamps on the side of the mountain, way way up toward the top. A friend had told about seeing this same thing many years ago, and now here I was.

By 6:30 am I had gathered my gear and while wearing every piece of clothing I had I started up the trail toward Mt. Whitney. For the first 20 minutes it was seriously cold, but soon I removed almost everything and hiked there rest of the way in shorts with silk long johns, a wind breaker and lightweight hat/gloves.

The views of Mt. Hitchcock and Hitchcock Lakes in the sunrise was beautiful. While hiking up toward Trail Crest I passed a few bivy camp sites (possible camp spots for next time). The trail was basically dug out of the granite most of the way. There was a storm passing from the east and although it was sunny there was snow blowing over from the other side of the ridge.

Sunrise on Mt. Hitchcock.

John Muir Trail Thru Hike: Day Ten

Tyndall Creek to tarn above Guitar Lake: 13.5 Miles

Sept. 21st, 2011.

This was a relaxing day with low mileage and easy terrain. I stopped to clean up a bit at the Tyndall Creek crossing and made my way through some lightly forested areas toward the Big Horn Plateau. The amazing views of the Kaweah mountain range started to open up through the trees. . .

and soon I was on the plateau. . .