I took two trips to the Whitney Portal area in April 1977. The first was a 2 mile round trip 2400 foot gain day hike on April 10, 1977. I hit the trail from Whitney Portal about 1:30 p.m. or so. Crossed to the north side of the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek and climbed to a ridge, then dropped down to the little valley north.
Hiked up the north slope to about 10,800 to the top of the ridge that leads over to the Lower Boy Scout Lake area. Stayed clear of the snow except for last 100 yards or so. Reached ridge about 5 p.m. Lots of snow on the north facing slopes.
Returned down the north slope of the valley to the Whitney horse trail - arriving about 6 p.m. Followed the trail down to the store and Portal. Nice day trip but would be lots of work with a pack.
Whitney Portal exploration 1977
The second trip was a 15 mile round trip 4600 foot gain backpack on April 23-24, 1977 with Gil Beilke and Jim Nettleton. We drove to Whitney Portal and hit the trail about 7 a.m. Took a leisurely pace, stopping for rests and to take pictures. Stopped at Mirror Lake about 10:30 for early lunch, then on to Trail Camp above Consultation Lake at 12,000 feet, arriving about 2 p.m. Trail to Mirror Lake essentially snow free. Some snow on trail to camp but no problems. Took a nap and settled in for the night which was windy but not too cold - barely freezing.
Up Sunday about 5 or 6 am. Gil set out and climbed Mt. Irvine in 4-5 hours. Jim and I set out to follow the trail with plans to climb Mt. Muir for me, Mt. Whitney for Jim. Snow covered trail in spots was marginal but we made good progress.
About 2/3 of way to the pass, I started feeling poorly so returned to camp. Jim went on but turned back just short of Whitney due to weather and not feeling too hot. While waiting on Jim Nettleton, Jim Meadowcroft and George Lozito came down from a night on Whitney, having climbed the Mountaineer's route on Saturday with packs. We ate a late lunch together before they headed down for home. Gil had gone on home leaving about noon. Jim made it back to camp about 4 p.m. and we headed home after a nice weekend.
Whitney Portal - Consultation Lake 1977
