Whitney Portal and Trail to Lone Pine Lake (10/15/2005)
I have to admit that I knew very little about this famous peak– probably that's why I went. My goal was fairly modest– to visit the last tourist spot before one has to hike, and take a few shots of Mount Whitney to show to family and friends. Beyond that, I did not have any presumption. All the information I read on the Web warned about getting permission for the long hike to the peak months in advance through some lotto process. Therefore, I only expected to take pictures at the start of the trail.
Having seen the photographic potential of Alabama Hills in the morning, I decided to stay one more night in the region before going to the next yet-to-be-defined destination. However, the hotel I was at did not have vacancy. I took my chance to reserve a campsite near Whitney Portal not knowing how cold it would get at night at that high elevation (some 8,000’). The benefit of that kink of uncertainty was there were plenty of vacant campsites. I picked and chose among the many scenic sites and settled on one next to Lone Pine Creek and a bridge. After snapping a few pictures, I headed to Whitney Portal to see what I would find.
Whitney
Portal was little more than a small visitor area with a shop and a pond
with many parking spots for those who are strong enough to do the multi-day
hikes to reach Mt Whitney. There were plenty of people there when I arrived.
I found a beautiful waterfall with just a short hike. This waterfall was
one huge granite rock bordered by golden foliage. After taking several
pictures which I am sorry to report that did not bring out the beauty
that I saw with my naked eyes, I wandered around the area looking for
a good viewpoint of Mt Whitney, but there was none.
Just by the time I got ready to drive back to the campground, I saw a sign of Whitney Trail and decided to hike up a short distance to see the view. Packing light, I began the trek. There was an information area providing data about distance and elevation change of the various legs of the hike to Mt Whitney. I learned there in chatting with hikers that one would not have to do the whole trip. Buoyed in confidence by my previous day where I hiked up some 3,000’ and 6 mile one-way, I felt I should be able to handle a 3-mile 800’ elevation gain, and changed my plan from the short hike to one of reaching the first named stopping point of Lone Pine Peak. This would be a reasonable decision had I remembered to go back to the car to bring along more water and warm clothing. In any event, I kept on walking up the trail, eventually realizing that false confidence.
The
trail to Lone Pine Lake was quite easy from the navigation standpoint
– there was only one trail up! However, it was narrow. Often, as
I met people hiking down, one of us would have to step aside to give room
for the other hiker. Part way up, some downhill hikers warned me about
the windy and cold condition at the Lake. Some even wondered whether I
went the right way! So I told them I’d turn back when I feel uncomfortable.
For some reason, this 800’ gain seemed pretty tough too –
maybe due to my expended energy the day before. And the warning of the
cold and storm became true half way up. I saw a few snowflakes as I labored
my way up the trail. Unlike the day before when I had to take off the
jacket when I hiked, this day was cold. I wish I had brought the other
jacket and a pair of gloves. It was a strange sensation to feel sweaty
and cold at the same time. The one thing I managed to do was to refrain
from taking many pictures on the way up to save hiking time, telling myself
that I’d have plenty of time on the way down to take pictures. Thanks
to this strategy, I managed to make the whole uphill trip in less than
90 minutes.
Lone
Pine Lake was also quite beautiful, with the water pretty clear which
was different from the turquoise color of the Glacier lakes. And its location
perching on top of a ridge provide a breath taking view all the way to
the distant horizon. There were several people preparing camps when I
got there. These folks were camping there for the night in preparation
for the next strenuous hike up to base camp and possibly even to Mt Whitney
Peak. After snapping a few pictures for them and for me, I had to hurry
back down since the temperature was dropping as the storm got closer and
closer. This hasty retreat also did not afford me much time for picture
taking, although I still managed to do a few. Without generous trail mates
like the day before, I truly had to conserve my liquid and only began
to sip the second juice pack on the way down.
On the way down, I was surprised to find folks hiking up. Some were in
full outfit enough to assault Mount Everest, while others were casually
strolling along like they were walking around some city lakeshore. I made
a motivating observation of some senior folks walking up the trail for
camping overnight at the lake and subsequent hiking to follow-on legs.
This gave me motivation to try to get in better shape so that one day
I could do the same.
By the time I got down to the parking area, the storm was almost upon
us. So I packed up and left without trying to find photo ops spots.
Back at the campground, I only managed to heat up the food I brought along
and quickly devour my simple meal, barely in time to escape the wind and
snow/rain that fell on the campground. Yet, I still managed to find a
small window to capture early evening photos of Lone Pine Creek with the
golden foliage. With the rain, my plan to go to Alabama Hills for nighttime
photography had to be scrapped. I wound up in “bed” before
8 PM. Perhaps it was a way for nature to grant me some rest. After fooling
with my computer and check out the images of the day for a couple of hours,
I turned in. The night was not as restful as I had envisioned. The wind
was causing leaves or small branches to drop on the roof, waking me up
occasionally. This only then reminded me of how cold it was sleeping at
8000’ elevation in mid October.
All in all, the visit to Whitney Portal was better than I had contemplated. The view was beautiful, and I got to hike part way up the Whitney trail, proving to myself that I could still strive to reach an objective. And yes, it repeated the lesson of the need to over prepare for a mountain hike. In the morning, I would return to Alabama Hills looking for the arches that eluded me the previous day, then trace my way back toward the bay area with a stopover in Yosemite Valley.
Click
on the image to see the posted pictures from this trip.
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Last updated: October 17, 2010
