Another snowy April left me looking for a day route that would help with conditioning and tag a summit. Most of the low hanging fruit had been plucked. A return to the Whitney region turned out to be just the ticket. Hadn't been there since 1981. The std route on Muir is a shadow of the big east face, but still a worthy route as the summit block contains some nice stout bouldering which to me seemed more 4th class than not - at least the way I went.
SUNRISE WHITNEY PORTAL ROAD
SUNRISE ON DAY AND KEELER NEEDLES
EARLY MONRING LIGHT ON THE UPPER NORTH RIDGE OF LONE PINE PEAK
ANOTHER EARLY MONRING VIEW OF THE NORTH RIDGE OF LONE PINE PEAK
EARLY MONRING VIEW OF THE NORTHEAST SIDE OF LONE PINE PEAK
SUNRISE VIEW OF TRAILCREST
CLASSIC EARLY MORNING SIERRA LIGHTING
TRAILCAMP VIEW OF MT MUIR
SIERRA CREST FROM THE BASE OF THE SWITCHBACKS
MT WHITNEY'S VERSION OF THE 'IVA FERRATA'
VIEW TO THE WEST FROM TRAILCREST
CHAMBERLAIN AND HITCHCOCK FROM TRAILCREST
LOOKING BACK AT TRAILCREST FROM WHERE I LEFT THE MAIN TRAIL
THE VERY COOL BUT SHORT CLIMB TO THE SUMMIT OF MT MUIR.
WHITNEY, KEELER NEEDLE AND DAY NEEDLE FROM MT MUIR
WHITNEY, KEELER NEEDLE, DAY NEEDLE AND AIGUILLE EXTRA FROM MT MUIR
WEST TO THE GREAT WESTERN DIVIDE FROM THE TOP OF MUIR
LOOKING DOWN THE SOUTH FORK OF LONE PINE CREEK FROM THE TOP OF MT MUIR
LOOKING BACK AT THE STANDARD ROUTE ON MT MUIR
THE INTERESTING PART OF THE WHITNEY TRAIL ABOVE TRAILCREST
LAST VIEW OF MUIR BEFORE TURNING THE CORNER AT TRAILCREST
MUIR FROM THE EAST FROM THE SWITCHBACKS
THE RAILING ON THE WAY DOWN
PART OF THE VISTA ON THE LONG WALK BACK TO THE PORTAL.