The image to the left shows you the route from the air and the one on the right shows you the route from the ground. For much more on the subject of water, please visit our page on Water/Dehydration.Ībove you see the Mountaineer's Route from two different vantage points. It used to be that you could drink the water right out of the lake with no concerns, but today with so many climbers using the lake area for camping, it is a very good idea if you treat or filter all your drinking water that you obtain from the lake. Using Iceberg Lake for a high camp will give you a great start in the morning and will greatly increase your chances for success on making the summit. Iceberg Lake is used as the traditional high camp for climbers doing East Face Routes on Mt Whitney. Iceberg Lake is at an elevation of 12,621 feet and is frozen for most of the year. On this trip, we camped a mile or so down the trail and used the lake area only for getting ready for the climb up the snow and ice couloir that leads to the notch and then to the summit of Mt Whitney. In the image to the left you can see Iceberg lake in the background, and my son Sean and my long time climbing partner Mike getting ready to ascend the snow and ice filled chute by putting on their crampons. Check out following link for getting a permit for the North Fork of Lone Pine CreekĪfter hiking up the North Fork, we finally get to where the real adventure begins. Permits for the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek are not part of the Lottery so you can pick one up at any time as long as there is availability. It has a very low quota of only 10 people for overnight trips and is part of the 100 person per day quota for the entire Whitney Zone Area.
Securing a permit for the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek is not quite as difficult as getting a permit for the Whitney Trail, but it is still very difficult to obtain a permit when compared to other areas of the Sierra Nevada. Getting a permit in advance in this zone costs $15.00 per person and an additional $6.00 charge for the group. You enter the Whitney Zone on the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek, just a bit above Lower Boy Scout Lake. As mentioned above, most climbers use the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek for access. Permits are required for both overnight stays and day use when doing any of Mt Whitney's East Face Routes, and this includes the Mountaineer's Route. You may wonder how I remember this, but the fact is I would never remember something like this, but thank goodness, my camera records all these little bits of information. I took the photo shown here, as we were working our way up to Iceberg Lake at 6:43AM Sunday morning on May 27th 2014. Then working to the left of Mt Whitney we have Keeler, Crooks, and Third needle. Mt Whitney is the highest peak as seen in the right hand portion of the photo. In the image to the right above you see the Mt Whitney group in early morning light known as "alpenglow" This is the most beautiful time of day for viewing and taking photos of Mt Whitney. Most people make use of Iceberg Lake as a campsite for easy access to all the Mt Whitney East Face Routes (including the Mountaineer's Route) if they are planning a climb that involves more than one day. Such as Lower Boy Scout Lake, Upper Boy Scout Lake, and finally Iceberg Lake which is located at the base of the route. You start out on the Main Mt Whitney Trail, but after about 0.8 miles, you will see a cut off sign where you turn north onto the trail going up the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek (as shown in the photo to the right). The Route was first climbed by John Muir who went up solo on October 21, 1873.īy far the easiest approach to the Mountaineer's Route is by taking the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek.
Rockfall is usually triggered by climbers higher up on the steep couloir. Loose talus and scree are not only much more work to ascend, they also make it more dangerous, due to the potential rockfall throughout the steep gully. Early season is the best time to climb the Mountaineer's Route, because the more snow and ice that fills the gully the better. Most of the elevation is gained by using the typically snow filled gully that leads from Iceberg Lake to just before top of the notch. The route is rated class 3 because of the section from the notch to the summit. The climbing line takes you up a steep couloir that separates the northeast ridge from the east buttress of Mt Whitney. Mt Whitney's Mountaineer's Route is the second most popular route up Mt Whitney.
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