Tom Grundy's Mount Whitney Wedding Page

NOAA forecast for mt whitney March 7 and 8 2015...
Saturday - Sunny, with a high near 41. West southwest wind 14 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.
Saturday Night - Partly cloudy, with a low around 28. Breezy, with a west southwest wind 26 to 29 mph, with gusts as high as 44 mph.
Sunday - Mostly sunny, with a high near 35. Windy, with a west southwest wind 30 to 35 mph increasing to 36 to 41 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 60 mph.
Sunday Night - Partly cloudy, with a low around 19. Windy, with a west southwest wind 36 to 39 mph, with gusts as high as 60 mph.

JD and Liz planned to get married on top of Mount Whitney, and I was invited along to join them and take photos. There were a number of possible weekends when we could all make it. Unfortunately the first was cancelled at the last minute due to death in the family. The next weekend on the list was forecast to be cold and windy but otherwise good to go. Liz and JD went early and hiked up Thor peak on Friday to acclimate/check conditions. Matt and Renee came down to my place on Friday night and then Saturday we drove to Whitney portal, finished up packing, and then headed off up the trail. Our packs weighed from 35 to 50 pounds or so with lots of fuel in case we were melting snow for water and insulation to keep us warm.

packing up in the parking lot

JD and Liz at the trailhead

The trail was completely snow free up to the gully heading towards Boy Scout Lake and that was only a few patches. Once past the lake we were mostly on snow and rocks though. We were taking our sweet time and decided to stop at Upper Boy Scout Lake where we found some decent sites and were able to set up camp while we were still in the sun. As soon as the sun went away the temperature dropped fast. I don't know what the actual temperature was, but definitely below freezing by dinner time. Surrounded by lots of insulation and with a nalgene hot water bottle "baby" against my belly I was fine as long as I didn't take my gloves off. Once it got dark we all retreated into our tents and sleeping bags. It took me a while to warm mine up, but once I did I had to take off a few layers. The just past full moon had risen but was hiding behind a lenticular cloud. Later it moved past the cloud and was incredibly bright.

Renee's pic of me just past the ledges and almost to Lower Boy Scout Lake

Liz, JD, Matt, and Renee head up towards Upper Boy Scout Lake

early morning wake up call

We got up before sunrise and headed up just after sunrise. There was a little bit in the beginning where crampons would have been nice, but we knew that was a short bit so we kept them off. We passed a group camped before the rise up to Iceberg Lake, and 2 cold hardy souls passed us up there heading to do the East Ridge in a day. Above Iceberg we strapped on the crampons and started up the long gully of the mountaineers route. For the most part there were pretty good steps and the snow was in pretty good condition for crampons. When the wind blew it was cold, when it didn't we were quite hot in down jackets.

traversing under Whitney to the mountaineers route

heading up the chute aisle of the mountaineers route

The regular way up from the notch was a mix of ice, rock, and snow with no completely obvious path up through it, so we opted to contour to the west and gain the summit plateau that way (following a well tracked path). This was not bad and we were almost always on snow so keeping the crampons on was not a problem.

onto the summit plateau

under the traditional crossed ice axes

and to the 14,505' (4,421 m) summit

hooray!

Soon after reaching the summit we retreated into the summit hut to get out of the wind. There we got ready for the ceremony. Despite a lost and found ring, disappearing veil (the wind ripped it off Liz's head and whipped it away), and continuous biting wind, the ceremony was performed (tears could be attributed to the biting wind), and we retreated back to the hut to warm up and eat some "cake".

getting ready in the summit hut - out of the wind

summit vows

sharing wedding "cake"

The descent was long. We had to keep the crampons on for the snow chute descent because it was too steep and hard to glissade safely (which would have been a whole lot more fun and quick). About half way down I spotted the veil floating way up high in the sky before a cross current took it out of my view. From Iceberg Lake it was straightforward back to camp, although I did stop to take pics of the sun setting behind Keeler Needle (and I kept moving across the talus to try again and again). Back at camp spilled water drops froze nearly instantly on down jacket surfaces.

the sun goes behind Keeler Needle

Once we had packed up everything we were rather burdened with our full packs. We went down a different way to Lower Boy Scout Lake (closer to where the trail goes). Jd and Liz stopped to eat a bit and the rest of us continued on with the plan to order pizza for everyone before they closed for the night. We got back shortly after dark and headed down. Unfortunately nobody answered at the pizza place, so we made contingency plans (which was a good because they were closed - presumably for Easter). So we had Asian food instead. It really hit the spot. Then JD and Liz headed back around to the South to the Bay Area and the rest of us headed north to sleep in Bishop. All in all a highly successful trip despite the wind and cold.

here is one of Renee's pics - me and my camera by Lower Boy Scout Lake

Liz and JD are the dots in the very center just right of the tree - coming down the ledges

A few weeks later they had a more traditional get together that didn't require freezing and thousands of feet of elevation gain - much easier for parents, etc. The outfits also were a little more traditional and the wind was a lot less. Congratulations.

Liz, Renee, and JD - they clean up nice

video/slideshow on youtube of the wedding

panorama to the South from the summit plateau

panorama to the North from the summit plateau - notice how little snow there is for the first week in April

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