Inyo County High Point Trip Report
Mount Whitney
Date: May 2001
Author: Dale Milsap
an attempt
We drove in from Utah, arriving at the trailhead in the early morning and starting immediately up the
mountaineers' route.
We had to put on the crampons nearly 1000 feet below Lower Boy Scout Lake. A slight rain turned into a
serious winter storm at the pass above Upper Boy Scout Lake. We pushed on until 200 - 300 feet below
Iceberg Lake, and the storm forced us to make camp (and a miserable camp it was.) Other climbers stopped
in for a quick chat on their way down (none of them had made summit.) We had a miserable three hours of
rest and the storm just got worse. One of our party began to show symptoms of AMS, so we emerged from
our tents to find 12 - 18 new inches of snow and still coming down. We picked up camp and headed down,
finally heeding the advice from all the other climbers. It was dark before we arrived back at the trailhead.
The jacuzzi at the Dow Villa Motel soothed our aching muscles that night.