Mount Whitney Mount Muir 8/16/03 Having scouted up the Mountaineer's Route the day before, I was all ready to make a run up to Whitney and Muir. I had already climbed Whitney for the first time last year, but this year wanted something a little different so I had opted for the Mountaineer's Route. Once up to the top of Whitney I would descend the main trail and do Muir on the way down. I left the trailhead at 5:26am and in 15 minutes was on the North Fork Lone Pine Creek trail. The sun below the horizon was just starting to lighten up the sky and by the time I reached the Ebersbacher ledges the sun began to peak over the horizon. This was exactly what I was shooting for. My timing was perfect. On I went, pushing myself much harder than usual. I knew thunderstorms in the afternoon were a distinct possibility so I wanted to move as quickly as possible. Past Lower Boy Scout Lake, up the granite slabs, After filling up at Iceberg Lake I started heading up to "the notch". There appear to be two prominent chutes that eventually merge on their way up to the notch. The chute to the right still had some snow and ice in it so the chute to the left looked to be a more logical choice. This was the route that everyone else seemed to be taking. Trying to keep an eye on some climbers above me I eventually realized that we seemed to be too far to the left. When the climbers above me started putting on harnesses I knew I made a mistake by following them. Yelling up to them, they confirmed that they weren't going up the Mountaineer's Route. A short descent and a traverse over a low rib and I was back in the right chute again. By this time I was about halfway up to the notch and had reached the base of Whitney where it reached the chute. It was at this time that I encountered some unexpected and unwanted excitement. From above and around me I heard something that stopped me cold. Looking up I could see a number of rocks hurtling down from nearly a thousand feet above (from very near the summit). Quickly I spotted one of the largest ones (about 8 inches across) and it was heading right for me (or so it seemed). The rocks were coming down at such high speed that I had little time to react. By moving would I put myself into their path or would I avoid them? Fortunately the biggest rock missed me by a good 30 feet (much too close however). With such stored up kinetic energy these rocks quite literally exploded when they hit around me. With more smaller rocks coming down, I moved as quickly as possible to some protection on the far left of the chute. If you've never been below falling rock before, it can be quite sobering. The sound of rocks bouncing off the face from above and ripping through the air around me is a sound I won't soon forget. As rocks fall they tend to tumble end over end. This creates a whirring or chopping sound as they hurtle downward. I suppose that if you climb long enough this is just one of those things that comes with the territory. Thus, I guess you just have to accept it and move on. If your climbing up the Mountaineer's Route be aware of possible rockfall. A helmet might not be a bad idea too, though at the velocity the rocks were falling toward me any one of them could easily have taken my head clean off whether I had a helmet or not. As soon as I had reached some protection under some rock to the left of the chute my thoughts turned to the other climbers above me. Were they above the rockfall? Or were they too in harms way? They yelled up to their friend up higher and said they were ok except that one one of them had been hit by some small pebbles. After this incident I was extremely paranoid and wanted to get out of that chute as quickly as possible. Staying as far left as possible (which I felt was safer) I quickly passed the two climbers ahead of me and got to the top of the notch a good 10 to 15 minutes before they did. Fortunately no more rocks fell. Log: 05:26am - Left the trailhead 05:42am - Reached the North Fork Lone Pine Creek sign and turned onto the Mountaineer's Route. 06:32am - Reached Lower Boy Scout Lake 07:14am - Passed above Upper Boy Scout Lake 10:20am - Reached Whitney summit 10:45am - Left Whitney summit 11:25am - Reached Muir cairn 11:59am - Reached Muir summit 12:52pm - Reached Muir summit for second time 01:25pm - Started heading down main trail from Muir cairn 01:35pm - Reached trail crest 04:45pm - Reached trailhead Stats: Time from trailhead to Whitney summit (MR): 4 hrs 54 mins Time from Whitney summit to Muir cairn: 40 mins Time from Muir (at the trail) back to trailhead (MT): 3 hrs 20 mins Trailhead to Trailhead: 11 hrs 41 mins posted August 17, 2003 02:46 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was climbing yesterday halfway up the left chute between Iceberg and the notch when some rockfall came down from close to the summit. I don't know if it was dislodged by climbers on the East face or if it was natural or what, but it sure got my attention. The sound that rocks make hurtling through the air from nearly a thousand feet above is a sound I won't soon forget. It's kind of a whirring/chopping noise as they rip through the air. One of the larger rocks (about 8 inches or so) seemed as though it was heading straight for me. Fortunately it missed me by 30 feet or so. There were still more smaller rocks coming down so I jumped for cover to the extreme left of the chute. This was a little more excitement than I wanted and I was a bit paranoid the rest of the way up to the notch. There were two climbers above me who were also caught in this event. One was hit by one or two pebbles but only lightly bruised. Once to the notch, I and some others decided to contour back around to the class 2 route since there was a fair number of climbers in the first chute above the notch. There was also some snow and ice from the thunderstorm the prior day which made things a bit slippery. As for helmets, it's probably a good idea. I'm gonna order one this week. However had one of those larger rocks hit me in the head it wouldn't have mattered whether I had a helmet or not. It would have taken my head clean off. I was rather happy that I had planned on descending the main trail. This incident probably won't prevent me from doing the MR in the future, but I sure won't spend anymore time getting up to the notch than I have to. -Rick