Lone Pine Peak Birthday Climb 2011

 “On your birthday just think that you become young enough to do anything instead of thinking that you are old enough now”.
~Anonymous

Lone Pine Peak 3What more could a girl ask for on her birthday than an overnight backpack and peak climb? Lone Pine Peak was the perfect quick trip. We decided to hike the 5 mile, 3000 foot elevation gain section to Grass Lake in the evening. This was so perfect with great views, rock formations, and vegetation the whole way. The night sky was amazing and we had fun hiking with headlamps and scored a perfect campsite nestled by Grass Lake.

Early morning light accompanied our early morning start. So great.
Mount IrvineThe route lead us up the 1500 feet elevation gain of northwest chute above Grass Lake.
View Mount Whitney, Meysan LakeThe views from the summit plateau were amazing.

Quartz duckThe summit is reached after passing a couple false summits.

After relaxing at the summit on this perfect day, we headed down the mountain looking forward to a delicious burger and fries at the Whitney Portal Store. Just right.

TRIP DETAILS
LENGTH 12 miles round trip
ELEVATION 12,944
ELEVATION GAIN 5000 feet
TRAIL HEAD Meysan Lakes trail head at Whitney Portal 11 miles outside the town of Lone Pine, CA
DIFFICULTY Easy route finding, moderate to strenuous, class 2 climbing
BEST TIME TO HIKE Fall, spring, and summer
ROUTE Northwest ridge, head south from Grass Lake to the class 2 talus chute on the peak’s northwest side, climb for 1,500 vertical feet, head left at the summit plateau Note: there are a couple of false summits on the way to the top
FUN FACTS:

This peak was recently featured in BACKPACKER Magazine as one of America’s classic peaks without the crowds

View all photos on Flickr

And if you haven’t seen enough… here is a virtual panoramic video from the summit.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcP_0BXyHsc?rel=0&hd=1&w=853&h=480]

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8 Comments

  1. Happy Birthday Rockin! Love your journal. You’ve inspired me to take up backpacking again and I recently completed a week long hike through Evolution Valley!

    “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” Dr. Seuss

    • Thank you Pearl! Boy you picked the most scenic area to backpack. I hope it was an amazing and safe trip… and I am wondering and hoping are you are dreaming of your next trip? I think that is half the fun, the planning. Thank you for your kind words!
      Rockin’

      • Rockin – I did the trip thru Evolution Valley with my brother. We are both in our 50’s and it was a trip of a lifetime! Everything worked out just great. We even met Larry and Lucy Mann (Early Girl and Water Boy) near Evolution Lake. That was a nice bonus since I’ve been following their trail journal too. Next summer I plan some section hikes of the JMT/PCT with some hiking girlfriends. Thanks for all the tips on gear and food. I’ve made lots of adjustments and can now go farther and lighter 🙂 I also tried the Spirutein and mixed it with some Tang. Tastes like an Orange Julius! Pearl

        • That is so great! Once you have had a little lighter pack on a multi-day trip it is very hard to go back to feeling so weighted down. You also get the added bonuses of less aches, pains, and injuries.

          What a great idea of adding Tang to the morning mixture, especially if you are not adding the instant espresso. Drinking the protein drink with a breakfast bar in the morning was the best new food I added this summer. I even added the drink to lunch if it was going to be an especially long day with lots of elevation gain. Thank you so much for sharing. Super stuff.

  2. Georgette Theotig

    I loved your photos and video of Lone Pine peak! Happy Birthday, and I hope you enjoyed some coconut on the climb or at the top!

    Georgette

    • Thank you. It is so fun having visuals to remember the special day! and …you bet a BIG bag of Coconut M&Ms. Yummmmmm. Any chance I could feature one of your very special drawings on this blog? I think everyone would love an artist’s rendition of our sacred Sierras. It is asking a lot, but I can always try.

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