High Sierra Topix

I headed up to the east side of the Sierra @sunrise Saturday morning, 4/20/2013. What was originally planned as a weekend trip, had to be cut down to a one day rush trip because of other commitments, but it definitely left me eager for more. Too bad I have to work for a living! Surprisingly, the road to Whitney Portal was open, so I took advantage of the relatively small numbers of people around to hike up the Whitney trail about 4 miles and back without the crowds. There is some snow cover as you get close to 10000', but much less than normal, no mosquitoes yet, and I am sure, it will be melting off quickly, once the temperatures rise to summer levels.Lone Pine Lake(10000') still frozen. I bailed out about 2pm from the Portal, and quickly drove south on 395, then over rough dirt roads to the South Fork of the Kern River. Fishing season opens Saturday, April 27, and I wanted to hike in a few miles to the river to make sure the water conditions justified investing next weekend in the Domeland Wilderness. Thumbs up! Arrived home in Bakersfield @11pm, exhausted, but rejuvenated.

Thanks Rich for the TR and photo's, really shows how little snow there is on the
eastern side.

Thanks for the intel. I'm hopefully heading up the area this weekend and am considering checking out some of the Whitney trail. It appears to be pretty open til about Mirror Lake from the reports I've seen. I'll be sure to report back with more info.