An odd coincidence had the Sierra Challenge 2007 - Day 9 heading up the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek for an ascent of Mt. Hale on the same day that I chose to be the 35th anniversary of my first ascent of Mt. Whitney. Since I had DNFs for every peak I'd ever tried in the Sierra Challenge, I decided that this would be the perfect time to combine a finish with an ascent of the West Slope of Mt. Whitney as an added bonus peak.

After climbing Mt. Hale, Mike Mellin and I headed down for a look at the West Slope of Mt. Whitney. From our vantage point above Guitar Lake, it looked like 2000+ feet of scree and talus that we really didn't want to have to deal with.

We headed down to Guitar Lake for lunch. Afterwards we continued on to the summit of Mt. Whitney via the John Muir Trail. We descended via the Main Trail.

There are 49 photos in the gallery.