My goal was to climb Mount Muir as a day hike. So I decided to go up via the Mountaineer's Route (MR) instead of the main Whitney Trail. I left L.A. at 1:40pm Saturday and was at the Portal around 5:00pm. I parked close to the trailhead and slept outside in front of my car. Got up and started walking at 2:45am Sunday (Nov. 3, 2002) by headlamp. Ascended the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek (MR). Reached Iceberg Lake around 7:50am. Filled up on water, ate and rested a bit before heading out at 8:30am up the main gully. Conditions on the gully were some snow; the last few hundred feet before the notch I climbed the main gully on the right side as there was decent snow, instead of the scree rubble. Took the first gully up after the notch and did a brief class 4th section before toping out onto the summit plateau. Summited Whitney at 10:39am. Stayed at the summit for 25 minutes trying to get my cell phone to work. Descended via the main Whitney Trail onto to tag Mt Muir. Summited Muir at 11:55am, and was back at the car by 3:50pm. BTW, I hauled up ice axe & crampons and I did not need them at all on Nov 3, 2002.
Mount Muir via the Whitney Trail:Did this as a day hike. Went up via the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek (Mt Whitney's Mountaineers Route). Summited Whitney at 10:39am; stayed there for 25 minutes and then descended via the regular Whitney Trail to bag Mount Muir. I found the start of the west face route of Muir from the Whitney Trail by observing due west the 3 small lakes (I'm looking at these 3 lakes straight on in front of me) just to the right of the western-most Hitchcock Lake (elev: 3540 m). From the base of the actual climb (class 3) to the summit is ~ 80 feet. I signed the purple summit log notepad at 11:55am. Made it back to my car at 3:50pm (a leisurely 13 hrs car-to-car).