Mt McAdie

Notes by piero scaruffi | Travel resources | Hiking in California
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Mt McAdie (4206m) is located in the Mt Whitney area of the Eastern Sierra. McAdie has two obvious summits, the higher one being the northern one. There is also a tiny middle peak that you can see only from some angles.

There are three ways to summit McAdie in one day.
1. From the Meysan Lakes trailhead
2. From Arc Pass
3. From Whitney Pass and Crabtree Pass

Route 1 is very long but avoids the Whitney Zone (and therefore does not require a permit).
Route 2 is the shortest but it implies going over Arc Pass, a devastating route and it requires a Whitney Zone permit
Route 3 is mostly class 2 but it loses elevation between the two passes and it requires a Whitney Zone permit
Whether you climb McAdie from the east (route 1 and 2) or from the south (route 3), the last section on the northern peak is the same, and that's class 3 and not trivial.

Video from Mt McAdie

From Meysan Lakes trailhead to Arc Pass

The Meysan Lakes trail starts from the last Whitney campground before Whitney Portal (at about 2400 meters of elevation). You have to park the car on the road and walk through the campground, looking for the trailhead that is actually hidden among summer homes. If you start hiking before sunrise, this is not trivial at all. To make matters worse, the trail crosses the paved road one more time: walk a bit uphill and look on your right for the second start of the trail.
Parking area:

The trailhead is off this road hidden in the campground:

The trailhead:

The trailhead:

Very long switchbacks (that will be very annoying on the way down) take you around the wall in front of you and into the valley created by the creek that comes down the lake. The trail ends at a meadow.

See the page on Mt Mallory for how to reach the Mallory-LeConte plateau.

Once you are on the plateau, head west (right) along the plateau, coasting Irvine to the right and Mallory to the left. This will take you to a class-2 chute that descends 250 meters to the Arc Pass plateau. Arc Pass will be to the right, slightly uphill, McAdie right in front of you.

McAdie from the Mallory-Irvine saddle:

From Arc Pass climb the face of the southern peak, which is very visible and relatively easy. At some point you have to move right into the steep slippery chute that separates the southern peak and the tiny middle peak. Once at the top of the chute between the southern peak and the tiny middle peak, descend 40 meters and turn right around the middle peak, ascend to the top of the chute between the middle peak and the nothern peak.

The route viewed from Mt Irvine:


Video from Arc Pass

Then see Climbing the northern peak (below).

From Whitney Portal via Arc Pass

Arc Pass can also be reached via the Whitney trail. This is the straightforward route but it requires the permit for the Whitney Zone. Hike the Whitney trail to the signs "Trailside No Camping". The second sign (as of 2024) is where the trail to Consultation Lake used to start (mostly obliterated in 2024).

Leave the Whitney trail and coast the creek to the right, without crossing it. Ascend the chute next to the creek.

Then descend it and look for an opening in the vegetation around the creek.

Cross the creek there and head for the gap between the hill in front of you.

This takes you to the southwestern tip of Consultation Lake.

Arc Pass from Consultation Lake:

Follow clockwise the southern shore of the lake to the broad snow field. Walk over the snow until you can leave the snow. Arc Pass is not a pass at all. It is just a very steep wall of loose rocks. You have the choice of a thousand different routes up to the pass. Whichever route you choose, reaching Arc Pass is the worst part of the hike. The best way to climb Arc Pass is probably the rightmost chute, the only one that doesn't require jumping to another chute, and also usually the first one that is fully snow-free. You can stay near the rocks and avoid some of the slippery scree and loose boulders, but it's hell anyway.

Once at the top of Arc Pass, aim for the face of the southern peak and follow the instructions of Route 1.

McAdie from Arc Pass:

From Whitney Portal via Whitney Pass

If you are willing to deal with Whitney Zone bureaucracy, McAdie's west face (facing Mt Whitney) is easier. Hike the Whitney trail to Trail Camp. Leave the trail where the tent city is and hike straight up the face of the mountain to the left/southeast of the trail.

There is a steep chute slightly to the left of this face but it's so steep that it is not worth your while. Once at the ridge, there's an obvious way to cross over to the other side. You're on Whitney Pass at 4040 meters of elevation (although the real old pass might be the top of the steep chute to your left) and Crabtree Pass is very visible in the valley below and McAdie is very visible on top left of Crabtree Pass. To your right, you can see the crest and the sandy plateau that stretch all the way northwest to Mount Marsh (4130 m) and Discovery Pinnacle (4192 m).

Crabtree Pass and Crabtree Lake:

Descend to the lake below (Crabtree Lake, although not named on topomaps). When you are almost at the lake, it gets easy to climb Crabtree Pass, then turn left to go up straight towards McAdie's northern peak. There is a clearly visible wide chute or you can stay on the rocky ridge to its left.

If you scout carefully, you'll be able to climb solid rock all the way to the top of the chute without having to deal with the slippery scree and loose boulders of the chute itself. You reach the same place as route 1 and 2: the gap between the middle and northern peak. Then see Climbing the northern peak (below).
Trail Camp 3h30'
Whitney Pass 6h
Crabtree Pass 7h45'
Summit 9h30'

Route from Whitney Pass:

Climbing the northern peak

All three routes take you to the gap between the middle and northern peaks. The northern peak appears to be class 4-5 but the trick is to turn around it clockwise until you are on the side of Crabtree Lake. In 2024 there were cairns marking the route. Once you are on the side of Crabtree Lake, there's a route up the northern peak which is never more than class 3. Look carefully and you'll always find a move that is no more than class 3 and pretty safe. At the very top this statement seems wildly optimistic but look carefully and you'll see that there is a way. If the cairns are gone, mark the territory because it's not trivial to find the same route down without cairns.

Note of the descents

If you descend to Crabtree Pass and then climb Whitney Pass to Trail Camp, there is no particular danger, just the nightmare of having to climb Whitney Pass from Crabtree Lake on slippery scree.

If you descend towards Arc Pass, make sure you don't take the chute between the middle peak and the northern peak, which is extremely steep and slippery. The safe chute is the one between the middle peak and the southern peak, and stay to the right in order to enter the eastern face of the southern peak, which is all class-2 to Arc Pass.