Mt. Whitney is the highest summit in the contiguous United States with an elevation of 14,505 feet. The summit of
Mt. Whitney offers tremendous 360 degree panoramic views as far as the eye can see on clear days. One of the reasons for this is because the massive Mt. Whitney is located only 84.6 miles west-northwest of the lowest point in North America at Badwater in Death Valley National Park at 282 feet below sea level. This past weekend I went to hike Mt. Whitney with a group of three buddies in one day. The hike to the summit of Mt. Whitney in one day was the most arduous hike I had ever had done, especially considering the amount of snow still on the trail in late June.
Directions to Trailhead: To get to the Mt. Whitney Portal to hike to the Summit of Mt. Whitney, from Orange County Take the 91 freeway to the 15 freeway. Head north on the 15 freeway going towards Barstow. Merge onto US 395 North and follow it all the way to Lone Pine, California. Once in Lone Pine, California, make a left turn onto the Whitney Portal Road and follow the Whitney Portal Road all the way to the Trailhead to hike to Mt. Whitney. The ball park travel time from Orange County to Lone Pine with no traffic is around 4 hours.
Places to Stay: If you are hiking or climbing to the summit of Mt. Whitney you are going to likely need a place to stay before your hike. There are two chain hotels in Lone Pine (The town closest to Mt. Whitney), a
Best Western and a
Comfort Inn. We stayed at the Best Western our first night before heading to our campsite at the Whitney Portal. Our stay at the Best Western was great and the room was very spacious for a reasonable price. There are other motels in Lone Pine, but these are the two major chain hotels in the town.
Campsites at the Portal: We stayed at the Whitney Portal Campground, which was a great place to camp while attempting to summit Mt. Whitney. There are 44 campsites at the
Whitney Portal Campground. The facilities were well maintained and the scenery is quite majestic considering you have a mountain stream running through the Whitney Portal campground. I would recommend staying here the day before you hike and after your hike, especially considering the price for the campground is very reasonable.
Description of Trail: The Mt. Whitney trail is a heavily traveled trail and is well marked. The hike to the summit of Mt. Whitney is 22 miles roundtrip with about 6,100 vertical feet of elevation gain. In reality hiking from your campsite at the Whitney Portal Campground to the trail makes the hike more like 23 miles roundtrip with 6,600 vertical feet of elevation gain. This is a very strenuous hike to 14,505 feet. You begin your hike at the trailhead near the Whitney Portal Store and go for approximately 3.5 miles to Outpost Camp which sits at an elevation of 10,365 feet. During this section of the hike to the summit of Mt. Whitney you have a couple of river crossings and are rewarded with a beautiful meadow right before Outpost Camp. Outpost Camp is an overnight option for those looking to do Mt. Whitney in more than one day.
Going from Outpost Camp, you travel another approximately 2.5 miles to Trail Camp which sits at an elevation of 12,093 feet and is located just below the 97 - 99 switchbacks. Trail Camp is another overnight option for those looking to do Mt. Whitney in more than one day. Trail Camp is one of the last areas where you can filter water before making your attempt for the summit of Mt. Whitney, so if you need water this is the place to filter it.
From this point on it is approximately 5 miles to the summit of Mt. Whitney and approximately 2.5 - 3 miles to Trail Crest which is at an altitude of 13,600 feet. At trail crest you finally see
Sequoia National Park, which is located on the back side of Mt. Whitney. Once past trail crest the trail becomes even more rugged and rocky than before. It is clearly marked, but it is strenuous going to the summit of Mt. Whitney. This section of the trail is a little deceptive as you can see the summit of Mt. Whitney from the trail, but just keep in mind the summit appears closer than it is.
You must have a permit to hike to the summit of Mt. Whitney using the Mt. Whitney Trail. The Mt. Whitney lottery system starts in February of each year. After the lottery drawing has already been completed, you can check in with the forest service as often as you like to see if any cancellations have been made on a particular day. Follow this
link to the Inyo National Forest website learn more about the Mt. Whitney lottery system and how to apply. Make sure to have your permit mailed in on February 1st, the year you want to hike Mt. Whitney.
Further Thoughts: The hike to the Summit of Mt. Whitney was absolutely majestic. We had perfect weather and the scenery was amazing, especially with the amount of snow that was still on the trail due to the wet winter that we had. Our team all utilized our Crampons and Ice Axes while attempting to make the summit of Mt. Whitney. One of the major things that slowed us down while going down the mountain was the amount of snow melt. The trails became rivers and the snow turned into slush due to the afternoon sun.
Make sure to educate yourself on this hike before you attempt to make it to the summit of Mt. Whitney. Know the weather conditions when you are scheduled to be on the mountain. When we went there was plenty of snow and we used Ice Axes and Crampons. The Whitney Portal Store, click
Here, has links to weather information and a bulletin board that is full of information about conditions on the mountain. During the summer time make sure to watch out for summer thunderstorms while on your hike to the summit of Mt. Whitney as they can develop very rapidly in this mountainous environment. The Whitney Portal Store even has a picture of a tornado touching down near the summit of Mt. Whitney.
If you are doing this hike to the summit of Mt. Whitney in one day like our group did, I would recommend waking up very early. We woke up at 2:45am and then walked to the trailhead from our campsite at the Whitney Portal Campground. We arrived at the trailhead at about 3:25am - 3:30am where we filled up our water bladders. Our group was on the trail by 3:45am. We did not Summit Mt. Whitney until about 1:45pm and we were off the mountain at 9:30pm. We were significantly slowed down because of the amount of snow that was still on the Mt. Whitney Trail in late June. I would imagine during the summer the hike is a little easier and you could likely save a couple hours.
This is a hike that you must train for or else don't even think about attempting to hike to the summit of Mt. Whitney in one day. The training is a necessity especially coming from Southern California as the air is very thin at 14,505 feet. We did three major training hikes that I would recommend for Orange County Hikers to do if they are going to climb Mt. Whitney. Even then it is necessary to spend a night at the Whitney Portal Campground to get acclimated as well as to complete a small training hike the day before your summit attempt. If you are spending multiple days on the mountain it is probably not as crucial to do as many long training hikes. Bottom-line is from the summit of Mt. Whitney you get 360 degree panoramic views that are absolutely amazing!
Food at the Whitney Portal Store: Before you go on your hike to the summit of Mt. Whitney, I would suggest trying a hamburger or cheeseburger at the Whitney Portal Store as they are very good. Also, the morning after your hike you might want to try the breakfast at the Whitney Portal Store. They have a great breakfast, in particular the huge pancake they are known for is pretty tasty. If you order the pancake make sure to split it with someone as it is about the size of a medium pizza and can serve probably 3 - 4 people.
Rating: Elevation Gain: 6,134 ft. (Very Strenuous), Distance: 22 Miles Roundtrip (Very Strenuous). From the campsite area it is more like: Elevation Gain: 6,600 ft. (Very Strenuous), Distance: 23 Miles Roundtrip (Very Strenuous).
Time to Complete the Hike to Mt. Whitney in One Day: If you have trained: Expect to take around 10 hours getting to the summit of Mt. Whitney and 8 hours getting down off the mountain. If you go during the summer time or are in great shape expect to be about 2 - 4 hours quicker that the 18 hour time estimate.
Suggested Training for Mt. Whitney: If you are attempting to summit Mt. Whitney in one day here is what our group did to train. If you are spending multiple nights on Mt. Whitney you can modify the schedule by spending the night on the two San Gorgonio Hikes as doing the long strenuous hikes is not as important.
