Any Tips in Mt Whitney?

[donkiluminate]

So I won a lottery permit for Mt Whitney for late August. Has anybody hiked it and if so do you have any tips/advice/recommendations?

 

[LarryBoy]

how well acclimated will you be to the elevation? The hike itself is super easy, just a lot of vert, and a loooong time spent in the thin air.

 

[TheMountainRabbit]

Which route are you taking and are you planning on an overnight or out-and-back in a day? The main route is very straightforward, but - to @LarryBoy's point - the elevation can be pretty intense if you're going straight up from Lone Pine.

When I did it we'd already hit Langley, some 13'ers, and camped ~10k' for a few nights, so Whitney itself wasn't bad at all. We did descend via the main route though.

 

[fossana]

This is the best resource for Whitney hikers, run by Doug T et al, the owners of the popular Whitney Portal Store: http://www.mountwhitneyforum.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=79700#Post79700

 

[donkiluminate]

This is the best resource for Whitney hikers, run by Doug T et al, the owners of the popular Whitney Portal Store: http://www.mountwhitneyforum.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=79700#Post79700

This is fantastic. Thanks!

 

[donkiluminate]

how well acclimated will you be to the elevation? The hike itself is super easy, just a lot of vert, and a loooong time spent in the thin air.

Which route are you taking and are you planning on an overnight or out-and-back in a day? The main route is very straightforward, but - to @LarryBoy's point - the elevation can be pretty intense if you're going straight up from Lone Pine.

When I did it we'd already hit Langley, some 13'ers, and camped ~10k' for a few nights, so Whitney itself wasn't bad at all. We did descend via the main route though.

Thanks for the input. I'm doing an overnighter but I might plan to get there a day early and try to acclimatize. I'm going to organize some training hikes for the guys I'm going with but I'm thinking it might be good just to give us some extra time to adjust.

 

[donkiluminate]

Hi folks, I resurrecting my old post so I can ask for some additional tips. Can anyone help answer the following questions?

• I'll be going the end of August. I'm usually a desert backpacker so I'm a little lite on cold weather gear. Does anyone have any recommendations on jackets and or any other cold weather clothes?

• My plan is to spend the night at Base Camp and then summit the next day. Can you leave your tent and other nonessential gear when you summit and then pick it up on the way down?

• Lastly, I've seen people say they leave anywhere from 2 AM or 5 AM to hit the summit. For those of you who have hiked Mt. Whitney, what time did you leave and did you feel lake it gave you too much or too little time?

Any feedback would be helpfu.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

Hi folks, I resurrecting my old post so I can ask for some additional tips. Can anyone help answer the following questions?

• I'll be going the end of August. I'm usually a desert backpacker so I'm a little lite on cold weather gear. Does anyone have any recommendations on jackets and or any other cold weather clothes?

• My plan is to spend the night at Base Camp and then summit the next day. Can you leave your tent and other nonessential gear when you summit and then pick it up on the way down?

• Lastly, I've seen people say they leave anywhere from 2 AM or 5 AM to hit the summit. For those of you who have hiked Mt. Whitney, what time did you leave and did you feel lake it gave you too much or too little time?

Any feedback would be helpfu.

1. I usually just have a fleece, down jacket and rain/windbreaker in the mountains during the summer, and have never needed more than that.
2. I left my tent and gear in camp and then packed it up after coming down from the summit, and it seemed like most people do that.
3. I left at 4am from Trail Camp so I could watch the sunrise from Trail Crest and was too early and ended up waiting for a while for the sun to come up before I proceeded on to the other side of the ridge towards the summit. After summiting, packing up camp and heading back down, I arrived at Whitney Portal by 2pm.

 

[donkiluminate]

1. I usually just have a fleece, down jacket and rain/windbreaker in the mountains during the summer, and have never needed more than that.
2. I left my tent and gear in camp and then packed it up after coming down from the summit, and it seemed like most people do that.
3. I left at 4am from Trail Camp so I could watch the sunrise from Trail Crest and was too early and ended up waiting for a while for the sun to come up before I proceeded on to the other side of the ridge towards the summit. After summiting, packing up camp and heading back down, I arrived at Whitney Portal by 2pm

Thanks! For some reason I'm having a hard time feeling prepared so I appreciate your input.

 

[Bob]

Maybe you will get above the summers smoke.......

 

[IntrepidXJ]

Thanks! For some reason I'm having a hard time feeling prepared so I appreciate your input.

You can ready my full trip report here, in case that's helpful...

Mount Whitney: Top of the Contiguous USA // ADVENTR.co

Friday – Tuesday, August 22-26, 2014 Mount Whitney- at 14,508 feet it is the highest mountain peak in the contiguous United States. While I have always thought about climbing to the summit of…

adventr.co

 

[donkiluminate]

You can ready my full trip report here, in case that's helpful...

Mount Whitney: Top of the Contiguous USA // ADVENTR.co

Friday – Tuesday, August 22-26, 2014 Mount Whitney- at 14,508 feet it is the highest mountain peak in the contiguous United States. While I have always thought about climbing to the summit of…

adventr.co

Thanks, that is helpful. I work in finance so I'm that guy who needs to know every little detail and plan for every little thing or contingency.