In my quest to climb the highest point and peaks of the continental 48, Mt. Whitney is the tallest at 14,505 feet. Why not knock this one off early in the process was my thinking in constructing a somewhat hasty trip?
This is not my picture but is common view of the mountain. This makes it look a bit harder than it really is, but the mountain is impressive, and for first-timers, pretty intimidating. We had a fair amount of snow cover on our trip but not quite to the extent shown here.
I have been considering this hike for a little while but there is a permit requirement to access the mountain from March through October. I read a lot about it and the basic takeaway was it was a very long and laborious effort, but doable in one day. So with that information, I convinced my youngest son to go with me and we drove there on the first Saturday of November.
We arrived at the center where you put in your permit pretty late but got there just before closing time. We then went into Lone Pine and went to a local outfitter store called Elevation. The guys there were very helpful and provided a number of good suggestions. We ended up renting walking poles which were a lifesaver on both the icy sections and coming back down; I ended up buying my own pair after this experience because I became convinced they were extremely helpful. We got crampons, good UV sunglasses and a number of different items. They recommended that we get going about 2 AM if we were going to day hike it; purchased headlamps as well. This seemed awfully early based on the mileage, but we took their recommendation seriously.
We decided we would do a test 'drive' to the trailhead so we didn't need to figure it out at some crazy hour in the night. You climb a fair height in your car and after a while, we got to the trailhead. We saw a guy that had just come down and he said he day hiked but was just getting down around 7:30 PM and in the dark. He said he started around 2 AM. He looked to be an above-average hiker so we were now convinced we needed to start early.
We then had dinner at a ribs place and ate a lot in preparation for our long day ahead. The food was good but my son is not a great eater and he struggled a little with his somewhat 'slimy' ribs he ordered. We went to a store and picked up some more trail snacks for the hike.
We went back to the Whitney Portal and did a test run on getting dressed and ready to get out the door. We then went to bed with the anticipation of waking up at 2 AM and being at the trailhead no later than 3 AM to start the hike.
Unfortunately, my son soon after shutting the lights off developed a bad stomach ache. He ended up throwing up a few times and had a little diarrhea. Unfortunately, we did not get much sleep. And there was some uncertainty as to whether we were actually going to be able to make a go of it with my son's condition.
The alarm went off at 2 AM and we decided we would try to get a little more sleep. We ended up getting up at about 3 AM, got ready, packed up and drove to the trailhead. We had a little hitch getting there as we had a seed of doubt we were on the right road and did some backtracking. We got on the trailhead about 4 AM and we were just going to see how it went and how my son's stomach was going to handle it. We hiked a few miles through the dark and the sun began to rise. My son's condition was getting better. We kept pushing and got to Outpost Camp and Mirror Lake area. We started to run into snow and ice and eventually decided we need to put on our crampons.
I took this on our way up and about two hours into the hike. We really began to see what was around us and began to see some progress.
We got to a place where we could see Consultation Lake and really see Mt. Whitney as well. We were getting close to the 99 switchbacks. The weather was pretty good this morning and we were optimistic. We finally got to the 'chains' and this was pretty treacherous. There was a lot of snow and essentially one foot hole in the snow to navigate through this stretch. And where there were not any chains, there was a steep snowfield for about 1000 feet down. It definitely forced you to be quite careful.
We kept pressing up the switchbacks and wanted to hit the Trail Crest by 2 PM. We met this guy who was not dressed properly and had run out something to drink. We hiked with him for a little while but eventually passed and separated with him. We were starting to get tired and the weather was turning for the worse. Our legs were starting to get quite 'rubbery' and we were getting nervous about the descent particularly around this very narrow snow section near the chains. We got to the Trail Crest a little after 2 PM and talked to a gentleman who said that the peak was only another two miles but would take about two hours. We debated fairly vigorously about whether we should keep going or turn back. We were pretty tired, but at the same time, so close. A decision between what we want and what was smart.
This was actually on the way down and we had gotten through the majority of the snow. While the decision to turn back was a very hard one and anguishing, it was the right decision. We were happy to be at this point on our way out.
We decided to turn back. Ultimately a smart decision, but filled with lots of regret. We worked our way through the narrow and treacherous sections of snow near the chains. We were happy to be through this section safely. We worked our way down. The trail seemed to go forever. I could only think about my condition had we pressed our way to the top. We got back to our car at about dusk and very happy to be back and sitting down.
With some time between this attempt and penning this report, my basic conclusion is that this was overly ambitious. Our plans were firmed up only a couple of days prior to our actual attempt. And while I think we could do it as a day trip, it is long and a bit of a marathon. We in fact needed to start at 2 AM as suggested. Our physical condition, particularly my son, was not ideal due to our pre-hike dinner and lack of sleep. Everything being equal, we were happy with the attempt.
The new plan is getting a permit when there is little to no snow and maybe do an overnight. With these two differences, I am confident we will conquer the highest peak int the lower 48 states, Mt. Whitney!