Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board TR July 23-26

Since I missed out on the lottery in February, I looked into alternate trails. I had mentioned someday going in from the West, so this was apparently the year for it. I found an exit permit for July 27 and then an Onion Valley entrance for July 23, and started making plans. I've backpacked a few times, but never anything this far on an unfamiliar trail. However, it is the JMT so lots of information is available….
I drove up to Lone Pine on Monday the 22nd, getting a nice truck wash due to heavy rain in the stretch from Olancha to the Visitor's Center. I had looked at the weather again that morning, and things were expected to clear up a little by Wednesday. That turned out to be a little wrong, but part of the adventure. The shuttle ride to OV was a little late, but since I didn't have anything to do except set up camp it was nice to just hang around the Portal for a couple of hours. Monday night we all got some rain, so the next morning began with drying things out before repacking. I managed to hit the trail at 8am, and soon after was feeling the extra weight on my back. But the familiar route to Kearsarge Pass was nice and cool with little sunshine, and plenty of other people were on the trail for conversation and a chance to grab a little standing rest. The view from Kearsarge is one of my favorites - it shows pretty much everything good about the Sierras with the high peaks, blue-green lakes, pine trees and amazing blue skies. All but the last part happened today… I had five days to travel, but felt good enough to push on until just below Forester Pass, a total of 13.5 miles for my first day out.
More drying out the next morning, but once on the trail to Forester I realized I might be a little tired already. However, I just kept walking up and finally reached that rocky pass. Seems you can almost see forever from up there, the vistas both North and South are tremendous. But I was certainly feeling the effects of the elevation, which is a little unusual for me - I don't normally get that until nearly 14,000 feet but I didn't do my two full days of acclimation first. This year there isn't much water between there and Tyndall Creek, but I chatted with the only Ranger I saw about it and he mentioned a little spring just ahead, before the Lake South America junction. Was great to sit on the grass and relax for a while, just what I needed at the time. I camped on the high spot just above Wallace Creek, and got to watch a little bit of sunset in between the clouds.
After filling up on water the next morning, I stopped again near the Crabtree Meadow signs for a break, listening to the pounding noise of the new construction there. I didn't see very many people today until I reached Guitar Lake, which seemed to just appear out of nowhere while walking past treelike. A two-hour break there was great, including some rather frigid swimming and rinsing of the clothes. Since it was still early, I headed up the trail to the spots near the MMWT junction, thinking that would be a nicer starting place for the summit on the next day. Good thing it was cool, it's tough to carry enough water for an overnight all the way up there. I actually got fixated on the trail sign and walked right past the camp sites, so had to backtrack a couple hundred yards. Once again I got to see only a short piece of sunset.
Hikers started walking below me around 3am, a pretty steady stream for about 90 minutes. I finally got up around 6am and hit the trail at 7. I put a trash bag over my pack and left it with about 30 others at the junction and headed upwards. After a few days at altitude, I felt really good and not carrying any weight was even better! I reached the summit just about 8:30, right when it began to snow. It was very cold and windy up there, so after a short while I retreated to the hut, where I joined up with about eight scouts from Bakersfield. We chatted for a while and then took pictures and headed back down. There was a bit of rain and plenty of wind until I got to the windows.
Walking down the switchbacks, I was really looking forward to filling up on water at number 23 and then making some hot chocolate at Trail Camp. But when I got there it was raining again, so I just kept on walking. About every time I thought I might be able to stop for a while it began raining again so I just kept walking. As I reached Outpost Camp it turned into a downpour, which of course quickly drenched me. I had steady rain all the way down to the Portal, but of course the burger and beer was worth the walk.

Stuff I think of:
I was really expecting the JMT to be bigger, but it's just a single-track as far as I could see. Since it gets so much traffic I figured the walking pathway would be enough for two people side by side but it's not the case.
A guy saw me getting water out of Wallace Creek and asked me which direction Whitney was located. I saw him much later that day arriving at Guitar Lake.
One person ascending near the windows was hugging the wall - I asked if he was concerned about the exposure. He was, so I suggested that the part coming up might not be the trail for him.
Saw a guy walking his dog without a leash at the JMT junction. Big black Lab, of course the owner said she wouldn't hurt anyone. I told him dogs were not allowed in the National Park, and said m "yeah, I saw that on the sign back there"… and kept on walking.
A couple I saw near Bighorn Park were looking for the rest of their 10-person group, they had got separated earlier. Mentioned the others were from Ohio and might be walking pretty slow. I suggested that since it was raining they stop at Outpost rather than further up the trail, and I saw the rest of their group well below the log bridge.
Had a Crazy Jack sighting, just an orange-jacketed blur going past me on the way down as I reached Outpost.
This is an awesome walk. Sometimes in the middle of it I think about how hard it is, but I would definitely do it again. Perhaps I pushed a little too much, completing it in four days, while more rest and sightseeing might have been even more fun.
The people at the Portal are the best.

Pictures below:


Starting up the Kearsarge Pass trail.


Bullfrog Lake, just before joining up with the JMT.


Bubbs Creek.


One of the only clear mornings this week, full moon just setting.


Forester Pass up there. This one kicked me around a little.


Break time near Tyndall Creek.


From this side you can really see how massive Whitney is.


Sunset alpenglow on Mt Russell.


Timberline Lake.


Leaving Guitar Lake.

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Sunset from my tent, last night on the trail.

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Sunrise over the Hitchcock Lakes.

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Summit hut view.

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Actually had the summit to myself for a few cold minutes.

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Looking back from below Trail Crest.

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Mirror Lake. Not so much today with wind and rain.

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Whitney from the trail near the Portal.

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Reward.

Nice TR, nice pictures, yummy looking reward! Sounds like you enjoyed yourself, even with the weather.

JeffH: I'm pretty new at multiday hiking. What did you use to navigate while on the trail. Maps, handheld GPS, maps? I would like to do that same hike some day myself. Thanks.

There is nothing like going in the back way to Whitney.

For one, as you mentioned, you don't have to screw around with the lottery and/or reservations. (40% of exit permits are held as walk-ins just like any other TH.) For a solo hiker, it's pretty much guaranteed you're gonna get any date/entry TH of your choosing just by showing up in LP.

For two, it gives you a few days to further acclimatize - IMO, it's much more fun to be out walking on the PCT/JMT rather than either hanging around a TH or journeying part way up the main trail.

I've done all 3 majors: Cottonwood pass, Army pass & Kearsarge. Kearsarge is great since Forester gives you a little taste of what's coming. Cottonwood (pass, not lakes - the lakes are Army) is the fastest. I did it in 2 nights/3 days last month. And Army allows you to hit Langley on the way - I did that a few years ago.

Coming from the south, you can also choose between taking the PCT all the way, or heading x-c through Miter and down the Crabtree drainage. It's all good, and sort of amazing to think that this kind of country is only 4 hours from SoCal.

This was my longest hike by myself so I can admit to a little nervousness about the scope of the whole thing. But it is pretty easy, at least in Summer when no snow is on the ground. Since it is the JMT, I saw at least 20 people per day even though I hiked solo.
I printed off the relevant pages of a topo map from a guy on the JMT Yahoo group named Halfmile. They were pretty nice since they showed water crossings, availability and campsites plus bear boxes. I was able to use those for landmarks to get a really good idea of where I was every day. Forgot to laminate them so they were pretty wet while descending the main trail but by then I was on cruise control.

Great report, thanks for sharing! Do you know your total mileage on foot for the trip?

This one is right about 50 miles. I've seen other reports with numbers from 49-53. Maybe they included walking to the parking lot at the Portal...