Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mountaineer Route Questions

My son and I (ages 17 and 43) will be making a hiking trip to the Sierra's in July. The main part of our trip will be a 5 or 6 night backpacking loop in the high country of Yosemite. We will be flying into and out of Las Vegas, so I was thinking about trying to climb Whitney again. We did this on the regular trail as a day hike a couple of years ago, but this year's trip was not conceived until well after the permit period was over. I read this message board prior to the original trip and found it very useful, so I thought I would ask for help again.

So my questions:

1. Is a day hike on the mountaineer's route the only way you can climb Whitney without a permit?

2. Given this year seems to be light on snow in the Sierra's, will we have to deal with much snow on the MR in late July? Our day hike summit would likely be July 27 if we do this. I really don't want to deal with a lot of snow and ice on that steep climb at the end.

3. Assuming route finding is not an issue and the hike is done in late July, how much time is required to day hike the MR vs. the regular trail? On our original hike of the regular trail, we didn't want to depart in the dark, so we pushed a fairly hard pace going up. We made the summit in a little over 4 hours and took our time coming down for a round trip time of about 8 hours. I am assuming the MR route would not take much longer in clear conditions, but it would be very helpful to have the opinion of somebody that has done both routes.

4. How hard is it to follow the MR? Some posts seem to indicate this may be a challenge in some spots (getting on the ledges, heading to UBSL, etc.) Since this is a day hike and we will not be with a veteran, I don't want to take a chance on losing too much time. I am considering buying a GPS and utilizing MR coordinates posted on the internet for any places where we are in doubt.

5. If you go without a permit, is it OK to descend via the regular trail? I think the answer is "no" officially, but do the rangers cut you any slack on this? If for some reason it takes longer than expected to summit, it would be nice to have the option to go down the regular trail. I know we can descend it in 3 to 4 hours at most based on prior experience.

6. Any other helpful advice for my situation?

Thanks in advance!

RKS,

The MR itself in general is visually straightforward as seen from Whitney Portal Road. The information contained here and at summitpost.com has plenty of good information to peruse. In addition, from a climb this past winter, I put together a video that describes the MR all the way to the top (www.customflix.com/205683). Although shot during winter, the main route segments are the same.

About snow conditions, based upon recent reports, there's still plenty of snow up there causing plenty of people to turn back even on the main Whitney Trail. I was in the Eastern Sierras over Memorial Day weekend and was surprised to see so much snow in the entire Sierra range. Keep reading the messages since the good people on this message board are very conscientious on posting up to date conditions which are very helpful.

Are you saying that you did the 11-mile Whitney trail to the summit in 4 hours? You might check your numbers, but assuming you are right, that's incredible. Although the 4.7-mile MR is shorter, you do ascend more quickly putting different demands on your body than the mail Whitney Trail. Spending a week in Yosemite's high country will definitely help in conditioning yourselves.

About permits, I only have been in the Whitney area during winter months so I'm not an expert on the permit requirements during the rest of the year. (I'm one of those winter junkies.) If you don't get the answers you need, call the Ranger Station or the Whitney Portal Store. Even if you don't need a permit for a one-day MR climb, it would be a nicer experience overall not have to "rush" to the peak and back, especially for safety's sake. You'll want to be careful in the Chute, the most exposed part of the MR, above the Notch. I understand the MR is pretty busy this summer.

Hope some of this helps. Good luck and have a great and a super safe hike/climb in the Sierras!

gosc

RKS

You will need a permit to enter the Wilderness area. Regardless of the trail you hike or the amount of time you spend on that trail.

If you are not trying to get a permit on a weekend or holiday, you stand a good chance of getting one by showing up at the Lone Pine Ranger Station at the appointed hour… Check the web site, or talk to a Lone Pine Ranger, I think it is 10:00 am. This is when they hand out unclaimed permits.

If this does not work, there are other trail heads that will lead to Mt. Whitney Like Owens Valley that you should be able to get permits for. These are just longer hikes. You could even do the hike from Yosemite to the Whitney Portal, a 210 mile hike, but you better plan on two weeks.

Things to think about for your next trip.

Actually, you don't need a permit to day hike the MR. In fact, it has been stated numerous times on this board that you can day hike the MR to the summit of Whitney and descend the main trail back to the Portal without a permit.