Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board newbie wants to sunrise summit BAD IDEA?

Some of my friends in my group want to do a sunrise summit in August, is this a good idea? We have never down this trail and are new to back packing, any advise would be great.

Have you entered the permit lottery? First, you need to get a permit to even hike the trail.

Next, Mt. Whitney is not a good place to start beginning backpacking. The trail is steep, and learning how to pack light is critical. Packing light is something you learn.

Are you familiar with altitude sickness and how to prevent it?

And last, most people, even experienced hikers and backpackers, are happy to make the summit at high noon.

A very few people climb the summit for a sunrise. But they are probably more experienced, and probably have hiked Whitney before.

...sorry to throw a cloud over your party, but hiking Mt. Whitney is not a picnic. You need to REALLY prepare.

Have you tried a midnight hike of Half Dome in Yosemite? More people do that, and it will give you quite a similar thrill. (Feel free to ask any backpacking questions you need here. Lots of people will give you helpful answers.)

I agree with Steve. The Mt. Whitney trail is a good trail and easy to follow if you have been on it before. But I have wandered off the trail a few times hiking at night. Some have lost the trail a little during the day.

Certainly a first time sunrise summit would not be an easy thing to accomplish.

I agree with the previous posts. Mount Whitney is not something that you can easily plan for, because there are so many things that can go wrong, even in the course of a single day. You have a better chance of making the top on subsequent trips than on your first trip because certain decisions become second nature. I take it that nobody in your group has hiked the main trail before.

On my first two day trips with first timers, I ended up coming down in the dark to accommodate somebody who had problems (see previous visits ). One person had to be airlifted out of Trail Camp.

At least hike up to Cottonwood Lakes a couple of times before you go. Get some more experience under your belt. See how your friends react to altitude. My buddy's cousin went up to 11,000ft at Cottonwood Lakes and he woke up to the gurgling sounds of his lungs filling up with fluid. He obviously had to go down immediately. Some people can be really sensitive to altitude. Also make sure you know how to put up your tents. Being tired, grouchy and having a splitting headache from the altitude makes a simple process of putting up a tent turn into a nightmarish chore. Pack lite!

It is the only way I will summit Mt. Whitney during the summer months. It is spectacular.

What are your plans? Is it a day hike? Backpack? The Main Mt. Whitney Trail, The Mountaineering Route or an alternate trailhead. Newbie is a nebulous term...are you just unfamiliar with Whitney or hiking and backpacking.

If it a day hike, you will have to break the rules to be on the summit at dawn. This mean you have head up the trail before midnight unless you are speed hiker. The rules say you cannot head up the trail until 12:01 AM on your permit date.

A MWWT Backpacker, it isn't much of a problem get up at midnight and hike up a well marked trail.

An alternate trail hiker, you start about the same time from around Guitar Lake and you will be on the summit by dawn. The trail here can be a bit ambiguous but if you concentrate it should not be a problem.

I will not offer comment on the MR since I've up only gone about 1/2 up it in the winter.

The first time I climbed Mt. Whitney, I spent the night on the summit. I was 16.

Saw the sunrise. Two, actually.

I think it is a great idea. Be sure you get into the permit process.
I would break the trip up into two or three days.
Plan to stay at trail camp first, if you can all get there with no problem, then discuss your options of a sunrise on the summit.
A sunrise on the summit is spectacular.
Please also use this site to ask alot of questions. Wonderful, helpful and very knowledgeable people here.
Good Luck.

Bob -- I have to dig out your story and re-read it (always worth the time). I thought you only got up early enough for the second sunrise. You must not have discovered the Piotrowski start yet.

Get an overnight permit and do the ascent by moonlight. (I haven't seen anywhere in the rules that you have to camp; if so, just throw a tarp on the ground at Trail Camp and say that's you overnight spot.) Hiking this mountain by the light of the moon is fantastic, and seeing the sunrise from the summit is spectacular.

I'll bet that if it's successful, you'll be back to hike to the summit for a sunset and sunrise.

Shoot for the full moon.

The first time I did Mt Whitney, I did it via the High Sierra Trail as a multi-day trip and camped on the summit. Wonderful experience. Just pace yourself.

the moonlight hike is a great hike. since you are new to the area and presumibly altitude as well I would recommend adding a member to your group who has done the trail - it will save valuable time in route finding.

you have not lived until you have seen the sunrise from the top - when the purple and red lights shine through the windows to light the western valley it will take your breath away - truly a "wow" moment

Danielle:

No one has brought up the subject of how brutal the cold can be at the summit even in the middle of the day, fatally cold to be exact.

Last Labor day summit temp was minus 10 degrees at sun up as reported by a young man coming up from Crabtree. One lady told me a few years back, also around Labor Day, remnants of a hurricane swept through Trail Camp and the temp at dawn was minus 20, frozen water bottles, frozen hikers. I think Whitney's summit can get into the jet stream at times. not sure, you experts out there know? I know I've looked DOWN on the clouds from just trail camp before.

If the altitude doesn't get you, make sure the cold doesn't. I heard those last hikers lost on Mt. Hood were also inexperienced, their only experience had been the climbing wall at REI! You have the whole summer to practice on this mountain, no show permits abound and are readily available.

When we slept in the hut, the sunrise was spectacular.. I am sure it was about 25 degrees outside. The cool thing about it was we were alone, without a soul in sight.

<a href="http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1225915277061435028RbERdG">Sunrise on Mt. Whitney Summit</a>


There is a lot of information available on this board about backpacking and conditions on the trail..

Certainly a sunrise on the summit is possible, if you leave trail camp early enough. It is cold but worth it.

Do your homework and come prepared. As has been mentioned, Mt Whitney is not a beginner hike any time of year.

I think I'll claim to be from Missouri on the summit temperature business.

Archival weather data are readily available at nearby Cottonwood Lakes (elev. 10150', 9 miles from Whitney as the crow flies).
http://cdec2.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryFx?CWD
The low temperature at Cottonwood Lakes on 9/4/06 was 41. The low for 8/30 - 9/10/06 was 29.

I am, to say the least, highly skeptical of any claim of -10 degrees F on the Whitney summit last Labor Day.

Alan, thanks, starting with your data:

using known adiabatic cooling rate of 3-5 degrees fall per 1,000 feet rise, a 10,000 ft Cottonwood min temp of 41 would at the Whitney 14,000 ft summit be 41 subtract 12 to 20 degrees = 21 to 29 deg F.

Even using the worst case scenario of 8/30-9/10 min temp of 29, that translates to 9 to 17 deg F.

I suspect the -10 deg report was actually
(A) +10 degrees,
(B) an exaggeration,
(C) or if true was due to extreme mixing of atmospheric layers so that the 3-5 degree F adiabatic cooling rate was incorrect.

Choose wisely. Harvey

Good advice, though I must comment that I didn't find the Whitney trail all that steep as I found Longs Peak and Mt Rose both to be a bit steeper than that. You're talking an average grade of 10% avg on Whitney. You got 12.6 avg on Longs Peak (and I wont get into the Keyhole, Trough, or Homestretch sections) And once you hit this T-intersection from either trail to gain the Mt Rose trail, you got nearly 15% grade there. I *suppose* compared to White Mountain it is steep, Whitney in general isn't that bad. As fate would have it, I use Mt Rose as my training ground, and Half Dome of all places as like a dress rehearsal.


All that said what might catch you out a bit (and this is something I found out the hard way) is that on the lower sections of the trail before you reach the outpost camp, you can lose the trail on one of the switchbacks in the dark if you're not paying attention. That happened to me once where I veered off the trail a bit near Lone Pine lake and had to get my bearings to figure out where I needed to go. When I did Whitney the second time around was no problem.

Harvey,

I agree with your comments. I think there is even and option (D) that could explain the minus 10 degrees. It could have been degrees Celsius. This converts to 14 degrees Fahrenheit, which lies right in the middle of your predicted range.

I have confused people before with my temperature statements. After 13 years in America I normally use miles, feet, inches, pounds, ounces and so on, but when it comes to temperature I am still generally using Celsius. I just don't seem to be able to develop a feel for Fahrenheit except maybe around 30 and 70 degrees.

Take care
Kurt

It is true that the entire Whitney trail has about a 10% grade. There are many steeper trails around right here in Southern California. What people find challenging about Whitney is that it is an 11 mile uphill/11 mile downhill hike at altitude.

To anyone wishing to experience a summit sunrise, I would suggest an early start from Trail Camp on a 2 day trip or a night on the summit. Finding the trail in the dark should not pose a problem then. this is especially true if the good advice that appears earlier in this thread is followed -- this is not the best place for a total novice. (Unless you are a 16-year old Bob R.)