Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Alternate routes to Whitney summit

I did not win any dates I requested through the lottery for the main trail and was trying to plan an alternate route to the summit. I know there is alot of information on this site but I am having a hard time putting it all together.

Can anyone recommend a good route? I am taking my 15 year old son, we will have a total of 5 days but I guess we will need a couple days to acclimate and maybe do some day hikes so a 3 day trip to the summit and back would be good. We would like something challenging but not something with alot of miles so we can take our time and enjoy everything. I guess I would need camping spot recommendations and info on any permits I would need. Thanks for everyone’s help.

Ed, are you coming from the east coast just for this trip up Whitney? Can you spend anymore time? What dates are you looking at? If you have a little more time you will have a few more options going up the west side of Whitney. Let us know more details and Im sure we help get to the top.

Yes, we are coming from NJ. I have about 7 days total but I wanted to fly into Vegas and spend a couple days sightseeing and traveling to the Whitney area. My son has never been out west and I thought this would be the most exciting backpacking trip we could do plus I have always wanted to do Whitney.

We have done alot of backpacking together and I have found that he starts to get bored after about 5 days so that is why I was figuring on the 5 day timeframe. If we could include the acclimation process in the total hike to the summit, that would be fine also.

Ed: I was like you, and was unlucky in the lottery this year. While the rest of my group is doing Whitney as a single day hike on August 9th, three of us are coming in from Cottonwood along the John Muir Trail. Our plan is to spend the night of the 8th on the summit.

Michael T.

Ed,
<div style="text-indent:1cm">As you indicate, there are a number of options available, including Steps 5 and 6 in the permit process. If you have the time, it would make sense to do at least the lower part of the Main Mount Whitney Trail as a day hike. You can go up to Lone Pine Lake without a permit, and it is pretty easy to get a day hike permit from a cancellation or no-show and go up to Trail Camp (12,000 feet). It sounds like you do not want to push yourselves to attempt the whole trip to the top in a day, so Trail Camp is probably as far as you would want to go on a day hike (12 miles RT, 3,600 feet gain).</div>

Thanks for the responses,

From trying to do some more research, it looks like alot of people come from Cottonwood along the John Muir Trail. Does anyone have any detail on this hike? Permits, camping spots, starting point with parking? Can we still spend the night at the summit without a lottery permit? Also where can I get a good map of the area showing all the marked trails? Thanks again for everyone’s help.

We did the following in 3 days...including being on the summit at dawn. A big warning you have to be in good but not excellent shape and carry a relatively light pack to attempt this trip.

http://webpages.charter.net/mtwhitneyhiking/bpnap_to_wp.htm

Note: You can do this going over Cottonwood Pass but still have end your first day at Lower Rock Creek Crossing.

Here is a possible scenario for you, you and your son will need to be in good shape:

Obtain a permit to enter the Kearsarge Pass Trail from Onion Valley and exit at Whitney Portal before you go.

Day 1: fly into and check out Las Vegas.

Day 2: Get an early start and drive from Las Vegas to Ancient Bristlecones Pine Forest (oldest living things in the world), check out Schulman Grove. Very interesting, and you will be at altitude. Drive down to Bishop, try to get there before the ranger office closes, pick up your permit, drive to the Onion Valley trailhead and camp overnight at Onion Valley.

Day 3: Hike up and over Kearsarge Pass, camp at Vidette Meadow.

Day 4: Vidette Meadow over Forester Pass to Tyndall.

Day 5: Tyndall to Guitar Lake.

Day 6: Guitar Lake to Mt. Whitney summit, down to Trail Camp.

Day 7: Trail Camp to Whitney Portal, get a shuttle (look up Lone Pine Chamber of Commerce Web Page) to take you back to Onion Valley, then drive back to Las Vegas.

Whether you choose this or another itinerary, best of luck on your trip.

Yet another option that hasn't been mentioned is to hire a guide and do the Mountaineer's Route. You can do it as a 3 day trip. It will cost you a little bit of money but summiting Whitney that way doesn't require a long hike and you will probably get to spend 2 nights beneath the beautiful East Face at Iceberg Lake. No previous technical climbing experience is needed... just good physical conditioning. Assuming that you could do 2 days of hiking on the lower Whitney Trail before your guided trip you should have some time to get acclimated.

Kurt Wedberg of Sierra Mountaineering Intl who frequents this forum comes highly recommended.

Good luck.

It sounds like you are confusing the permit process for main trail with the permit process for the alternate routes. Because 100% of the quota space for the main trail is reservable in the lottery, there are usually no overnight permits available for reservation in the second round for the summer unless somebody is nice enough to cancel a reservation by calling the Wilderness Permit Office sometime between now and two days before the entry date(see "Step 5", referenced earlier).

None of the other trailheads are affected by the lottery. Not only can you make overnight reservations for other trailheads outside of the lottery (see "Step 3" in that link), but 40% of the quota space is available for walk-in permits (see the end of "Step 6" in that link).

Yes, you need an overnight permit if you start at Cottonwood Pass. As long as you can meet the daily quota for that trailhead and the exit quota for Trail Crest, you should be able to get a permit covering your entire trip. The lottery is irrelevant, because you are not starting your trip on the Main Mount Whitney Trail.

Have you checked out the discussion on Mapping Software (now on Page 2 of the message board)?