Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Longest Trip

On Sunday, 8/30/09 four good friends and myself successfully completed the one day hike in 19 hours. It was the first time for all of us. We may not hike with any kind of style but we just get the job done. We are probably the slowest hikers on the mountain. Everybody passes us, even grandmas. I noticed in the Portal Store, a posted time of the fastest time to complete the trip is 5 1/2 hours. I would like to nominate our group for the longest time. Ha Ha!!
We started in the dark, 3:30 AM and ended in the dark, 10:30 PM. We were definitely the last group off Whitney that day.

Congrats on sticking with it and achieving your goal!! Some people are more machine than human, and can achieve some amazing times, but the mental toughness it takes to get it done is just as important. Again congrats!!

Congrats on making it!!! Time is not what makes a successful trip. It is having fun, enjoying the beautiful Whitney zone scenery, making it to the top, and making it back to your car safely! Enjoy your journey; it is something to be proud of and something nobody can take away from you!

When it's said and done, no one cares about the time. It's the fact that you DID IT! Congratulations!

Confucius said: "It does not matter how slow you go, as long as you don't stop."

Gloat on!!!!! YOU were up there! My first time took me 17:12:25.03. Okay, so you win!

Imagine working at your desk job for 19 hours? NO WAY! Strange what happens in the company of mountains and not your peers or your boss.

Congratulations to you and your friends.

What a way to bond. Bet you have plenty of stories to tell.

"I woke up at zero dark thirty to do this?"
"Hey, did you hear that? What was that?"
Above Outpost Camp near Mirror Lake: "Hey, where'd the trail go?"
Once you passed Lone Pine Lake on the downside, "ARE WE THERE YET? GEESH! This is the longest 2.8 miles in my life!"

May not have been funny on the trail at the time, but you can all look back and laugh now.

I bet all of you want to do it all over again! Yeah, you do. Don't deny it. We all have a little John Muir in all of us, "The mountains are calling and I must go."

Have fun.

I think it takes more determination and guts to stick with it for a long day than a short one. You are to be commended. Congratulations for sticking with it and reaching your goal.

Nope. My husband and I win - 22 hours for our first hike on September 12, 2007, not counting the 6 hours we were forced to sleep on the mountain after we got lost in the dark coming down. 28 hours total by the time we hit the Portal the next day. Started in the wee hours around the time you did, got lost and slept under a rock at 9PM, awakened at 3AM by the next days hikers, made it down by sunrise. We were definitely the last off the mountain that day!

Just did Mt. Baldy in the smoke and heat to train for our 09-09-09 hike. Hoping to beat our 17 hour 2008 hike time.

My Gawd! You and your husband are good, 28 hrs!!! Congrats on a successful trip, my hats off to you.
One of our last hikes before Whitney was Baldy via Bear Flat ending with Devils Backbone to ski lifts. It took us about 9 hours. There was a fire in Ventura Co but it was so smoky we thought the fire was over the next ridge, that's how bad it was. Once we reached the higher altitudes we were above the smoke but could smell it again when coming down the ski lifts.
Baldy was fun especially the Ski Hut route but I think the most helpful hike is Mt Wilson starting from Chantry Flats via Stuartevant Trail returning Upper Winter Creek, approx 14 mi. It has the distance and the last several miles before the summit has steep switch backs and it's close. Hopefully the fires won't burn up the observatory.

28 hours wasn't good - it was stupid and I hope never to repeat the comedy of errors involved in that hike. Live and learn.

Our Mt. Baldy hike this past Sunday was the Old Baldy Trail out of Bear Canyon through Bear Flats, up to the summit, and back down. 6000 foot elevation gain in 6.5 miles (13 miles total round trip) and I just hate that hike - buggy, hot, boring, steep, snakey (rattlesnake on the path at the end of the trail - I must have jumped 3 feet!) and this time smokey from the fires in Angeles Forest and elsewhere. But it was our last chance for a elevation and distance training hike before our 09-09-09 Whitney hike. Took 10 hours and boy was I glad when it was done.

We have also done the Devil's Backbone via the ski lift - scared me to death. I don't know why that section frightens me more than the Whitney areas, but it does. I'll take the longer hike any time. Although having a beer afterwards at the Ski Lift Cafe is wonderful...

I'm too am worried about Mt. Wilson. We love the trails in and around that area - great for hiking and trail running. I'm going to be very sad when we visit the forest after they have contained the fire.

Cecelia, I've been hiking Mt. Wilson for a long time too. Let's not forget that fire is part of a healthy forest's life. Yellowstone is a good example.