Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Tips for First timers by First timers

There is no water between Chicken Springs Lake and Lower Rock Creek. It is a sandy, dusty trail, exposed to the sun all day from Chicken Springs until you reach the junction of the trail from Siberian Pass and Soldier Lake trail (junction). From there the trail is okay and level to downhill until Lower Rock Creek

You could, once you reach the junction of the Siberian Pass trail and the trail to Soldier Lake, take the Soldier Lake trail. About 1.3 miles, you cross a small spring feed creek. From there it is .5 miles to Soldier Lake. This side trip is most likely out of your way, however.From there, you just head on down Rock Creek.

I would not count on water from Lower Rock Creek to Lower Crabtree Meadow, which is 5.5 miles.

The climb out of Lower Rock Creek is hard, dug up by horses and mules....dusty.

If you see hikers coming your way, ask about water conditions.

if you need any further info, just post.

Good luck

paul

How do end these constant updates? Its gotten very annoying.

Are you receiving email notifications every time a topic or post is made on the forum? And, you would like to stop this?

Under your profile, there is a "My Stuff" header, click on that and scroll down to "watch list" and delete the entry.

My apologies if that is not what you are asking.

paul

Thank you for the info.

For the new people....hikers going UP the trail have right of way over hikers going Down the trail. And yes, this includes those barreling down the trail in their $500 gear! You move over to the side and let hikers going up pass by.

My husband and I did summit Whitney on the first try all in one day. We left at 3 am and returned by 9 pm. We brought an oxygen can (inexpensive and very light) and if i didn't have it i doubt i would had reached the top. When we got to trail camp I was extremely nauseated and running out of air, that was when i started taking hits from the oxygen can and it saved my bumbum.
We did slept for 2 nights at the portal campground to acclimatization and that helped a lot. We just won the lottery to climb Whitney again on 8/31/18, doing again all in the same day and i will absolutely take my oxygen can again.
My tips as a first timer to a first timer is pace yourself. its not a race. Small steps and steady, enjoy the ride. Pack light, eat light, drink your water. Good luck!

While everyone is different, if you're in reasonably decent shape, trail conditions are good and you haven't had adverse reactions to altitude in the past, you can figure about 12 hours round trip from Whitney Portal to the summit and back (giving you about an hour on top). This is at a steady pace with short breaks. My son and I spent the night at Whitney Portal, started at 4:00 AM with headlamps, light day packs with a quart of water, a water filter to refill at Trail Camp and quick snacks. We were back at Whitney Portal at 4:00 PM. Depending on weather conditions, shorts, shirt, running shoes and one light fleece top layer is fine for clothing. It's a great day hike.

Actually, 12 hrs round trip is pretty fast for "reasonably decent shape" for a first timer. I would count on more like 16-17 hrs round trip for first timers. Better to plan for a longer trip, but if you make it faster, great!

Well, it really depends on conditioning, attitude and who you're with. I've taken a lot of people--kids and adults--on "Whitney loops" (up the North Fork and down the MT) for their first hikes. There's a series of hikes we do first, and the key is to have at least two sections of "up" in your training hikes, not just a long up and down. That experience (along with the mileage practice, and other "tricks") makes for very enjoyable, comfortably-paced dayhikes in the 10-12 hour range, and 12-14 hour range for MT only.

A couple thoughts. I hiked the MT for the first time 15 years ago at
age 55. Success was due to good training (muiltiple mt. baldy hikes from town.) and a good attitude. A friend gave me a book "how to hike mt. whitney in a day" author is Sharon baker-... It really helped to know what to expect on various sections of the trail. Also lots of Jolly Roger hard candies... Good luck to all. Its an accomplishment
that will be with you for life.

Any reports on trail conditions at this point (snow, stream crossings, etc.)?

The trail is about 98% snow free ,.stream crossing not a problem you can use trash bags or rock hop, I did it last week for a test water is about 4-6 inches deep and many are rock hopping now . poles would help snow patch along the long switch back before trailcrest and one near the summit . I would suggest hard soled boots and skip the trail runner or floppy weak support boots these are not geared for the rough part of the trail. last week about 6 ankle injuries ,

Go slow and enjoy the trail, I would never leave the Portal in the dark ,this sets you up to miss the trail and waste time or maybe a fall. Hulda Crooks did the mountain at 91, her last trip was from Outpost 11 hours up and back. Enjoy the day.

Thank you Doug !