Climbing Directions
Caution: Mount Whitney is almost 14,500 feet in elevation. You will feel the effects of altitude. Be prepared --- take time to acclimatize, drink lots of water, eat high carbohydrate snacks, slow your pace, and turn back if you feel any of the signs of altitude sickness. Altitude sickness can be fatal. See altitude sickness page.
Mount Whitney
can be climbed as a long one day hike, or as a two day hike. The main Mount
Whitney trail is the most popular route, and does require a permit. Climbing
permits for the main trail can be obtained two ways ---- through the National
Park Service lottery or through the Ranger Station in Lone Pine. Either way,
there is a limited amount of permits. The permit system seems to change from
time to time, so it is advisable to contact National Park Service before
beginning your climb. You may also be able to get permits from other climbers.
Permits are transferable, and many climbers end up forfeiting there permits due
to changes in plans. Check out the Whitney Portal web message board.
There are two routes which depart from Whitney Portal — The Whitney Trail and
the Mountaineers’ Route. The Whitney Trail is easy to follow, contains many,
many switchbacks, and is over 22 miles round trip hiking distance. The
Mountaineers’ Route follows the Whitney Trail for about a mile and then takes a
turn to the right and approaches the summit from the East. The Whitney trail
eventually approaches the summit from the West.
The Whitney Trail becomes a little difficult to follow around trail camp,
especially at night.
Charlie and Diane Winger provide the following description of the main trail.
They have written an excellent guide book, which is available at this link.
Highpoint Adventures.
The Mt. Whitney trail starts just East of the Whitney Portal store. The
trail is very well constructed all the way to the highpoint and is easy to
follow. Follow the trail as it switches back and forth and gradually climbs
toward the John Muir Wilderness sign in about 0.5 mile and then on up to Lone
Pine Lake in 2.5 miles. Lone Pine Lake is as far as you can proceed without a
Mount Whitney Zone Permit.
From Lone Pine Lake, continue up the trail another mile, dropping down into
Bighorn Park on your way to Outpost Camp. From Outpost Camp, climb approximately
0.5 mile to Mirror Lake. (This is the tree line.) Another mile brings the hiker
to Trailside Meadow. From here the trail steepens; it is yet another mile to
Trail Camp. (This is the last overnight camp.) Total distance from Whitney
Portal to Trail Camp is 6.0 miles. Trail Camp is located at 12,000 feet.
The next section of the trail contains the dreaded switchbacks. There are
somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 switchbacks. Follow the switchbacks as they
work their way up the side of the mountain. At the top of the switchbacks you
will come to Trail Crest at 13,777 feet. From this point, the trail bears to the
left and descends a bit until you reach the John Muir trail. It is about a 2
mile hike from here to the summit.
On the summit, there is a stone hut which was built by the Smithsonian Institute
in the 1920s. There is a summit register near the entrance to the building.
There are at least three USGS markers about twenty feet from the summit hut.
Approximate round trip hiking time: 14 to 18 hours on a one day climb You can
also camp and make this a multi-day hike.
Approximate round trip distance: 22 miles
Approximate elevation gain: 6500 feet