On August 4th, 2009, I made a successful summit of Mt.Whitney in a day. My intent with this post is to provide advice to help others from the east coast successfully climb Mt.Whitney in a day. Because there is already a lot of good information available on many aspects of planning your Mt. Whitney hike, there is no need for me to duplicate what's available elsewhere. I will however, link to the resources I found most useful and that should save you a lot of time.
I should really title this post, "What Someone From The East Needs To Know To Climb Mount Whitney In A Day". So what is the difference between someone for the Eastern US climbing Mt. Whitney and someone from the Western US? In a word, ALTITUDE! Read carefully, that is altitude and NOT attitude!
Before we head up the mountain, let's get a few facts out of the way. Mount Whitney is the highest mountain in the lower 48 (aka . . . continental US.) I'd like to give you the exact height, but that fact is still in dispute. Personally, I like to use the figure of 14,505 ft., which is listed on wikipedia. However, the official USGS benchmark on the peak has 14,494 ft. Regardless, there is no dispute about it Mount Whitney being THE highest.
For the adventurer living in the eastern US planning a Mount Whitney summit attempt, it's impossible to find a location to train the body for that kind of altitude. The highest mountain east of the Rocky's, Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina, is only 6,684 ft. and that's nearly 2000 ft. lower than the trail head for Mt.Whitney.
Although there are many routes to the summit of Mt. Whitney, the most popular route begins at the Mt. Whitney Portal. The Mt. Whitney Trail begins at an elevation of 8,371 ft. and continues 11 miles up the mountain to the summit at elevation 14,505 ft. That's a whopping 22 miles round trip with an elevation gain of around 6,100 ft. In fact, 10 out of the 22 miles are above 12,000 ft! The extreme altitude is usually what prevents hikers from successfully making it to the summit.
Why Climb Mount Whitney In A Day?
Now that we no this hike is going to be a challenge, let's address the question of why attempt it in a single day. I would guess that most choose the day option simple for the challenge. If you choose this option, know that it is going to be long and difficult, but when it's over you'll have an amazing sense of accomplishment. Aside from the challenge aspect, here are a few practical reasons to choose to climb Mt Whitney in a day:
- You won't have to bother with carrying a bear canister
- Most likely, you won't have to carry out your poop (more on this later)
- Day use permits are easier to get than overnight permits
- You'll need less gear (tent, bag, stove, etc . . . ), which means less weight to carry
So if you've read this far and you're still interested in climbing Mt Whitney in a day, here are some of the information covered in future parts
- What time of year is best to climb Mt. Whitney
- Gear selection and tips
- How to acclimate your body to the altitude
- What to eat and drink
- and much more!
