Thank you very much for the video. I made a power-point presentation of my two ascents to Whitney. That was in 1978-79. I have a few photos that made the time journey until now. As I watched your experiences, I remember no go-pro camera; just a Kodak 110. No water filter; just iodine tablets. Old school backpack and tent. First trip, the same as your route. I was on a boy scout trip from El Cajon, CA. My good friend was a troop-leader, and I came along to help in case of emergency. The second trip was to celebrate my 30th birthday. No forest fires or excessive weather. I'll leave a link in my presentation for my friends to watch. Once again thank you! ✌
Crazy how much things have changed with technology in such a short amount of time. We have it a little easier now with hiking and such light equipment. Definitely a magical hike. We love the Sierras. 😌
we left Guitar Lake in the morning by 6am. I remember the section between there and the trail crest where everyone drops their packs, it was so cold that my dads hydration system hose had a mini icecicle forming on it while we hiked. vividly remember that beautiful view looking down towards Hitchcock Lake and the face profile shape with the prominent nose. so cool to see footage along the places that we hiked through (20+ years ago now, I was only 12 at the time).
Wow such great memories. That is so awesome that you did this big hike at 12yrs old. Such a fun adventure with your dad. That’s why I wanted to put a little video together so it brings me right back to the trail again with all the great memories. ☺️ I’ve heard from friends that their water froze during curtain times of the year and it was hard to drink water. They would have to keep it warm by wearing it under their layers. That would be a challenge too. 😬 Can’t wait for my next backpacking adventure!
Thanks! Such a fun trip. So happy we took more days and came up the back side of Whitney! That camp spot was so awesome! Just so happy the weather was good. I was kind of worried I would have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and forget where I was at. lol
Thanks for sharing your experience. Great hike. We are planning to do the same this summer but after (hopefully) summiting we will return to Horseshoe Meadows on the same trails. I noted that your pack weights were ~ 18 lbs and ~ 27 lbs (if I heard correctly). That seems very light. Could you please share with us how you managed such low pack weights with a 5 day supply of food? Thanks
Yes we do ultra light backpacking. We weigh every piece of clothing and every item we bring. For our dehydrated backpacking food we take them out of the bags they come in and put them in plastic ziploc bags. Then just write the direction on the ziploc bags with permanent marker. I'll attach some of our equipment we use. We try and go as light as possible now. Our backpacks weigh less then 2 lbs. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NNMF70U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1 www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JZ1CLE8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B1OSU4W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 www.amazon.com/dp/B074D2XHQ6?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 www.amazon.com/Osprey-Levity-Parallax-Silver-Black/dp/B075Y9TLGF/ref=sr_1_5?crid=WKHOH6DLYGML&keywords=osprey+backpack+men+ultralight&qid=1684787152&sprefix=osprey+backpack+men+ultralight%2Caps%2C168&sr=8-5 www.lighter1.com/big-daddy-index
We did sleep ok that high. A little headache in the morning but it was worth that view and shorter hike to the top of Whitney. It was funny though all the people coming by doing the JMT and hiking in the middle of the night to do sunrise at Whitney would be like wow there is a tent up here. 😁 Such an amazing hike. So cool you have done it so many times. Not sure if I could do it in 1 day.
Congrats on your summit! It’s crazy how each year is so different. So much snow this year. We were going to do the John Muir trail this year but did the south rim to rim of the Grand Canyon and Havasupai Falls hike instead. So much fun!
Looks like such an amazing trip! Watched it a few days ago and don't recall if you said what month this was? Think this is too difficult a trek for a relatively-new backpacker who is in good physical condition? I've done backpacking but my friend hasn't.
Thanks for watching. We did this hike June 18-21, 2021. It was not a big snow year so there was really no snow on top of Whitney. I loved going up the back side because you could do it in more days and didn’t have to do Mt. Whitney in just 1 or 2 days. Still really long days of hiking and you could potentially get elevation sickness as well. We trained for the hike and were fine. We just took our time and had a blast. It’s also easier to get permits doing it this way. Enjoy the hike if you guys end up doing it. It’s so beautiful! ☺️
I did, essentially, this route a year later. I had hiked a lot for a year or so and was starting to do bigger and bigger hikes. I went from Cottonwood pass to Guitar lake on Day 1 but being at altitude affected my ability to eat and caused GI issues. Summiting was super slow, so slow that I couldn’t carry enough water and had to bail and drop down from trail crest to the portal. I went back a month later and did the traditional out and back from Whitney portal but it was still slower than I expected based on my fitness. So if going slow, you’ll be alright just expect bigger water carries and potential issues (restless sleep, appetite suppressed, peeing a lot) due to altitude. Plan extra food, plan to bail if the weather changes when starting to summit (a common occurrence). Also realize there is a whole bunch of the trail that is also slow because it is just jagged rocks and it is really hard to go fast in conditions like that.
@@janellevanmeegeren7581 And dry, so need to be sure to bring enough water for camp (dinner, morning coffee, etc) and to get up Whitney and back down to the first water.
@@jamesbadham9665 For sure, we pumped extra water at guitar lake for all of that. Had just enough to make it. There is another small lake after guitar lake but we weren't sure it had enough water since it was such a dry year that year.
We got the Cottonwood Pass permit and put in entering Cottonwood Pass exiting Whitney when we applied. Cottonwood Lakes trail is different then Cottonwood Pass. Different trailheads but really close to each other. :)
You can hike up Mt. Whitney from the west with a wilderness permit issued for travel in Inyo NF, SEKI, Sierra NF, etc. What you can’t do is hike out of the wilderness via Trail Crest (Mt. Whitney Trail) unless your permit says you’re exiting the wilderness via Trail Crest. There’s a daily exit quota (25 per USFS website) for hikers who start at trailheads other than Whitney Portal.
Great video.
Thanks it was a fun hike!
Thanks for posting this experience !!!
For sure! There was not a lot of videos on this route. We loved it. Great way to do Mt. Whitney! 😊
Thank you very much for the video. I made a power-point presentation of my two ascents to Whitney. That was in 1978-79. I have a few photos that made the time journey until now. As I watched your experiences, I remember no go-pro camera; just a Kodak 110. No water filter; just iodine tablets. Old school backpack and tent. First trip, the same as your route. I was on a boy scout trip from El Cajon, CA. My good friend was a troop-leader, and I came along to help in case of emergency. The second trip was to celebrate my 30th birthday. No forest fires or excessive weather. I'll leave a link in my presentation for my friends to watch. Once again thank you! ✌
Crazy how much things have changed with technology in such a short amount of time. We have it a little easier now with hiking and such light equipment.
Definitely a magical hike. We love the Sierras. 😌
we left Guitar Lake in the morning by 6am. I remember the section between there and the trail crest where everyone drops their packs, it was so cold that my dads hydration system hose had a mini icecicle forming on it while we hiked. vividly remember that beautiful view looking down towards Hitchcock Lake and the face profile shape with the prominent nose. so cool to see footage along the places that we hiked through (20+ years ago now, I was only 12 at the time).
Wow such great memories. That is so awesome that you did this big hike at 12yrs old. Such a fun adventure with your dad.
That’s why I wanted to put a little video together so it brings me right back to the trail again with all the great memories. ☺️
I’ve heard from friends that their water froze during curtain times of the year and it was hard to drink water. They would have to keep it warm by wearing it under their layers. That would be a challenge too. 😬
Can’t wait for my next backpacking adventure!
Great trip, great video!! I really respect Mike, he had you on the inboard position of the tent on the mountain. Classy fellow. Thanks for the video.
Thanks! Such a fun trip. So happy we took more days and came up the back side of Whitney!
That camp spot was so awesome! Just so happy the weather was good. I was kind of worried I would have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and forget where I was at. lol
Thanks for sharing your experience. Great hike. We are planning to do the same this summer but after (hopefully) summiting we will return to Horseshoe Meadows on the same trails. I noted that your pack weights were ~ 18 lbs and ~ 27 lbs (if I heard correctly). That seems very light. Could you please share with us how you managed such low pack weights with a 5 day supply of food? Thanks
Yes we do ultra light backpacking. We weigh every piece of clothing and every item we bring. For our dehydrated backpacking food we take them out of the bags they come in and put them in plastic ziploc bags. Then just write the direction on the ziploc bags with permanent marker. I'll attach some of our equipment we use. We try and go as light as possible now. Our backpacks weigh less then 2 lbs.
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NNMF70U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JZ1CLE8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B1OSU4W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
www.amazon.com/dp/B074D2XHQ6?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
www.amazon.com/Osprey-Levity-Parallax-Silver-Black/dp/B075Y9TLGF/ref=sr_1_5?crid=WKHOH6DLYGML&keywords=osprey+backpack+men+ultralight&qid=1684787152&sprefix=osprey+backpack+men+ultralight%2Caps%2C168&sr=8-5
www.lighter1.com/big-daddy-index
So awesome! Congrats!!
Were you able to sleep very well at your 13k high camp? Good job. I summited 3x, starting at age 7. The hardest was dayhiking it from Whitney Portal.
We did sleep ok that high. A little headache in the morning but it was worth that view and shorter hike to the top of Whitney. It was funny though all the people coming by doing the JMT and hiking in the middle of the night to do sunrise at Whitney would be like wow there is a tent up here. 😁 Such an amazing hike. So cool you have done it so many times. Not sure if I could do it in 1 day.
Just summited last week and there was so much snow. Had to boulder all the way to the top.
Congrats on your summit! It’s crazy how each year is so different. So much snow this year. We were going to do the John Muir trail this year but did the south rim to rim of the Grand Canyon and Havasupai Falls hike instead. So much fun!
Looks like such an amazing trip! Watched it a few days ago and don't recall if you said what month this was? Think this is too difficult a trek for a relatively-new backpacker who is in good physical condition? I've done backpacking but my friend hasn't.
Thanks for watching. We did this hike June 18-21, 2021. It was not a big snow year so there was really no snow on top of Whitney. I loved going up the back side because you could do it in more days and didn’t have to do Mt. Whitney in just 1 or 2 days. Still really long days of hiking and you could potentially get elevation sickness as well. We trained for the hike and were fine. We just took our time and had a blast. It’s also easier to get permits doing it this way. Enjoy the hike if you guys end up doing it. It’s so beautiful! ☺️
I did, essentially, this route a year later. I had hiked a lot for a year or so and was starting to do bigger and bigger hikes. I went from Cottonwood pass to Guitar lake on Day 1 but being at altitude affected my ability to eat and caused GI issues. Summiting was super slow, so slow that I couldn’t carry enough water and had to bail and drop down from trail crest to the portal. I went back a month later and did the traditional out and back from Whitney portal but it was still slower than I expected based on my fitness. So if going slow, you’ll be alright just expect bigger water carries and potential issues (restless sleep, appetite suppressed, peeing a lot) due to altitude. Plan extra food, plan to bail if the weather changes when starting to summit (a common occurrence). Also realize there is a whole bunch of the trail that is also slow because it is just jagged rocks and it is really hard to go fast in conditions like that.
What options were available to get a ride from Lone Pine back to Horseshoe Meadows to get your car?
Stop at the hiking store at the corner in town and they have a list of people who pick and drop people off at the trails. Sorry I forget who we used.
@22:12 what campsite was it?
About 2 small switchbacks before the 1.9 junction where we dropped out bags off. So amazing but could be cold and windy so watch the weather. ☺️
@@janellevanmeegeren7581 beautiful 😍
@@janellevanmeegeren7581 And dry, so need to be sure to bring enough water for camp (dinner, morning coffee, etc) and to get up Whitney and back down to the first water.
@@jamesbadham9665 For sure, we pumped extra water at guitar lake for all of that. Had just enough to make it. There is another small lake after guitar lake but we weren't sure it had enough water since it was such a dry year that year.
It shows on the camp spots on my All Trails map I created for the hike: www.alltrails.com/explore/map/cottonwood-pass-exiting-mt-whitney-7fc3463
Awesome
Loved the video 📹 ❤
I got a pass from Cottonwood lakes but I was told that I can't hike Mt Whitney with it, is this true?
We got the Cottonwood Pass permit and put in entering Cottonwood Pass exiting Whitney when we applied. Cottonwood Lakes trail is different then Cottonwood Pass. Different trailheads but really close to each other. :)
You can hike up Mt. Whitney from the west with a wilderness permit issued for travel in Inyo NF, SEKI, Sierra NF, etc. What you can’t do is hike out of the wilderness via Trail Crest (Mt. Whitney Trail) unless your permit says you’re exiting the wilderness via Trail Crest. There’s a daily exit quota (25 per USFS website) for hikers who start at trailheads other than Whitney Portal.