Mt. Whitney is the tallest peak in the lower 48 at a whopping 14,508 feet. Hiking the peak that has been a bucket list item for Mark for many years. We weren’t going to be in Lone Pine long enough and we didn’t get a permit so going all the way to the top was not an option this trip. It’s a 22-mile round trip hike that is doable in one day. One very long day.
The drive from Lake Tahoe to Lone Pine wasn’t a long one for us, only 4.5 hours. We quickly set up camp, walked Marlee and jumped in the Jeep. There were clouds gathering at the top and we didn’t want to get caught in a storm in the middle of our hike. If you’re driving on US 395 and have the time, I recommend heading west on Whitney Portal road. It gets steep and is a narrow two-lane road so best done in a car but the reward of seeing Mt. Whitney closer is worth it. There are two state run campgrounds up there but the only RV’s we saw were camp hosts. I wouldn’t take my RV up to the trail head parking lot.
Maybe we are breaking hiking etiquette rules but we say hello to everyone we see on the trail. Mark talked to a lot of people and asked if they’d reached the top. If they said yes, he asked if they did it in one day or stayed overnight. It was a 50-50 split among them. The hikers that summited in one day had big yellow tags on their backpacks and the ones that slept overnight had pink ones. Our little scientific experiment along the hike. Most of the hikers that made the trek in one day started early in the morning, one as early as 12:30 am. Most others were in the 2:00 – 4:00 am range. We talked to one guy who’d been on the John Muir trail for 21 days and started in Yosemite. After we parted, Mark and I talked about the task of carrying enough food and water for that long. Man, I wished we would have thought of that while we talked with him. He was in water sandals with socks, which I thought was a strange choice for footwear for a 21-day hike. Then we noticed that all the hikers we talked to that stayed overnight had water sandals tied onto their backpack. We decided it was probably nice to get out of your hiking boots at the end of your day’s trek and to wade into a lake or stream for a bath. I would hope the guy on the 21 day hike bathed a time or two. He didn’t stink so he must have.
We could hike as far as Lone Pine Lake without a permit which called out as between 5 and 6 miles with an 1,800 to 2,000 elevation gain depending on which map or app we used. We talked to a lady on the trail that was finishing her hike to the lake and she said to go a little past the Y in the trail directing you either to the top or to the lake. She said the mountains towered around you at this point like an amphitheater and was worth the few extra steps. Off we went up the trail. We quickly lost sight of Mt. Whitney and that was the only disappointment of the hike. I was hoping the hike would have been similar to the drive up the road with Whitney towering above and getting closer and closer.
This hike ranks up there near the top of my list. It had everything. The trail was well marked and well maintained. There were parts that were exposed but not so much that it was too hot. We crossed several little streams that appeared in the foliage on the mountain side, ran across the trail and disappeared in the thick foliage down the side. We strategically crossed a large stream atop large rocks. I jumped from rock to rock but Mark trudged on through and got his feet wet as he went across. Right before the lake we got to cross a large creek atop huge logs; like a giant balance beam. That was fun. If I had been a gymnast as a kid, I might have cartwheeled across.
There was a large waterfall with an upper and lower part that we could see and hear. Getting it all in one picture was a bit of a challenge. Both parts were very tall, ala the giant Yosemite Falls. We came around a bend in the trail to another little waterfall and a couple sitting on a large boulder. He pointed us to the bushes on our right and there was a deer munching on a plant. We froze so we didn’t scare her away. She didn’t mind us and kept munching. Mark was faster getting his phone out for a picture. It’s amazing how camouflaged deer are among foliage. She had enough of us watching her and slowly went deeper in the bushes. We thanked the couple and continued on our way. I kept my eyes peeled for the deer, hoping she would be on the trail ahead of us.
We reached the Y in the trail and kept going to the spot the hiker told us about. She was right. It was worth the extra .1 mile. The mountains towered above you on three sides. We met a father and son from Pennsylvania and traded picture taking. One thing I love about hiking is by and large, everyone is very friendly and friends are easily made. We are all together enjoying nature out of the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives.
The lake was a perfect little alpine lake. I wondered if that’s where the waterfall started but we couldn’t get around to that side of it to check. We found a rock to sit for a few minutes and have a snack. Of course, Mark checked the area for snakes first. It’s amazing how much you sweat on the hike up even when it’s not too hot. Also amazing is how fast you get cold from all that sweat cooling off on you. Yowza, it was time for a long-sleeved shirt.
Not much sun left as the clouds were taking over the sky. We started our walk down and heard a clap of thunder. Uh oh, we might get wet, really wet. I set a quick pace but not too fast for Mark and his knee. Down is harder for him right now. Back across the giant balance beam and down the trail we went.
We came around the bend and stopped dead in our tracks. There in front of us was a mamma deer and two calves just walking along the trail nibbling on foliage as they walked. Mark was lickety-split with his phone with both pictures and video. We tiptoed behind them as they walked along. One of the babies scampered up the little hill and watched us from above. The mom and other baby continued for a bit then went down to a little meadow on our right. The other baby bounced across the trail to join mom and kept looking back at us; I think to see if we were following them.
I felt the first raindrops after we crossed the stream going from rock to rock. It was just a light sprinkle and was more off and on than steady. We were closer to the trail head than the lake so we were going to be okay so long as the skies didn’t open up on us. We talked to a group of four that was going up when they stopped to put jackets on. They were certainly going to get wet.
We could see the parking lot and the sprinkles were now more frequent. We made the last couple of turns on the trail and made it to the car just as the rain really started coming down. There were two dads with little boys, maybe 5 or 6 that were coming down also. I hoped they were going to get to their cars without getting soaked and was happy to see them get to their car as we pulled out. They didn’t look too bad; that would have been a terrible ride back with two soaked little boys.
I’m glad I took pictures of the Mt. Whitney on the way up to the trail because it was completely invisible now with all the clouds. Then I thought of all the hikers on their way up who were staying the night. They were getting hammered with rain and a rain/snow mix.
Mark told me for years every time we would pass Mt. Whitney on our way to Mammoth that he wanted to hike to the top. After this hike partway up, I’m with him. Hiking to the top of Whitney is now on my bucket list.