Climbing Mt. Whitney at night, is it doable?

[Besalu]

Hello:
I got a permit to hike to climb Mt. Whitney, as part of my JMT (I got that permit too). I am planning to start at dark, around 2:00 AM. Is it doable? How early do you recommend me to start? I know that some parts the trail is not very defined and I am afraid of getting lost. Any advice, or tips on how to climb Mt. Whitney at night? Thank you.
J.

[ScottTrip]

Sure, I had the permit and started at 2:00 AM from Trail Camp. Have a good headlamp and make it up to the Whitney Hut. Sunrise is very beautiful, and worth the climb. BTW, you won't be alone.

[MuddyWaters]

Yes, its doable.
I did it with 20L headlamp mostly, just hitting high now and then.

At times you might question if you are on trail...relax...if its not talus/scree sloped at 40 degrees...its the trail ..even when just rocks and a sandy patch here and there. Everything that's not the trail is very steeply sloped. Your sidehilling the backside of the peak. And theres only one trail. You really can't get lost on The Summit Trail. Or on the trail up from Guitar Lake. Follow intuition and sense of where you think trail goes, youll probably be right. If not backtrack a couple of steps look around and you'll figure it out.

Eventually you come to the Pinnacles and will see the lights of Lone Pine 10,000 feet below . That'll put spring in your step to get you to the summit.


There's a couple of areas where you don't want to miss a step because it's narrow and you're winding around rocks so be careful. If it's below freezing there can be a slight glaze of ice on some smooth rocks also.

I would be on trail at 1:30
The .predawn sky will start getting light about 4:30 am, well well before actual sunrise.
It glows blue on clear morning.

All the people at the tarn above Guitar Lake were talking about getting an early start. I didn't see the next headlight behind me till after after 3. None of them made it to the summit for Sunrise.

DSC02125.jpg

[Besalu]

Thank you guys for your response! Iwill go to sleep early at 4PM in the afternoon and will get up at 1:00 AM to start my ascent: slow and steady with my 25lbs. backpack. thank you.
J.

[evyck da fleet]

Doable. I caught a full moon and didn’t need my headlamp until the last mile or so. That was only because there were rocks that needed to be stepped over and I needed to be able to tell what was a shadow and what was another rock.

Maybe you already know this but it’s a lot colder at 14k before sunrise.

[Lyle]

Not sure where you plan to camp the night before. I would definitely go at least one bench above Guitar Lake. There is plenty of camp sites, though somewhat crowded together, and good water. Even past the first bench there are campsites and water. Can cut off a half hour or more of your night hike.

[JPritch]

Good suggestion about staying up past Guitar. I stayed at Guitar and it was chock full of people and the area I camped in was filthy (wag bag zone my a$$). It was also my coldest night on the JMT, and I couldn't get myself out of my warm bag to get an early start. I think if I ever do the JMT again, I do want to make it a point to catch Whitney at sunrise.

[saltysack]

I


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[saltysack]

I had planned on doing the sunrise at Whitney but hit snooze a few many times and couldn’t get out of the warm bag as it was cold in late September! As others said camp above GL as we stayed at Crabtree meadows which added extra miles...the drop into the portal is brutal with ice!!!.....enjoy


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Berserker]

Yes. Most who stay at Guitar Lake or above it hit the trail well before sunrise. I didn't start hiking until around 6 AM, and I was the last one out of camp. I got up around 4 something, and there were a bunch of headlamps halfway up from what I could see.

[Besalu]

I am camping the night before at the /whitney portal campsite.

[Besalu]

I AM CAMPING AT THE WHITNEY PORTAL CAMPSITE. THAT IS WHY I AM STARTING MY HIKE AT 1:00 AM. Because I am slow and I am nursing a tendinitis in the left leg.

[Berserker]

I AM CAMPING AT THE WHITNEY PORTAL CAMPSITE. THAT IS WHY I AM STARTING MY HIKE AT 1:00 AM. Because I am slow and I am nursing a tendinitis in the left leg.

You talking about camping at the portal? If so, then I think you shouldn't have to much of a problem following the trail with a decent head lamp. That's a long stinking climb from the portal. I came down that trail and remember commenting that I would never want to hike up that sucker. Good luck, and be careful if you are going up that with tendonitis.

[Dogwood]

Are you doing this as part of a JMT NOBO?

[MuddyWaters]

I AM CAMPING AT THE WHITNEY PORTAL CAMPSITE. THAT IS WHY I AM STARTING MY HIKE AT 1:00 AM. Because I am slow and I am nursing a tendinitis in the left leg.

Ummm....thats quite a hike . You wont make wp to whitney in a couple hrs , especially not with bad leg. Guitar lake, yes, for someone in good shape.

From WP, thats 10 miles and 6 thousand + feet uphill. Camp at trailcamp and go for it following day.

Maybe thats what you meant?

[QiWiz]

I AM CAMPING AT THE WHITNEY PORTAL CAMPSITE. THAT IS WHY I AM STARTING MY HIKE AT 1:00 AM. Because I am slow and I am nursing a tendinitis in the left leg.

That is a BRUTAL, unrelenting UPand lots of altitude increase too. Bad idea IMO. Do it in two stages. If you insist on trying, no problem at all hiking by headlamp at least up to Trail Junction. Beyond that I would like some daylight.

[HooKooDooKu]

Not sure where you plan to camp the night before. I would definitely go at least one bench above Guitar Lake. There is plenty of camp sites, though somewhat crowded together, and good water. Even past the first bench there are campsites and water. Can cut off a half hour or more of your night hike.

Sounds like you might be talking about the spot I stayed at near Guitar Lake... perhaps the best camp spot I had for my entire JMT hike.

When I got to Guitar Lake, there were tons of people already camping either at Guitar Lake or on 'the bench' above Guitar Lake near the trial.

But there is a 'use trail' between the JMT and the 1st pond along the edge of 'the bench'. If you continue past the pond and climb the neighboring rocks, there's three of four flat-sandy spots on top of the rocks no one seems to know are there.

By the time I reached Guitar Lake, I was hiking along with a couple I met on the trail. We had this spot all to ourselves, isolated from the 40 to 50 other people camped in the general area of Guitar Lake that day. We were overlooking Guitar Lake to our West-North-West, which made for a beautiful view as the sun set.

[HooKooDooKu]

That is a BRUTAL, unrelenting UPand lots of altitude increase too. Bad idea IMO. Do it in two stages. If you insist on trying, no problem at all hiking by headlamp at least up to Trail Junction. Beyond that I would like some daylight.

By far, the "roughest" two miles of the entire JMT is the path between Trail Junction and the Whitney summit. Several spots where you're having to take big steps up or down... NOT smoothly graded the way the rest of the JMT is.
(This is assuming you're hiking the JMT when most of the snow has melted for the season... if you're facing snow covered mountains like what the "John Muir Crew" did filming "Mile... Mile & a Half"... then perhaps dealing with snow/ice will be rougher than the trail along here is).

[saltysack]

That was a miserable down hill, I can’t imagine starting JMT hiking up from portal......I hated that last 8-10 miles!!! Going up is going to be a pita!!!! When I go back I’ll definitely start at horseshoe meadow not portal.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[gwschenk]

I AM CAMPING AT THE WHITNEY PORTAL CAMPSITE. THAT IS WHY I AM STARTING MY HIKE AT 1:00 AM. Because I am slow and I am nursing a tendinitis in the left leg.

It's not a bad dayhike, with a pack with several days of food it might be tough. Good trail, though, easy to follow.