Our summit attempt began with a drive up to Cottonwood Pass. We slept overnight above 10,000 feet and did a short 5 mile acclimatizing hike towards Mt. Langley. Afterwards, we drove over to the Whitney Portal road for some incredible views of Mt. Whitney.
Lone Pine Peak is often mistaken for Mt. Whitney, as it sits closer to the valley and appears much larger. However, when you can recognize Mt. Whitney, there is no mistaking its rugged and massive peak.
It was hard to believe we would hopefully be at the summit of this monster of a mountain!
Flowers were blooming. Not many along the trail, but the few that were there really added some nice color to an often times barren terrain.
The hike began before dark at 2:30am. Weather was perfect for hiking and no bears in sight.
The lower part of the hike crossed the river several times and worked its way slowly up the valley.
Permits required past this point. We only had a day permit, so we had to complete the full 22 miles in a 24 hour period. This was a pretty ambitious goal considering our normal slow hiking speed.
The light creeped into this beautiful part of the valley and started to illuminate the massive peaks above.
We were in the perfect spot as the sun began to rise.
Mirror Lake, 10,640 feet.
It felt like the sunrise lasted forever, but we finally had enough sunlight to put away our headlamps.
We loved walking among these Sierra junipers. Very distinct trees with wonderful character.
We could see Mt. Whitney's summit was in the clouds. The forecast called for clear skies so we were hoping it would be clear by the time we reached the top.
Trailside Meadows was probably our favorite spot on the hike. A beautiful snow-fed stream flows through this peaceful part of the valley.
Consultation Lake, 11,680 feet. Not sure where the name comes from but there must be some interesting history there.
Marmots everywhere. They're less skittish up here, more familiar with campers and hikers.
After about 6 relatively easy miles we reached Trail Camp. This is the ideal spot to stay overnight if you want to make summit day a lot shorter. So far we had climbed around 3,000 feet, but the hard part of the day was only beginning.
The infamous 99 Switchbacks. This challenging climb rises 1,700 feet to the crest above. This time of year the snow and ice can still be an issue, but the only section with snow that we encountered was easily bypassed.
The cables is the steepest section of the 99 Switchbacks. Nothing to worry about unless you're afraid of heights.
An amazing view looking back down towards where we began.
The Trail Crest section offered views of both the Whitney Trail and Sequoia National Park on the other side of the mountain. Just incredible!
Hiking along this portion was like entering another world. The rocky spires and rugged landscape was a far departure from the other side.
This is where the Whitney trail meets the end of the John Muir Trail.
If you look closely you can see the hut at the summit.
Walking along the backside of the mountains, the rock wall opened up a few time to form the Windows, with views looking back down to Lone Pine.
Luckily we weren't feeling any effects of altitude, but we were starting to feel the exhaustion of such a long hike at high elevation.
This was the area where we started seeing the hut at the summit. While it was a relief to finally see the goal of the hike, it was still a long way off and this terrain was no joke!
The final climb!!
Finally, after over 10 miles, 12 hours and 7,000 feet of elevation gain, we reached the summit of Mt. Whitney.
14,505 feet, and the highest point in the contiguous U.S.
One of the most difficult day hikes we've ever done, but the views were totally worth it.
After about 45 minutes resting and taking pictures at the summit, we really had to get moving. We still had another 10+ miles to get back down.
The hike back down was a tough one. The terrain was tough on the knees, the switchbacks were flooded, and the sun went down faster than we were at hiking. The entire hike took us 20 hours, but finally reaching the car at the end, we were so happy we were able to finally summit Mt. Whitney. But never again!!