Today we planned extra mileage to summit Mt Whitney via a side trail off the PCT. At 14,505ft, Mt Whitney is the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states. It would be a 15.2 mile round trip.
There was a snow storm forecasted to hit later in the day, so we woke up at midnight (after about 3 hours of sleep) with plans to climb up Mt Whitney in the dark. The plan was to hit the summit by sunrise then be back at our base camp by 9am or so.
Like any other good day of backpacking, we fired up the stove and started with a cup of hot coffee.
Amy couldn’t find her spoon in the dark but improvised with her ice axe!
Our hike out of camp started with a stream crossing which is always tricky but even more so in the dark.
We spent the next several hours trekking up the winding switchbacks, steep slopes and across icy/snowy ridgelines. With limited light from our headlamps, we had no idea what the surrounding area looked like or how steep and high the cliffs and drop-offs were just feet away.
Around 5am the sky started to lighten a bit just as we neared the summit.
We made it to the top just in time for the sunrise!
The views were incredible as the sun rose over the surrounding peaks.
It was very windy and cold, so we didn’t hang around too long. We started working our way back down the mountain the way we had climbed up. The views and scenery were incredible in the morning light. We also found ourselves wondering, how did we make it up here in the dark?
It was cold enough to start freezing our water bottles.
We made our way down from the mountain and across the lower bowl full of lakes, snow fields and surrounding mountains.
We worked our way down through the pine trees and and back to our base camp for some much needed rest.
We had just crawled into bed when wind and snow pellets started hammering our tent.
We didn’t get much sleep, so after the snow let up, we decided to pack up and hike a few more hours.
It didn’t take long for the snow to start up again.
Pretty soon the ground was covered. With a couple hours of daylight left, we pushed on towards the shelter of some pine trees.
We found a little clearing beneath some pine trees to set up camp for the night. After scraping the snow away and pitching the tent, we used sticks, snow and rocks to create a wind break to keep snow from getting under the rain fly.
By the end of the day, we had broken our old record and hiked 24.4 miles!
Were there other hikers on Whitney? Or at the summit?
There were about 8 or so when we were up there. We passed a few more on the way
Thanks! Really enjoying reading your journey!
OMG! Those Whitney Sunrise photos are AMAZING!
Those views! Wow! I can’t believe you did that in the dark, too. You guys are made of tough stuff. Glad the weather held for the climb.
WOW! That’s incredible. Congrats on making it up there. Great pictures
Sounds like a long very cold slog, but your Whitney photos are fantastic!
Thanks! Cold but worth it!
Okay, the ascent in the dark was too dangerous. Don’t do crap like that again!
It was less dangerous than being up there during the storm that hit shortly after we got down. That was the only reason we did it. The sunset was a bonus!
Bravo on the sunrise summit! Great images!
Thanks!
I took the steps up to the third floor today, instead of the elevator, and felt pretty good about it. It feels… Insufficient now.
Where are you guys at now?
Haha nice. Is the roof top open yet? We are in Mammoth Lakes CA right now to resupply. Heading back to the mountains tomorrow