Mt Whitney Trail - 9/28/2025 - 9/29/2025
On September 28th at 5pm I started hiking up the Mt Whitney Trail with a group of friends, one of whom I had met once on another trail. I met Judi previously on another hike, and she had randomly messaged me one day and invited me to climb Mt Whitney with her. When she mentioned Mt Whitney I said yes without knowing anything about the mountain, or the hike. She obtained a day hike permit for six people, and brought three of her friends, and myself. I asked several of my very capable friends to be the sixth, but none of them were able to make it.
We had originally planned to start the hike on the 29th at 3am, but the plan changed several times. When I arrived at the trailhead at 3pm I had believed we were going to start at 9pm, but they wanted to start at 4pm. I was hoping to take a nap, since I had been awake since 6am because I drove from Las Vegas, but I quickly ate a chicken sandwich from Mt Whitney Portal Cafe, and got ready. Unfortunately a thunderstorm rolled in, and we quickly got drenched. We took shelter in our cars for about an hour, and waited for the rain, and lightning to subside. At 5pm we officially started the hike. We weighed each of our daypacks, and grabbed the complimentary wag bags at the trailhead. My pack weighed 15lbs with 1.5L of water, food and supplies. This was my first time using my new Hyperlite Unbound 40L, and it was good test of its capabilities. I'll be making a few small changes to it for my next backpacking trip, but overall I was very happy with how well it performed.
The hike started off pretty slow, and it became very apparent to me the reason for starting so early. At our current pace it was going to be a challenge to make it to the summit by sunrise. My hiking group told me to hike ahead of them, and not slow down my pace for them. I ended up doing this for most of the hike. I would hike several hundred yards ahead of them, which gave me opportunities to take photos, and videos. They took breaks every hour, which is something I don't typically do. I'm usually good for about three or four hours before any breaks. Nevertheless we continued through the night slowly making our way up the mountain.
By the time we reached ten thousand feet Judi started having trouble keeping up. She was having bad cramps in her legs, and her friends helped massage them a few times. At the 11 thousand foot mark Judi had completely stopped, and couldn't go any higher. She was showing signs of altitude sickness; leg cramps, nausea, dizziness, and getting very cold. We gave her fluids, snacks, and wrapped her in an emergency blanket. It was at that moment they decided their hike was over, and they took her down the mountain. They insisted that I continue the hike myself, and finish the goal. I hesitated because it was completely dark, and I didn't know the trail. But I ended up agreeing, and carried on up the mountain for a solo summit attempt. Judi gave me one of her battery packs, because my phone died, and my battery pack stopped working. They also gave me more food.
From about eleven thousand to twelve thousand feet the hike became more, and more difficult. This section of the trail wasn't as clearly defined as the earlier sections from the trailhead. This section was very rocky, and I ended up in several dead ends. I had to constantly check my phone, which was difficult because my hands were getting cold. When I made it to twelve thousand feet I stopped, and took a break. I laid on my back, turned off my headlamp, and just stared up at the stars, and the Milky Way in amazement. I couldn't stay for long, as I was quickly getting cold. It was at this point I turned around, and decided I didn't feel comfortable hiking the rest of the way solo, in complete darkness, constantly getting turned around.
On the way down I saw headlamps from another group attempting an overnight hike for a sunrise summit. I was about to pass them, but I decided to ask them if I could tag along with their group instead. Kyle, Moira, and Moira (yes two Moiras) quickly agreed that I could join them. From here on out I hiked with them to the summit, and back. Joining their group was good decision, between the four of us we were able to navigate the confusing sections, and make it to trail camp, and then eventually to the 99 switchbacks.
On the way up the switchbacks the hike became much more challenging for all of us. It was getting bitterly cold, our legs were tired, and the switchbacks had become very icy. We stopped several times, and Moira (the blonde one), decided to take a nap. Both Moiras, and myself took a break, while Kyle decided to push on up the switchbacks. He would end up waiting for us up near the base of the ridge line. I waited with both Moiras, and eventually they decided to turn around. This would be the second time I had seen people give up, and turn around. This trail will make people cry. I offered to go down with them, as I was concerned about their safety since they didn't have micro spikes. They insisted that I go up, and catch up with Kyle to tell him about their decision. I agreed, and we parted ways.
I made my up the switchbacks, and ran into another pair of hikers, and joined their team briefly. While walking with them I came across Kyle, who was huddled slightly off trail, trying to get warm. He was waiting for his friends, and I told him about their decision to head back to the trailhead. From here on out it was myself, and Kyle heading to the summit. The other two hikers I joined with briefly were much slower than us, and we eventually lost contact with them.
Kyle, and I hiked the next few brutal miles up to the summit. Kyle was a much a faster hiker, and would hike ahead for a bit, and then wait for me each time. As we got near the summit the sun started coming up. We could see the glow on the horizon, and that gave us the motivation to keep pushing. When we reached fourteen thousand feet the clouds started rolling in. We were concerned about possible storms, and lightning and gave ourselves ten more minutes of hiking to decide if we should turn around. Kyle went ahead, and up to the peak. Luckily for us the trail was covered in snow, and no more ice. The clouds ended up being more of a fog, and there was no danger of lightning. I followed Kyle's footprints in the snow all of the way to the summit. We were the first two people to reach the summit on the 29th of September at 6am. It was an incredible, as the clouds parted, and red sun rose from the clouds. At the peak we watched the clouds give way, and we were now above the clouds, with the sun rising. It was one of the most beautiful sites we had ever seen. It was also extremely cold with a temperature of 26°F, and windchill of 15°F. We hung out in the shelter to warm up a bit. I used that opportunity to send a few messages via my Garmin InReach. We exited the shelter, took several photos, signed the frozen guestbook, and then made the the long trek off the mountain.
On the way down we caught up to Moira, Moira who were still heading down. The four of us proceeded to hike the rest of the way together. Near the end of the trail Kyle took off running so that he could make to work by 5pm. The Moiras and I stuck together the rest of the way, and reached the trailhead by 1:16pm. I took a short uncomfortable nap in my car, then drove to Lone Pine for a burger, and blueberry pie. Then I slept for fourteen hours.
You can see the Milky Way from Mt Whitney if you hike in complete darkness.
