Mount Whitney is a different kind of experience

Being on the crest of the Sierra Nevada is a lot like being on the roof of a cathedral. You’re so high up that everything stretches out beneath you for miles and miles. The highest point on the roof of our Sierra Nevada cathedral is Mount Whitney – towering 14,505 feet above sea level and 10,000 feet above the nearby town of Lone Pine.

Mount Whitney was the ultimate goal of my trek across the Sierra Nevada on Sequoia National Park’s High Sierra Trail – the journey I’ve described over the course of the last two weeks.

It’s an extremely popular trail and it’s always going to be that way because it’s the highest mountain in any state except Alaska. If solitude is one of the first things you think of when you hear the word “wilderness,” then Mount Whitney won’t fit your expectations, even though it is within the boundaries of the John Muir Wilderness. With more than 20,000 hikers using the trail every year annually, the atmosphere is much like Yosemite’s Half Dome trail.

I think it’s best to think of Mount Whitney as a different kind of experience, the kind where you interact with a lot of people who are undergoing the same challenges and exhilarations. You make a lot of stops, especially on the way to the summit, and it’s fun to talk with people from across our nation and around the world who have come to hike this trail. When we are pushing our bodies to extremes, we’re all pretty much the same, no matter where we are from.

Unlike the solitude of a typical wilderness experience, this hike is more like being on a team where you occasionally get to encourage another player.

Most people climb Mount Whitney the shortest way possible. Leaving U.S. 395 in Lone Pine, they drive up Whitney Portal Road into the Sierra to the point where the road dead-ends at the trailhead. The elevation is 8,360 feet, and from there, it’s a climb of 6,200 feet in 11 miles to the summit. From the time the trail is snow-free in June or July until October, lots of people use this trail every day. It’s so popular that access is limited by a permit system. Each day 60 permits are issued for overnight backpackers and 100 permits for day hikers.

The first time I hiked Mount Whitney in 2004, I did it as a day hike. We started on the trail at 4:30 a.m. and walked most of the day. It was about sunset by the time we got back to the parking area. We slept pretty well that night. Either way, it is challenging. Twenty-two miles in a day is grueling – especially with 6,200 feet of elevation gain – but it does mean that you don’t have to carry overnight camping gear.

There’s great demand for the permits, so they are issued through a lottery system. You can submit applications online each year from Feb. 1 to March 15. Go to http://www.recreation.gov/ and search for “Mount Whitney” to find the application. You can apply for up to 15 dates, and last year, 43 percent of applicants got a permit for one of their dates. The fee is $8 per group plus $15 per individual hiker. You can also do what we did – start your trip anywhere other than the main Whitney trail. It means a longer trip, but you’ll see more territory. Permits for trips starting elsewhere in Inyo National Forest can be reserved on the same website six months in advance and reservations are less competitive.

If you start your trip in Inyo National Forest, you can pick up your permit at the Interagency Visitor Center in Lone Pine. Our trip began on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada in Sequoia National Park, where permits can be reserved starting at the beginning of March. From west to east, we walked about 75 miles in nine days, with the last day’s trek from Guitar Lake to the summit of Mount Whitney and then down to Whitney Portal totaling about 15 miles. You can have an excellent hamburger in Lone Pine, and they are even better at the end of an exhausting day like this one.

Because of the height of Mount Whitney, altitude sickness is a concern. A campground is provided at the trailhead, and it is a good place to spend a night or two to get acclimated to a moderately high elevation before going higher. There’s also a store/restaurant: http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/index.html. Everything else you could need is 13 miles away in Lone Pine.

Bear canisters are required for safe food storage during the summer. Carry a lot of water and purify any you find along the trail. The trail’s popularity means that water sources are likely to be contaminated. It also means that fires are prohibited year-round because of a lack of firewood and that you’ll be given a “wag bag” with your wilderness permit. Because 20,000 people use the trail every year, human waste has to be packed out. Having to use a bag as a toilet is unpleasant and awkward, but it keeps the trail from being a disgusting mess.

Weather can be a concern even during the summer. Lightning storms are frequent. Hikers should get off the summit if a storm approaches. The summit received snow on July 9-10 – when we were stuck in rain and hail at Upper Hamilton Lake.

Overall, Mount Whitney is a great destination – one of California’s outstanding landmarks and a great personal accomplishment if you reach the top. A successful trip requires being in good physical condition, careful planning and acclimation to prevent altitude sickness. For great views closer to home with less work, try one of Yosemite’s great summit hikes: Mount Hoffmann (featured July 8) Clouds Rest or Mount Dana.

This story was originally published August 4, 2015 at 6:30 PM with the headline "Mount Whitney is a different kind of experience."