0.4m north of Guitar Lake to Whitney Portal

Mileage: 16.8 miles, total 210.4 miles

Max elevation: 14,505 feet (Mt Whitney summit)

I woke at 3.15 AM to the sight of headlamps snaking their way up the mountain. It reminded me of Kilimanjaro and, whilst I briefly wanted to charge up there after them, I was happy with our decision as otherwise we would have had to rise at midnight. This way we got some sleep at least.

The trail initially climbed up via some steep switchbacks. It was nice climbing by the light of our headlamps and that of the moon but the day soon brightened enough that we could walk by the oncoming dawn.

The switchbacks were nice and long and easy but we kept our pace as slow as possible given the altitude we were climbing to. We came across a group who said they had bumped into a pair of hikers earlier who had to abandon their attempt on Whitney due to altitude sickness. In addition, we came across blood which had dried on the trail apparently from someone’s nose bleed, another sign of altitude sickness.

We tried to put all this negative energy behind us and concentrate on our climb. Guitar Lake gradually receded as we climbed higher up Whitney. There were some beautiful views as we gained altitude.

Eventually, we reached the junction for the trail to Mt Whitney which is one way. You have to descend the way you came back to this junction once you’ve summited and then hike on to journey’s end at Whitney Portal. Most people also leave their packs here for the climb to the summit but we just left our bear canisters and microspikes behind (as there was no snow).

The trail from there had several rocky sections as it continued its journey to the summit. The great views continued as we climbed and, for the first time, we got some views towards Lone Pine and the desert to the east. I felt great as I climbed and the altitude did not affect me at all and I stopped every now and again so Ben and I ascended at the same rate. For some reason, I’m a good hill climber on the ascents and can generally maintain a set pace within stopping whereas Ben is faster than me on the downhills.

Eventually, we rounded the final rock pillar on Whitney to start approaching the summit. It was great to not feel the altitude and to get close to the top. Before long, we were on the final ascent and then, at long last, we reached the summit of Mt Whitney at 14,505 feet above sea level and the highest point in the contiguous United States.

The view from the top was amazing and we could see a long way in each direction. It was spectacular to be above all of the surrounding peaks. We were also able to FaceTime our families as there was a cell signal at the summit.

The summit was full of ecstatic hikers all phoning their friends and families. To me, reaching the summit of Mt Whitney meant a great deal not only in terms of the achievement itself but also in terms of having completed the 210 mile John Muir Trail from Yosemite. We spent an hour up there at the top of the United States just enjoying the experience.

Unfortunately, it was soon time to start our descent and we began to head down the mountain and to complete the 8.7 mile descent from the top of Mt Whitney. All I can say is this descent is long, tiring and brutal on body and feet and seemingly never ending after a long climb to the summit. I feel sorry for those climbing Whitney from this side rather than Guitar Lake.

Every time we asked hikers how far it was to Whitney Portal, the answer was always the same – ‘oh, around 2.5 miles’. Apart from the last hiker we asked an hour before we finished, he thought it was 4.9 miles per his expensive looking GPS watch.

After hours of descending, we finally reached Whitney Portal. It was time for something to eat at the store as well as a drink. We were then lucky enough to thumb a ride within seconds and my streak as far as hitching continues. The guys that took us to Lone Pine were really nice and wouldn’t take any gas money. They were climbing Whitney the next day so we gave them all the information we could to help them.

That evening we went out for pizza but were pretty exhausted after the long day. It was great to feel we had both finished the JMT and also climbed Whitney that day and we were happy with the accomplishment.