My brother-in-law, cousin and I all left shepherd pass trail head on june 27 at 5pm. This route is not as popular as other routes but we figured it would be unique and does bypass the lottery. We were only able to reach about 3-4 miles up the trail before dark but did find a flat area on a ridge looking due south at Mt Williamson. On june 28th, we hiked up the trail and up over the shepherd pass, that was quite a beast!The trail gets quite dangerous up near the pass, with the loose talus. Amazing views and a wonderful high plateau with a lake at the pass and great views of Mt Tyndall. We made our way down to Tyndall Creek and made camp around 9:30pm.
The next day(june 29) was to be a "short" day over to wallace creek, but we decided to push on to a camp just east of crabtree meadow to cut off the distance for the next day to summit and get to trail camp. Summit day june 30, was a very long day, we were up around 4am, got going around 5:30am, filled up at the last water source at the tarns above guitar lake. I got there after my two hiking partners, and for me it was quite a long haul between guitar lake and trail crest. The views were very amazing and there were not much hikers on this side of the crest. My pack was a little heavy for me(48lbs) but i did drop my pack at 12:30pm and made my way to the summit.
I met up with my hiking buddies at 330pm, i really made a slow go at getting there but i made it due to sheer determination and some of the other great people on the trail. I was feeling the effects of the elevation, but with my water and a few snacks...kept going until i saw my buddies and when i saw that stone hut, i knew i had made it!
I signed the register, took some pics and enjoyed some time with my buddies and savored the victory of getting there. We headed down a little before 4pm, got back to trail crest and made our way down the 99 switchbacks to trail camp. Those switchbacks seemed longer than i thought they would be!! I also should mention the trail between trail crest and the summit was a little more precarious than i had thought. This trail cannot be done that fast, due to the fact there are sections that require care, but it was all great. Our last day from trail camp to the portal was great with amazing views, scenic lakes like mirror and lone pine, as well as trailside meadow and outpost.
I truly cherish the experience i had on Mt Whitney, no matter how tough this was, it was an extremely wonderful trip and all worth it. I would do it again. My toes are pretty torn up, but besides that, no problems. This was my 3rd attempt at summiting and finally i did it. I would strongly suggest anyone doing this PLEASE plan and be prepared way in advance with all the proper training and to PLEASE BE ADVISED, there is no water source between trail camp and the tarns above guitar lake. Safety is a big thing to think about. In my experience, i did have enough water and food, but found that i struggled with my breathing, so i went extra slow to be sure not to over do it. I never had any real headaches until i got down to trail camp, but with some ibuprofen, i was ok. The weather was perfect all week for us, so that was a true blessing.
We of course enjoyed the traditional cheeseburger and fries at the portal along with a celebratory beer. Thank you to all the great people on this website for all the advice and information that i made good use of for this trip. I also want to do a shout out to all the great people on the trail that we saw,(papa smurf, frank, etc) Eric.(norcalhiker67)
