Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Others day hiking Whitney Fri, Oct 11?

Hi all, my hiking partner just backed out of our summit hike planned for this Friday. I'm ok hiking solo but would feel a bit better knowing that others will be on the mountain that day. Anyone have an estimate of the number of hikers likely to be on the trail this Friday? Any other solo hikers wanna team up?
Thanks, Tannika

Tannika, you won't be alone hiking on the trail, and the weather will be good (but cold). Talk to others on the trail, and you will make friends.

Have a good hike!

Tannika,

I would love to team up with you on Friday. I also will have 2 other ladies with me, and we all want to hike Whitney on Friday or Saturday. Due to the government shutdown, we can't get a permit and would need to find someone with 2 more permits spots for all 3 three of us to go up legally. Know of anyone else planning to go up with less people than they are permitted for?

If I can't find the permit spots, Steve is right, you will surely see others on Whitney, and the trail is well maintained by sheer number of feet that use it.

Climbing a 14,500' Mountain for the first time is exciting and not without some risk. People evaluate risk differently. I would not recommend climbing Whitney solo to a first timer. Well, maybe if the person had a fair amount of experience over, say, 13,000' and a fair amount of trail knowledge, but that would be an individual assessment. The fact that this is October, with even fewer people on the trail and the potential for big snow and ice, doesn't help, either. And no rangers on the mountain.

Again, just a different perspective, reflecting that we all have different experiences and approaches to risk.

I appreciate the advice and you're right Whitney is not a hike for a beginner, especially as a solo hiker. I have quite a bit of experience doing long day hikes (20+ mi) to peaks over 10,000 feet, including Whitney last October. I also do at least one 8 to 14-day backpacking trip in the Sierras annually. So, I feel confident in my abilities but it's always nice knowing others are in the vicinity : )

Hi ERack, given the shutdown, I wasn't able to get my permit as planned. So, I'm planning to go without. Let me know if yall are still interested in going Friday. Thanks!

ERack,
No one climbing Whitney will have a permit. They may have a reservation, but unless the office opens there is nobody to issue the permit. If recreation.gov is working you can make a reservation, but will still not be able to pick up your permit. Time to consider an act of civil disobedience?
Good luck!

Tannika! I may be going this friday depending on the snow these next few days brings.

If the snow is low to no, then I'm going to make a bid on Russell, if the snow sticks I'm going to do the main trail up Whitney. What do you anticipate your schedule to be? (I'm going to TRY to break 10 hours up and down.)

Snacking Bear, my trip also depends on the snow levels. I'm ok with a thin layer of snow but will cancel if it's too much. The hike is hard enough without having to trudge through the snow.

As for my expected hiking time, I'd like to go up and back in 10 hrs also, but am not sure that's realistic. I hiked Whitney last year but was with an out-of-shape hiker so it was much slower going than I wanted (15hrs). In the last week and a half, I did an 18+ mile hike to San Jacinto peak (10,800ft, 5,000ft +/-) in 8 hrs. and a 26+ mile hike to San Gorgonio peak (11,500ft, 6,100ft +/-) in 10 hrs. Given these recent hikes, I think I can do Whitney in 10hrs but not sure how the added elevation will effect my time. That being said, we could start out together then each go at our own pace.