Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Seeking Tips for Backpacking Mt Whitney

After 7 Whitney day hikes, I decided it was time to try something new and managed to score some overnight permits for this summer. We are going to do a 2 day/1 night trip on the MWT, setting up camp at Trail Camp.

A few questions:
1. What time do people usually start their first day on a 2-day trip? Maybe 9am or so? I wanted to allow for some time at Lone Pine Lake and to arrive at Trail Camp with plenty of time before sunset to set up our tents and get situated for dinner.

2. Any advice about camping at Trail Camp? E.g., best locations for a tent, good practices to avoid marmot problems, what's ok to leave behind while you proceed onward to the summit?)

Thanks!

I can help answer question #2.... My advice: don't stay at Trail Camp if you can. I stayed last year and the 70 MPH winds in late June blew through the camp snapping my tent poles. Doug at the Portal Store says the same thing. If you do decide on staying there, you can stash all your gear just about anywhere, just make sure you put ALL scent items in the bear canisters. Those cute little mountain monsters will chew through anything.

Just be aware that the later you start from the Portal, the more uncomfortable it will be going up the canyon in the heat with a heavy pack. On a dayhike, you're typically out of this canyon and at cooler elevations before the sun really warms things up. I've gotten away from the Portal between 9:00 and 10:00 a couple of times with an overnight pack, and I was miserable by LPL both times. Heat I can take. Weight too. The two combined suck.

The ledges above Consultation Lake are a much better camping option than the Trail Camp ghetto. Cleaner, quieter, less wind, fewer critters. You can't see these ledges from the trail, but once you begin climbing the rock staircase above the lake head a few yards to your left and peek over the side - you should find several reasonably groomed sites along the way. Some will even take tent stakes. Easiest water access is a couple of hundred yards back down the trail where the path crosses over a stream of snowmelt. It's just after you cross this stream on the ascent that you should be looking for the ledge sites.

On my Enjoyability scale of 1-10, Trail Camp is a 3 or 4 (or -1 on a really windy night), while Consultation Lake is easily an 8 or 9.

'dog....Shhhhhhh!!!!!

All that talk is going to do is ghettoize Consultation Lake.

I avoid Trail Camp unless it is mid week in May or November. I do Whitney from the west most of the time and I would rather walk 16+ miles on the last day than stay in Trail or Outpost Camps.

I only throw that out there a couple of times a year! Seven Whitney dayhikes, first time backpacking it - that's a deserving recipient. Besides, the thread will get buried in a week or two, right?

Caveat - the snowmelt stream dries up in late summer some years. When that happens, the closest water source is Consultation Lake itself. Either a long, roundabout trip back down the trail and then cross-country to the lake, or a class 3 scramble down and back up the ledges. The second option is not recommended for most folks.

Thanks for the suggestions! We are definitely "in" for camping out in the Trail Camp area. No reverting to a day hike, no staying at Outpost Camp instead. The group I'm with weighed the pros and cons of Outpost Camp vs Trail Camp and the latter won out for providing greater acclimatization benefits as well as a good place to watch the weather on day 2 if there is a stormy forecast.

I appreciate the inside tips to make the best of staying at Trail Camp.I'm going with a group of veterans, including several who summited Whitney last year with me for their first time. We did the day hike then, and many of them wished for more time on the mountain. That, and my desire to change things up a bit, led me to opt for backpacking Whitney this summer.

I remember Bob R sometimes posted that there are some quiet and more secluded spots north of the Trail Camp pond. On the satellite view, I can see a number of camping pads just north of the outlet of the pond. I think you would need to climb just a little to get to them.

Regarding your group's desire for acclimatization: Climbing all the way to 12.5k (Trail Camp) and spending the night (only 12 hours) might do the opposite: bring on enough AMS symptoms that you feel rotten in the morning. Staying at Outpost is a more moderate elevation, so might not be so severe a shock to the system. If I were in your group, I'd be lobbying to spend the night before you start hiking at 10k at Horseshoe Meadows.

Thanks! We'll be spending the day before at high elevations, probably Horseshoe Meadows, but camping out at Whitney Portal. That's what we did last time for the day hike. For all my hikes, I've just slept at the Portal before starting.

Interesting point re: sleeping at ~12K' doing more harm than good. Will have to ponder that. Most of the guys going only had mild altitude issues last year, maybe that will be of help. Although I know past experience with AMS (or more specifically, lack thereof) does not guarantee future favorable experience.

I'm actually doing this twice over the summer. Maybe I should do an experiment and sleep in different camps. ;-)

Experimenting is good. If you do, please share your results.

Sleeping at 12K'...good luck.

I have problems sleeping over 8,000'. Toss n' turning is more like it at 12K' for most without proper acclimatization...and that doesn't mean a day or two at Horseshoe Meadow and Whitney Portal.