Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Whitney to Russell Permit Question

I was lucky enough to win a Whitney Trail (Overnight) permit for late June this year.

Since I live out of state, I am hoping to tack on Mt. Russell to this trip so I don't need to deal with the difficult permit logistics on a separate visit.

The permit allowed me to choose an Exit Point of North Fork of Lone Pine Creek - JM34, with a campsite at UBSL.

Is this sufficient to hike Mt. Russell? I have been looking into trip reports and planning on descending the north face of Whitney and ascending the southwest face of Russell, with a descent down the east ridge to Carillon and out North Fork back to the portal.

I haven't been able to find anything conclusive about this. One ranger emailed me and said it was okay, but when I called a different office on the phone, they said I needed a separate permit. I understand I need the North Fork/day use permit to ascend the routes on that side - but what about descend if I am ascending from the Sequoia NP side? The fact they let me choose a campsite in North Fork is confusing to me.

I’m an old guy with a lot of experience and a memory that’s still mostly OK. 40x Whitney by five different routes. 11x Russell by three different routes. I’ve done them both the same day several times.

First, there are three possible permits for Whitney that start at Whitney Portal. It appears that you have the Whitney Trail overnight permit (part of the lottery). This allows you to climb the main Whitney trail. It is legal, but EXTREMELY IMPRACTAL, to carry all your overnight gear up the trail to the Whitney summit, descend the Mountaineers’ Route, and then camp at Iceberg Lake or UBSL. You can climb the south face of Russell from Iceberg Lake, or the east ridge of Russell from UBSL.

The Whitney Zone day use permit (also part of the lottery) allows you to go anywhere in the Whitney Zone for one day. Any peaks, any trails, anything you want to do. It is common to climb the Mountaineers’ Route and descend the main trail.

The North Fork of Lone Pine Creek permit (not part of the lottery) provides access to LBSL, UBSL, Iceberg Lake, the Mountaineers’ Route, all the technical routes on Whitney, and all the routes on Russell. This is the right permit for climbing Russell and Whitney on two different days.

I’ve only been on the north face of Whitney once. I was dayhiking Russell, Whitney, and Muir. I probably didn’t find the best way up the north face, but I climbed some crappy snow and ice and considerable rotten class 3-4 rock. It wasn’t fun. If I were linking them again, I would descend the south face of Russell, hike over the col NW of Iceberg Lake, and then ascend the Mountaineers’ Route to Whitney.

If you find yourself on the main trail with a little time to spare, take the short detour up Mt. Muir. The summit area is one of my favorite class 3 scrambles.

Thanks so much for the detailed response! I'm definitely hoping to tag Mt. Muir as well.

I appreciate you sharing your expertise on the best routes to take - perhaps it is best to wait and try for Russell another time.