Permit

If you are not aware, a permit is required to hike and camp Mt. Whitney. A day permit is required to hike Whitney year round. Off season (November 2nd to April 30th) you can get a permit at the visitors center. To hike Whitney during peak season (May 1st to November 1st) you need to make reservations. Most of the time reservations are so congested that a lottery system is used. You make a reservation and a lottery is completed to issue the permits. Overnight permits work the same way.

Because we love ice and snow. We decided to camp and summit Mt. Whitney in the off season. This also meant we could avoid the lottery and crowds. Nothing is worse that waiting in line to summit a mountain.

The Plan

We left in late April which is still winter conditions on Whitney. Because Whitney is such a long hike we wanted to start the trail early. To do this we would drive to the Whitney Portal Thursday night and sleep in the Van. Friday morning we hit the trail to the Whitney camp. Camp Friday night. Saturday morning leave half our gear at camp and summit Whitney then return to camp. Pack up our camp and then hike to a much lower camp to spend Saturday night. Wake up Sunday and hike to the Van.

What Happened

We spent Thursday night in the Van at the Portal, hiked to the Whitney camp Friday morning and spent the night. Saturday we summited, and returned to pack up our camp. But instead of setting up a camp again Saturday night we just marched through to the van. We were tired and the thought of setting up camp again sounded tedious when we were already were hiking in the direction of the van. I dont think it was the right decision since it was a long trek from camp to the van, especially after the long day of summiting.

Summiting a mountain in the winter

It is hard to know what to expect when climbing a mountain in the winter. Every mountain is different. There are mountains I know very well and others that require research before attempting. This was our first time attempting Whitney in winter conditions so we wanted to be extra safe. I have heard that the "99 switchbacks" freezes over and you walk on large portions of ice. When I know I will be hiking on ice I carry an ice axe, crampons, helmet, rope, ice screws, harness and quickdraws. We also expected there to be heavy snow cover getting to the Whitney camp. When dealing with heavy snow I carry snow shoes.

So many Mistakes When Packing

My 65lb pack was miserable. These are the things that made my pack so heavy and I did not need at all

-Snowshoes

-Helmet

-Rope

-Harness

-Ice Screws

-Quickdraws

-Ice tools

-Bear Can

To put this in perspective, when I Backpacked Mt. Langley in the fall I only had a 20lb pack. Here I am hiking the tallest mountain in the 48 states and my pack is over 3 times heavier.