Mt.. Whitney

[schultz104]

Best way to finish the jmt. Do Whitney at sunrise or sunset?

[Different Socks]

If I had to make a choice? Why not both? Watch sunset from peak, stay the night and watch sunrise. But then again, I love both.

[The Solemates]

sunrises always outweigh sunsets for my climbs.

[10-K]

sunrises always outweigh sunsets for my climbs.

Me too. My plan (hahaha) is to camp on or near the top and see the sunrise.

[ChinMusic]

I had assumed camping up there was not allowed. Is this a gray area or perfectly ok ?

[tcmbnd]

I'm also planning on camping on top of Whitney for my hike this summer. Then I'm considering doing Mt. Muir the next day on my way back to Whitney Portal.

[fiddlehead]

It's not allowed but you can camp not far from the top, wake up early and be there for sunrise.
I slept in the little cabin up there, back in the 90's when it was still OK.
Lightning struck when some hikers were sleeping in there and killed a few of them a few years later.
That's why the new rule.

Anyway, if you're going to be up there (close to the top) for sunset, you may as well stay for sunrise and catch them both.

[Badger2011]

I'm heading out to Whitney this summer as well, doing a 40 mile section. Can't wait! Are there many springs / lakes in the area?

[Berserker]

There was a group camped up there when I summitted last year. Personally I wouldn't want to camp up there. There's not a lot of area for camping (rocky), no water, and a ton of people going to and fro. Guitar Lake or the one above it with an early start is the best way to go in my opinion if coming form the East. I started walking around 6:30, and was on the summit before 9:00 with a stop mixed in there.

[Kreakyneez]

Guitar Lake will be your last water from the West. There is a spring with good water way down on the switchbacks on the East side. If the spring is not flowing, then the next water is at Trail Camp.

[colorado_rob]

Guitar Lake will be your last water from the West. There is a spring with good water way down on the switchbacks on the East side. If the spring is not flowing, then the next water is at Trail Camp.I think Guitar lake was our very favorite camp along the entire JMT, loved it there.

We left camp very early, way before dawn and summited Whitney just a bit after sunrise. You could leave even earlier and catch sunrise. Sleeping on the summit doesn't seem like a great idea to me, but I guess, why not if you want to catch both sun events.

[evyck da fleet]

Camp at Guitar Lake and get up early. You probably won't be alone. I got up around 2am saw a handful of headlights along the trail and was at the summit a little before sunrise. I hung out for a bit in the emergency shelter on top to warm up before heading down to grab a burger at the Portal and then headed into Lone Pine for a beer or....

[garyp]

http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/08/13/4068989/hanford-boy-scouts-rescue-la-couple.html

I don't see the bends here. I see altitude sickness. Just be careful.

[Maui Rhino]

I summited Whitney for sunrise ten days ago (8/19) for the finish of my JMT thru. If you are thinking of camping up there, as noted earlier, there is no water, and precious little flat ground....all rock. A lot of the people around me weren't prepared for the cold at 14,500ft. Expect below zero temps. I camped at the next little tarn above Guitar Lake (11800ft), and left my campsite at 12:30am to start climbing (I'm a slow hiker). I got to the trail junction 2 miles below the summit (13400ft) at 3:15, and arrived at the summit at 5am...one of the first up for sunrise. As I climbed and did the final traverse, I could see down to Guitar Lake. There must have been a hundred headlamps visible as people filed up, which made for a pretty cool sight.

Some sunrise tips:
1. The colors come out in the hour before sunrise. In my case offical sunrise time was 6:12, so I planned to be there by 5am to watch the transition to daylight. It is 5 miles and nearly 3000 vertical feet from Guitar Lake to the summit. Be sure to give yourself enough time to get up before first light.

2. Bring every piece of insulation you have, including your sleeping bag and a sit-pad. As I said, many hikers were unprepared for the cold. We had a light breeze for sunrise, but it cut right through you. There are large crevasses in the rocks you can sit in to hide from the wind, but the granite also sucks your body heat out. I was toasty wrapped in my quilt and sitting on a sit-pad, but everyone around me was miserable. Since I planned to drop my pack at Trail Junction, I also carried a small silny daypack. I loaded it up with my quilt, rain jacket, puffy, wool gloves and beanie, camera, tripod, sunglasses, water bottle, snacks, and wag bag, and I was set. Wool socks can double as mittens, but the GI wool glove liners I used worked well.

3. The cold is very hard on your camera batteries...especially the rechargeable ones. Keep your camera in a pocket to keep it warm when you are not using it.

Enjoy your trip. Sunrise at Whitney, along with sunrise at Half-Dome on day 2 of my hike were definitely highlights of my trip.

[Coffee]

I camped near Crabtree Meadows on the last night of my JMT thru and got up to Whitney an hour before sunrise. It was indeed very cold and there were clouds and ice on the rocks. Don't count on shelter in the hut as it is likely to be full. Beware of getting too comfortable in one of the stone crevasses before checking whether it was used by a thoughtless hiker as a toilet.

[10-K]

Summited at sunrise, had the place to myself. I intended to go up, spend a few minutes and come back down. Turns out I sat on a rock for over an hour taking it all in.

On the way back down, around 7:00 AM, I bet I passed 20 people. I got there just in time.

p.s. I camped at Guitar Lake, again having the *entire* place to myself. It was soooo awesome.

[MuddyWaters]

Summiting Whitney alone in the cold dark was the highlite of my JMT. I would not miss that. . I was first up. Plan to be there at least 30 min before sunrise as the light starts filling sky. An hour would be better. After 15 min someone snuck up behind me and said something, scared the hell out of me. No one else showed till after light. Dozens passed on the way down.


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