From Start to Summit: A Journey on Mount Whitney Trail

My brother and I won permits in the lottery and opted for the single day car 2 car Mount Whitney summit climb on Sunday, August 6, 2023. We started in Las Vegas on Friday and drove west through Death Valley on Saturday morning. After spending the day running around in the heat below, visiting places like Dante's View and Badwater Basin (below sea level), we arrived in Lone Pine, CA. We briefly rested at our hotel, woke up at 11:30pm, then made the drive to the Whitney Portal. We began the hike at 1am, already 8k feet+ and took the old trail to skip the first river crossing. We passed 5 river crossings, outpost camp and arrived at trail camp at sunrise. We then tackled the infamous 99 switchbacks up to Trail Crest. Once here we entered Sequoia National Park and had great views of Mt Muir. After a couple more miles we finally reached the summit of Mt Whitney. Views included 360 degree views the high sierras, Crabtree Pass and Crabtree Meadow, Army Pass, Kings Canyon, Mount Langley, Cottonwood Lakes, Guitar Lake, the John Muir Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). It was a blast climbing the highest peak of the contiguous united states. This was our 2nd 14er, along with Mount Rainier. The Sierra Nevada's are truly beautiful. Thank you for watching!