High Sierra Trail - Day Five

The last day of our journey was here! I felt completely acclimated and ready to tackle the Mt. Whitney summit. We got a bit of a late start and most of the other campers at Guitar Lake had already left, but we had no problem with the 2500ft climb up to Trail Crest. At that point we were able to drop off our backpacks, making sure to separate all food items so marmots wouldn’t destroy our stuff. For the rest of the 1.7 miles to the summit I felt like a little cloud floating across the trail! Removing the backpack made such a difference.

The views along the way to the summit were incredible. Turquoise lakes, jagged peaks, and a view of the Great Western Divide that we crossed just days before. On the final climb to the top my eyes got a little teary as I saw the Mt. Whitney hut. I couldn’t believe we did it! We were standing at the highest point (14505 ft) in the contiguous United States! We sat at the summit for a while, enjoying panoramic views in all directions.

We practically flew back down to Trail Crest and collected our backpacks. Then came the famed 99 switchbacks down towards the Whitney Portal. I counted, and there are definitely 99 of them! However, beyond the switchbacks it was still several miles back down to the road and the trail became very crowded. It was a slow introduction back to civilization. As we arrived at the trailhead we chatted with a few hikers who were completing single day summits, starting around 3 in the morning. That sounds like a real challenge!

We found a car that friends had very generously left for us and bee lined straight to the Lone Pine for a fast food feast. We quickly found a local hotel and enjoyed glorious showers and real beds before driving back to Los Angeles the next day.

The High Sierra Trail is really the place that introduced me to wilderness backpacking and longer duration thru hiking. I am so grateful for the beautiful lakes and rivers, perfect weather, and summiting my first 14er. I highly recommend this trip to anyone who enjoys wilderness backpacking.