PCT Bonus Post: A Whitney Story

At 11:45 PM my alarm went off. I had only gone to bed 3 hours earlier. The goal was to leave by midnight though you know how that goes. I changed into some warmer clothes and packed my sleeping quilt in my bag. I put my rain jacket on top, just in case. Our goal was to climb to the top, 14,505 feet, by first light. We had 4 hours.

I got out of my tent and saw a handful of red headlamps scurrying about. Everyone was doing their last preparations before the ascent. I collapsed my tent, grabbed my trekking poles and went to the creek to make sure I had enough water. After that I was ready.

At 12:20 AM we began hiking. Even though the group was tired we hiked at a moderate pace. You could feel the excitement in the air as we were only 8 miles from the summit of Mt. Whitney. The first 3 miles were easy. The trail went by a few lakes and crossed a few streams flowing into them. At about mile 4 is where the switchbacks started.

You could see little blips of light up the side of the mountain. There were more people than I thought! There were 9 of us who left at the same time and at least a dozen more lights on the distance. With each thousand feet of elevation gain the pace moved slower. Base camp was at 10,000 feet but it felt lower.

As we got to the last 500 feet things got a little more precarious. We were walking on trail that was right next to a vertical drop-off. There were big rocks that we had to step across. I was thankful that we were going up in the dark and couldn't see how high up we were.

When we were a quarter mile from the top we saw it. It looked like the world was being born. I have never seen anything like this in my life! The colors were so rich and the contrast between the darkness of night and the rising sun in the horizon was incredible. We did it. We reached the top.

There were about 3 dozen people on the top. Everyone was snuggled up in their quilts and all eyes were fixed on the horizon. It was truly a magical experience and was incredible to be sharing with others. With each moment the darkness slowly faded and we could see more of our surroundings. I felt like I was on top of the world.

At 14,505 feet, Mt. Whitney is the highest peak in the lower 48 states. The view truly lives up to all the publicity. If you ever have the chance to climb it, I cannot recommend it enough.

-Pickle