The ultimate hiking "high" in the US lower 48 states is Mt. Whitney, at the easternmost edge of Sequoia National Park in east central California. The hike to Mt. Whitney starts at the Whitney Portal trailhead, at an elevation of 8,360 feet. The hike extends eleven miles one way west to Whitney summit. The trail rises 6,137 feet to the highest point in the contiguous US, at an elevation of 14,497 feet.

The hike is classified as a "very strenuous" one-day hike. The elevation is definitely part of the challenge. To give your body time to adjust to the thin air, sleeping overnight at some high elevation is recommended preparation. There is a Whitney Portal Campground near the trailhead, perfect for such an overnight stay. Most "day hikers" in good condition can expect to spend about fourteen hours on the trail, but hike times vary widely. Many people make this hike as a two or three day backpacking expedition.

This hike requires a permit from the National Forest Service. There are a limited number of permits issued per day (separately rationed for day hikes and overnight hikes) to prevent overcrowding on the trail. This permit is free if gotten on a walk-in basis the day before the hike, or else is available by reservation in advance for a fee. There are two classes of permits, one for "day hikers" extending from midnight to midnight, and one for overnight backpackers who plan to camp along the way at one of a few available camping areas.

There are several alternative hikes to reach the Mt. Whitney summit. Two follow the John Muir Trail.

• One is a six day one way backpacking trip. It starts at the Giant Forest area on the west side of Sequoia National Park. It goes east to the Whitney summit, then continues east to end at the Whitney Portal. It totals about 72 miles.

• Another is a ten day round trip backpacking trip. It follows the same trail as the first one as far as the Whitney summit, then retraces that same trail back west to Giant Forest. It totals about 122 miles.

To reach the trailhead at Whitney Portal, start in Lone Pine (a small town along US highway 395 in eastern California). Take the Whitney Portal Road thirteen miles west to Whitney Portal. There is parking available for day hikers and overnight hikers in the trailhead vicinity. There are several campgrounds in the area and a store just above the trailhead.

• The drive from Lone Pine to the trailhead

  Here are four pictures taken from the road approaching Mt. Whitney.

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    Leaving Lone Pine, we drive west on the Whitney Portal Road through an area which is known as the Alabama Hills (after the home state of the Civil War veterans who discovered the hills and settled there). The drive starts out deceptively flat, through an area covered with dry climate vegetation typical of the area.
    

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    The Alabama Hills are made of heavily eroded reddish stone, of which this roadside example is typical.
    

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    The road climbs from around 3700 feet in Lone Pine to about 8300 feet at the trailhead. Here we see the road cut into the rock above and ahead of us, as we are most of the way up. Mt. Whitney is visible in the background behind other closer mountains.
    

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    Just short of the Whitney Portal Campground, around the curve in the road seen in the previous picture, is this sudden, breathtaking view of Mt. Whitney.
    

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    This picture was taken from around Whitney Portal Campground. It contrasts dark green trees and light gray rock which surround the campground.
    

• Starting out along the Mt. Whitney Trail

  The trail to the summit is really two different trails.

  The "Mt. Whitney Trail" is the name for the first nine miles of the trail. This part starts at the Whitney Portal and ends just past the Trail Crest. The Mt. Whitney Trail lies in the Inyo National Forest.

  The "John Muir Trail" is the name for the last two miles of the trail. This part starts just past Trail Crest, runs along the backside of the mountain range, and leads to the summit of Mt. Whitney. These two miles of the John Muir Trail (which is much longer) lie in Sequoia National Park.

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    Just after Lone Pine Lake along the trail, Mt. Whitney permits are required. This is where you "enter the Mt. Whitney zone". The lake is 2.5 miles from the trailhead, at an elevation of 9,850 feet.
    

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    Meadows on Mt. Whitney Trail are a dark green, not like lower elevation mountain meadows, but they are still beautiful, with lots of strong color contrasts to the light gray rock formations towering above them.
    

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    Mirror Lake as seen near dawn, with the mountain above the lake catching the early morning sunlight. The lake is four miles from the trailhead, at an elevation of 10,640 feet.
    

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    Consultation Lake, with a glacier descending to the lakeshore on the far side, but covered with so much dust eroded from the mountain above it, the glacier looks like the surrounding rock.
    

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    The reputed "killer" part of the Mt. Whitney hike is the "switchbacks" area, also called "the infamous 97". Many hikers consider the switchbacks the most difficult part of the hike. The trail here rises from just past Trail Camp at an elevation of 12,000 feet to the Trail Crest at an elevation of 13,600 feet in just 2.2 miles of thin air. In this picture, the stark gray rock toward Mt. Whitney contrasts to the deep blue sky as seen from the switchback part of the trail.
    

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    Another picture toward Mt. Whitney from higher on the switchbacks.
    

• Continuing on along the John Muir Trail

  The last two miles of the trail, the part on the west side of the mountain range, is part of the John Muir Trail. The John Muir Trail begins far north in Yosemite and ends at the summit of Mt. Whitney. This part of the John Muir Trail approaches Mt. Whitney from the west. It junctions with the Mt. Whitney Trail just west of Trail Crest, on the west slope of Mount Muir. The John Muir Trail then turns north along the backside (west side) approach to the summit of Mt. Whitney, and goes to the summit.

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    Southwest of Mt. Whitney, the first lakes seen after crossing to the backside are the Hitchcock Lakes, the largest of several lakes to the west of Mt. Whitney visible from the trail.
    

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    The Mount Muir portion of the backside trail displays many jumbled rock formations. The Mount Muir rocks are mainly reddish-golds instead of Whitney's predominant light grays. Just about here, the trail begins the first of several down and up sections.
    

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    The trail on the west side of the mountain range passes several "windows" where the hiker can look through the mountains down to the valley floor to the east.
    

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    The summit, seen here from the backside, is a rounded dome instead of the sheer cliff as seen from the front side. The hiker's first view of the summit from the backside shows a field of large broken rocks ahead. The footing along here is difficult. It was slow going for the hiker ahead of me.
    

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    As you walk up the dome of the mountain's west side, a small hut becomes visible, letting you know that the summit is near.
    

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    Topped with lightning rods which just seem to make it more dangerous, since it is plastered with warning signs against using it for shelter during lightning storms, is a stone hut. It was built for USGS (US Geological Survey) use in the early 1900's but used for only a single season. It sits squarely on the summit of Mt. Whitney, and a registration book for hikers is in a metal lidded table on the west side.
    

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    Mike is standing next to the hut, right by the register table.
    

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    Here is Mike's signature near the top of a register page, to tell the world that he had reached the summit.
    

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    Mike is sitting behind the plaque attached to a boulder at the summit of Mt. Whitney. The plaque indicates the 14,497 foot elevation and commemorates the construction of the highest trail in the US, completed in 1930.
    

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    Mike stands on a giant paving stone typical of the rubble all over the dome of Mt. Whitney summit. The white halo in the background of this and other pictures is due to haze from a huge forest fire that had been burning for weeks in Sequoia National Forest. The camera saw the haze more clearly than the human eye. To people, the air up there seemed clear and thin.
    

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    Mike stands atop another huge paving stone, and directly behind him is seen the far wall of a huge cut into the east face of Mt. Whitney, while behind him on the other side is a mountain with a perfect shark's tooth profile.
    

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    This is a view of Pinnacle Ridge seen from Whitney summit.
    

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    Looking up at Mike on yet another paving stone. There isn't much of anywhere else to stand on Whitney summit except these large stones, the area is "paved" with them, and the hiker steps from one to another in walking across the summit off the maintained trails.
    

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