"In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks" -John Muir
The alarm went off at 2 am, and we sleepily made a quick breakfast and broke camp under the stars. Headlamps shining, we started our 4-mile ascent up Mt. Whitney around 3 am. Night hiking has the advantage of masking your progress, or lack-there-of. You really have no choice but to focus on the next step and nothing more, which was a nice change of pace. We would take a break every twenty minutes or so and turn our headlights off to enjoy the stars. The night was so clear we could see the swirling pattern within the Milky Way, an unbelievable sight. We could also see a few fellow hikers climbing below us, represented by tiny lights barely moving in the distance. They resembled lightning bugs as their lights blinked on and off while they turned switchbacks.
Around 4:30 we arrived at Whitney Junction, where the JMT merges with the Whitney Portal Trail and both trails climb a final two miles to the summit. We stashed most of our belongings to lighten the load for the last part of the climb and continued on our way. The trail hugged the north face of the mountain, winding through tall columns of rock, silhouetted by the rising crescent moon and the first inklings of dawn. The pitch was more moderate now, and a ridgeline path took the place of the previous switchbacks. Several times the trail passed over narrow ledges with steep drops to both sides. Through these brief openings in the mountain of rock to our right we could see the lights of Lone Pine below, as well as the colors forming on the horizon. At one point the trail made a sharp right turn revealing 3 jagged peaks, the Keeler Needle, the Day Needle and the Mt. Whitney summit.
Twenty minutes and a short serious of switchbacks later, we were standing on what felt like the top of the world. The sun rose over a thin line of clouds, turning the northern horizon orange and the southern horizon blue and purple. As we looked behind us, we saw a small, triangle shape on the clouds—Mt. Whitney’s shadow!
A tiny plane swooped towards us, buzzing the top of the mountain as we jumped and waved. The pilot took a wide turn and made a second, even closer pass. As we stood on the highest peak in the lower 48, the significance of the moment sunk in and I shed a few emotional tears. I couldn’t imagine a more perfect finale to the trail. We shared the summit with only one other hiker and we put him to good use taking our picture!
Mt. Whitney’s summit may be the terminus of the John Muir Trail, but there unfortunately is not a shuttle to the road to Lone Pine. Instead we had an 10-mile decent losing 6200 feet of elevation. So after about 45 minutes on the summit we began our final hike. Traveling back through the now sun-lit rock formations was like hiking down a new trail, and we passed several of our trail friends on their way to the top.
(view of the Needles from Mt. Whitney)
As we claimed our packs at Whitney Junction and began hiking down the southern face of the mountain we began passing dozens of people who were out for either the just day or the weekend. We had officially left the environmentally-conscious, quiet world of backcountry hikers and had entered what we deemed “struggle city.” My 3 favorite quotes from people we passed that day are as follows:
1-At the foot of approximately 100 steep switchbacks, a California bro with aviator sunglasses inquired: “Excuse me, but are these what they call ‘the switchbacks’?”
2- In response to my “enjoy your hike,” a slightly terrified man clinging to the side of the trail said “I DOUBT it!”
3-In response to my “well, it’s a beautiful day”, a woman with altitude sickness replied: “Yeah, it’s a beautiful day to throw up!”
A few hours later we stepped into the Whitney Portal parking lot, walked 50 feet to the right and consumed the best burger and fries I have ever eaten. By 6pm we were sitting in a BED drinking local California BEER and eating TACOS. A beautiful end to a beautiful trip!
(Stay tuned for a special guest-blogger!)
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