2021-12-28, 01:15 PM
(2021-12-28, 12:38 PM)trailhound Wrote:Quote:most folks with common sense don't day hike Whitney's summit
You don't have to lug a heavy pack up the trail. It is a great sense of accomplishment to know that you did the 22 miles and 6300' vertical gain in one day.
Great point and I'd usually rather come back in the dark than lug all that overnight camping gear but there are times when the sole purpose is to camp out that lugging the pack is well worth it.
Now that i remember details of my Whitney day hike, I summited just after sunrise which left me the entire day to enjoy a "take it all in" descent to the portal. I even stopped to nap under a huge fallen pine tree making it back mid afternoon and in time to grab a car camp at the BLM camp below the portal in the drainage canyon. I also lucked out by scoring a Whitney hiking permit after the September Labor Day weekend rush had subsided. I literally walked into the Eastern Sierra Visitor Center and up to the desk without a line. There were still many campers in the meadows before you started up the switch back stair cases.
Life begins in Death Valley