Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Whitney in a day

If I'm going to do Whitney on the main route in a day, assuming I go at a slow to moderate pace (and ocassionally having to stop due to altitude related issues), what time should I leave the trailhead? I'm thinking maybe like 2:00 a.m. Along the same lines, are there recommendations on when one should try to hit the summit (e.g. they say not to try to summit Shasta past noon due to changes weather patterns in the afternoon)?

2am is the usual time, though it all depends on your pace. As for the time to be summited, that depends on what time of year you are going. July and August are notorious for afternoon thunderstorms, so be off the mountain by noon to be safe. That would be my recommendation is to try and be heading down by noon, which gives you 10 hours to summit.
Eric J Lee

You can read my post on a number of <A href="http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=002363">Frequently Asked Questions</A> for additional thoughts. 2 AM is a good starting time if you are a slow hiker since that give you 10 hours to reach the summit by noon. Yes, it is a good goal to reach the summit by noon, but it is also a good goal to leave the summit by 2 PM to get down in daylight. Hopefully you have included enough buffering time in your plan to handle anything unexpected.

Fred

It depends on a lot of factors. Do you have experience hiking extentsive of 11,000', if you do you know what to expect. Is your intention to stand on Mt. Whitney at sunrise.

The earlier you leave the less you will have to deal with sun exposure about the tree line.

You should make your decision to go forward at Trail Crest which is the only place you can see the weather pattern in development, if you can see it at Trail Camp you've finished ascending for the day. I've seen Cirque and Langley enveloped at 9 AM a few times but I've extremely lucky whenever I've gone to Mt. Whitney.