Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board The Ease of the switchbacks 8-5-03

I have to first say that i've gotten alot of great info from this site but the one thing I have to disagree on is that the switchbacks are the toughest part. We left the portal a 4:00 am and hit trail crest at 9:30. Up to this point it was a walk in the park. However after this point is where the hike really started to suck. You are almost bouldering over the loose rocks to get to the peak. The altitude is no problem if you are conditioned but your feet and the ease of this segment are very underestemating. This is the toughest part of the hike....... Besides the 11 miles back down hill. Anyone else agree?

The two hardest parts (once you get used to going up and up and up) are going from Trail Crest to JMT and when returning, JMT back to Trail Crest. This is where you find out where your medial collateral is.

The rocks between the JMT/Main conjunction and the crest of the mountain are annoying at worst, but peering through the Windows is a thrill.

Mattie,

I agree with you the descent is the hardest part of a day hike. You're beat, the adreneline is gone, you have lost your appetite, you might have a pounding headache and you are prone to misstep alot because of fatigue.

Bill

Mattie - I agree with you. I hate the footing where you are walking on loose talus. We do a lot of training on rocky Mt. Baldy trails just to acclimate to this type of footing.

An experienced Whitney hand asked me where I thought the halfway point is on the trail and I replied that Trail Camp is probably close to half way. I was corrected and told that in his numerous Whitney experiences he'd found that the summit was halfway. I would have to agree with his logic and would say the the worst miles are the ones you are not prepared for. Those may be the miles above trail crest, which I personally found to be a pain, the last couple of miles coming back to the portal, which can be very steep and very tiring after twenty miles of hiking, or any of several other notorious spots. I found that a lot of it is mental and it depends upon upon your attitude. I had a good summit trip recently and we had prepared with a few toough conditioning hikes. For me the switchbacks were a lot easier than I expected. The key is having a good attitude and believing that your goal is attainable. Also keep in mind that your goal is not the summit, but the summit and back to the portal.

Mattie: You should've seen the back part of the trail in the 90's, it really was worse. In fact, it sucked. They cleaned up various rock slides since then and I think the rocky conditions have improved. Having said that, I think the switchbacks are not hard. The back part is harder because of the rocks. The descent is the worse of all.

I think the hardest part is going back to Trail Crest from the peak. You get ****ed with little uphills in the rock galleries, and then the cherry on the cake is the extended uphill walk to Trail Crest from the John Muir cutoff. Also, on the last leg to the top, it takes a long time before you see the cabin. Somebody tells you "Only twenty more minutes," then twenty minutes later someone says, "only twenty more minutes."

What about that last hour or so from Lone Pine Lake to the Parking Lot?