Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Anyone done a double Whitney?

McClain,
Impressive! You've given me an idea of something to try in the summer. Three years ago I drove from the Portal to the trailhead at White and it took me 2 hrs. 30 minutes, but I drive like a bat out of hell.

That's a great accomplishment!

Hi, My name is Jack Northam (Doug sr. was close)
I also use my Wtny n1 name on the message board.
On Aug 13 2003 I started at the portals at 11pm. My day permit was for the 14th but I didn't get to the Whitney zone until after midnight, which made it legal. I got to the top around 5 A.M., and back to the Portals at 9:15 A.M. I took 15 minutes to change socks and drink a soda at the store(Doug, Jr. offered a pancake breakfast! I declined!), then left at 9:30 A.M. with my wife. We made it to the top and then back to the store in time to order a chicken sandwich before they close the kitchen at 7:00 P.M. I enjoyed the hike and plan on doing it again this year. And you are right. It was "Oh, my aching feet". If age is an issue, don't let it be. I'm in my mid fifties. Good luck and see you on the mountain.

Candade,

Any idea why you did North to South back to North? I did Rim to River to Rim last year (S Kaibab - Bright Angel) and plan to do Rim-Rim-Rim this year. I am planing to start from the South Rim. Is there any advantage of starting from the South Rim?

Calhiker,

The cactus-to-cloud is cool. I set my goal to a variation of the trail to hitch the tram down. Any advice or pointer? I have heard that it is very hard to find the trail below the tram? IS the trail well marked? maintenanced at all?

Moejoe

The Cactus to Clouds trail is pretty easy to follow until the last half mile or so before the tram when it changes to a rocky scramble. There are places where no trail is visible. However, one has a pretty good idea of the goal at that point. The goal, of course, is "up."

The first time I did the hike, we happened to be near a guy who had done it several times. That helped! People have also posted GPS waypoints:
http://www.climber.org/TripReports/2001/819.html

Hiking to the SJ summit and taking the tram down seems to be the standard way to do the hike. It keeps the distance down to 21-22 miles.

Ouchmyfeet,
In answer to “ … anyone want to come along ...,” Yes I’d like to do two summits in one day (or two days). But before I commit, I want to see how my 9/21/2004 one or two-day summitting goes. I’ll stay in touch. That’s a “Definite Maybe.”

And, I thought Sierra Stryder had a good suggestion about the two different routes.

I had another idea also, but I want to check it out first. That is, Portal to Whitney Summit on Day 1, then Portal to Mt. Russell Summit (I think its elevation is 14,086) on Day 2; and maybe from Russell Summit to Whitney Summit also on Day 2 – or Day 3, but I don’t know how possible/challenging that would be. Russell is a Class 3 hike/climb, with substantial exposure, which I believe occurs when crossing a ridge called the East Arete. Does anyone know, is what I just suggested totally absurd or what, and how would one approach it, even if it takes longer than I suggested?
Talus