Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Main Trail in June

Hi Everybody- my better half wanted to climb Whitney for her 60th so I applied for a day use permit this year via lottery and got skunked. Then I logged on yesterday morning to hopefully grab an unclaimed permit for sometime in August or September and failed at that as well. I did, however, secure a day use permit for mid-June, presumably because it isn't as optimal a time to go so less folks were angling for that date.

Anyway, that date is much earlier than I would have preferred and I'm concerned about trail conditions in mid-June. In an average/slightly below average snow year such as this, is it reasonable to suppose that the switchbacks will still be holding a fair amount of snow throughout June? We're not particularly prepared for serious snow travel so will just bail beforehand if those are going to be the expected conditions. Or maybe we'll just go to Consultation for the day instead and stop there.

Thanks for any info you can provide.

~Rico

Uncle Rico,

My understanding, is that THUS FAR the snow season on Mt Whitney has been fairly similar to that for the previous winter.

I, too, have a permit for mid June, 2025, but unfortunately no crystal ball. My plan is to be prepared to launch on permit day, but to monitor things closely over the next six weeks. Much can be learned by studying the weather behavior and formulating plans for various scenarios. I will bail if there are too many Red Flags.

Refer to the 24 page thread for 2024. Specifically, look at two Trip Reports I posted for mid June day hikes via the Main Trail (June 13 and June 22). The reports were posted on June 14 and June 23 on page 16 of the thread. These reflect how mid June played out last year.

As we wait for mid June to arrive with permits in hand, it can't hurt to work on conditioning, acclimatize, check condition of gear, improve skill set,...

Hope to see you in June on the Big Mountain.

Jim

Appreciate the reply Jim. That's helpful feedback. Thank you.