Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Compare Guitar Lake summit with Trail Camp summit

How would you compare the two? I need advice from those who have summitted from each. I've been up via Trail Camp, but am going by way of Guitar Lake this year. To me, the mileage and altitude gain look similar, but are the routes similar? Negatives I forsee with Guitar Lake are:
1. If bad weather hits I'm stuck on the other side
2. Carrying my pack up 3 miles to the trail junction.
What other pros or cons are there for each route?
Thanks!
Brian

Assuming you are already there, going up to the Whitney Trail is probably easier, with less people, from Guitar Lake. How you would get stuck on the "wrong side" is a item of wonder to me. Did you plan to cross Trail Crest and drop down to Guitar Lake, then summit from there? That's a real grunt, if you don't mind.

I enjoyed my ascent from a small lake on the Muir Trail about there, then carried all my gear up to stash it all at the junction, bag Whitney, then out to the Portal, starting at South Lake (100 miles). Best time of my life till then.

I find it easy, especially if you start at the ponds above Guitar and ~3/4 mile closer to the summit. The difference is you are making the trip with a full pack rather than with a summit pack at least half the way.

Bill

By the time you get to Guitar(from Horseshoe?), you are acclimated, the pack is light after carrying it for 5 days, and the legs are strong. Its only 3000 feet of elevation from the summit, and, as already stated, there is a great place to stash the packs at the junction. After all this you will breeze past all the day hikers as you do the last 1.9 miles to the top. The only hard part was that last 300 feet of up from the junction to trail crest after you put the pack on again, before heading down to trail camp. Treking poles do help on the way down the switchbacks.This is a much better way to do Whitney than the main trail.

See my post - mineral king to whitney-

I stayed at guitar lake rather than going 3/4 miles up the trail to the next water. Much more scenic (tons of fish too) and it only takes 20 minutes longer.

Start early and you won't encounter T-storms. We started at 4 in the morning and summited by 8. You probably need to summit by 10 am.

Like Mark said, by the time you get to guitar you are acclimated. You could carry your pack anywhere. Though it is nice to drop it at trail crest.

I've never camped at Trail Camp, but I tried day hiking Whitney from the portal. It was hell and the altitude killed me. I turned back about 20 minutes from the summit (not knowing that I was only 20 minutes from the top).

Two years later I tried again from Horseshoe Meadow. The trip to the summit from Guitar Lake was about the easiest hike I ever had. I didn't even break a sweat. As Mark said, you are acclimated and this makes all the difference in the world. Once you pass Trail Crest you can easily tell who is coming from Guitar Lake and who is coming from Trail camp. The people coming from Guitar Lake are pleasantly strolling to the top, smiling, and making pleasant conversation. The people coming from Trail Camp are gasping for breath, exhausted and they only say one thing: "How much farther?"