8 Tips for Hiking Mt Whitney: Permits, Water, Training, Wag Bags & More

Are you interested in hiking Mt Whitney? If so, here are some of my top tips for getting permits and preparing yourself to make it to the top of this massive peak. In the video I cover the hiking season, one day vs two, some permit tips, how to train and of course what to bring. I hope the video is helpful and be sure to let me know if you have more questions in the comments.
Here is the full Mt Whitney video - • Mt Whitney: Hiking the...
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Training hikes in Southern California
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Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:19 One day or two?
1:18 When is the hiking season?
2:30 Mt Whitney permit tips
4:26 How to train to hike Mt Whitney
5:38 How to acclimatize
6:38 What to pack for Mt Whitney
8:43 Where to get water on the trail
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[@CarolinaSantos-sl2ss]

So excited to hike Whitney on Sept 12th! I entered the lottery this year for the first time ever for both Half Dome and Whitney and I ended up getting both. I’m so lucky!! Thanks for your amazing videos ❤

[@miriammitchell9677]

Oh wow! I just watched this again last night. Thanks for the update and my weekend fix from @California Through My Lens

[@californiathroughmylens]

No problem!

[@ethanp.1026]

I’m training for this hike and it’s my goal to do it before I finish high school.

[@californiathroughmylens]

So awesome! I hope you can!

[@user-qm2th6yu3m]

i thought they had age requirements, no people under age 18?

[@ethanp.1026]

No, there is not.@@user-qm2th6yu3m

[@aliensoup2420]

@@user-qm2th6yu3m Never heard of that. I've seen kids on Whitney 10 yrs old and younger. Saw a mother with 2 young boys maybe 8 yrs old toting backpacks. Met a guy taking his 13 yr old son up the Mountaineer's Rt. . Met a father at the trailhead waiting for his 2 teenage boys to come down from the summit alone. Lots of young kids.

[@Smikeys21]

@@user-qm2th6yu3mthis isn’t true, you could’ve just googled it instead of spreading misinformation.

[@edeenicola3719]

Excellent video!! Thank you!!! Wealth of information!!!❤❤

[@schumi246]

I got a permit for august 5th this year. I live in the mountains of Colorado, so plenty of training mountains here, plus I live at 9300’, and have already done Kilimanjaro, and summit day there, was a beast. I’ve already started hitting the stair master at the gym, even took a trip to Utah to get some actual hiking in, before the snow melts here. My first Colorado 14er was pikes peak by Barr trail (25 miles, 7500’ gain, so,I know the length, elevation, and gain.

[@atravelpath]

Thanks for sharing, that would be quite the day hike!

[@aliensoup2420]

I recommend bringing a rock climbing helmet for the upper trail. Most people don't wear one on the main trail, but after several hikes, I decided to wear one on the switchbacks and the final traverse, as there are lots of ledges and loose rocks that can fall on the trail. Bring an extra pair of socks, as there are several stream crossings and opportunities to get your feet wet.

[@AngelicaGarcia-ce7rz]

Very helpful Thanks

[@recoveringsoul755]

Went when i was 50 with my son. We took a week and 54 miles mistly on the John Muir Trail. August is great. The meteor shower in August was pretty cool to see. The summit was still covered with snow in July the year we went. Nobody asked for our permit. Group of 10

[@kristymoore7052]

… re: permit. My how times have changed.

[@californiathroughmylens]

That sounds like an amazing adventure!

[@recoveringsoul755]

@@californiathroughmylens it was definitely a once in a lifetime event at that age for me. So I tried to enjoy the journey But my favorite moment was probably when I came up on a mama bear and her cub on the trail right in front of me. Our first day of actual hiking . I managed to get some photos. Then I ran back and showed the 9 guys in my group what they were missing. I figured they wouldn't believe me without evidence, I'm only a woman after all. Lol Lots of rattlesnakes too.

[@rupman27isback]

Great video Josh. You should also do one like this of Half Dome! :)

[@tesstimmons422]

Thank you!!! ❤❤❤

[@Sugar_bug]

Thanks for making this video. Really helpful. Registered for lottery today. Love your channel

[@californiathroughmylens]

Best of luck!

[@scrabbleking1965]

I hiked it round trip in a day in 1993, I was in my late 20s and super fit. Made from the Whitney Portal trailhead to the summit is 5 hours flat. Only stopped moving one time for no more than 10 minutes to get water. I clearly remember coming down and it seemed like it to FOREVER, when I was completely worn out physically and mentally, I realized I still had several miles to make it back. I somehow kept on pushing and made it. TRUST ME you need to be super fit to do this in a single day!!!

[@aliensoup2420]

Super fit to run up the trail. Most people don't summit in 5 hrs. Average time roundtrip is 13-18 hrs. The average healthy person can day hike the summit, by going slow and having sufficient food and water.

[@cmichaelhaugh8517]

At 78 I’m probably well beyond doing more than photographing Whitney from the Alabama Hills. However, there’s still a lot of the Walter Mitty in me! Thanks.

[@californiathroughmylens]

Thanks for the comment! Photography from Mobius Arch in Alabama Hills is pretty epic.

[@WeWander2]

Thanks for the video I just saw a tremendous cliff and will not do it.

[@californiathroughmylens]

Fair enough!

[@ExploreLiveCreateShare]

😂

[@piknick111]

I did the 1 day, glad I did, past camp thats the real push but after your up and back, your ready to head downhill.

[@californiathroughmylens]

Yea that is true, congrats on 1 day!

[@MaylesTrails]

1 day, 2 days..... Or even better, 6 days via the High Sierra Trail 😉

[@californiathroughmylens]

haha I would love to do that!

[@recoveringsoul755]

JetBoil is not recommended at that high of an elevation, above 10,000 feet. I have a JetBoil. White liquid fuel stoves are better. REI should have told you that Tip I got from an experienced backpacker regarding wag bags: he said he would chew a couple of chewable peoto bismsl to basically keep it inside. Its only a couple of days but worked for me snd child. But when i came out Whitney Portal and saw those outhouses? I made a beeline.

[@californiathroughmylens]

I didn’t knot that about Jetboil. I have used a lot over 10,000 feet but that is good to know.

[@recoveringsoul755]

@@californiathroughmylens yeah I picked the brains of everyone who worked there and took classes and went to their little lectures and stuff. A couple came in who had hiked the entire JMT and they had some great tips. Like Preparation H is good for blisters. I also picked brains of Big 5 employees and any other sporting goods store I went to. I was so afraid that I would fail and ruin it for everyone. (Being the only female).

[@user-qm2th6yu3m]

@@californiathroughmylens Do Canister Gas Stoves Work at High Elevation? "There's this sort of myth running around out there that somehow operating a canister gas stove at high elevation isn't going to work very well. Maybe, or so the story goes, you need to use white gasoline (or something) at higher elevations. This is a persistent myth that has been passed on, hiker to hiker, for years. I've even seen it on official Boy Scout websites. And it's just exactly that: A myth. Origins of the Myth The myth got its start back in the early 1970's when canister gas stoves started seeing more wide spread use. The fuel used back then was 100% n-butane. N-butane is a lousy fuel for cold weather. Backpackers at high elevations encountered something that caused their canister gas stoves to work poorly: Cold. And thus the myth was born. The myth is kind of fact based. Kind of. I mean gas stoves were genuinely not working well at high elevation - but the elevation itself was not the problem. The problem was actually the cold, and the problem would have been just as bad or worse at sea level. Thus, a misinterpretation of real events lead to the myth. The real problem was cold, but people wrongly concluded that high elevation was to blame"

[@michaelalan1270]

I did Mt Whitney in 1975-no permits needed, I had minimal equipment, no fancy clothes, hiking poles or any of that junk. I left my backpack halfway and summitted with a small daypack, bottle of water, trailmix. These hikers today are wusses.

[@368fan4]

G`morning C.T.M.L.

[@californiathroughmylens]

Hello!

[@368fan4]

@@californiathroughmylens Hey Steve hi, Check out Niles in Fremont ca. Charlie Chaplin made his mark. This is the Original Hollywood.

[@homerbyrd1223]

P R O M O S M