Again due to Alison’s chaotic, ever-changing work schedule, our vacation had to be moved around. On a whim we went to the permit site that issues permits to climb Mt. Whitney in California. The Eastern Sierras is about a full day drive from our house so when we found a date with open permit space, we took off for the hills. As a note, the “normal” process to climb Mt. Whitney is to submit an application in mid-February to the lottery system in hopes of being chosen out of the 20,000 people that apply each year. So, we felt quite lucky to find the open permits when we did!

We drove to an old (but still functioning) mining town in Nevada called Tonopah for our first night. An old hotel there was noted by travelers as a favorite. They have restored the Mizpah Hotel wonderfully and it was a fun change from the normal Super 8’s! As a benefit, there was a coffee shop across the street that opened up at 4:00am! Perfect for early risers.

After picking up our permit in Lone Pine, CA we then drove up to the Whitney Portal where the trail starts The town of Lone Pine is very famous for the foothills (Alabama Hills) as over 350 movies have been filmed in an around the rocks and plains of that area from the 1920’s to present day. Some of the more famous movies filmed there are High Sierra, Gunga Din, The Lone Ranger, and The Virginian all the way up to more recent movies including Gone in 60 Seconds and some of the Star Trek Movies.

We slept at the Trailhead Campground (elev 8365′) for an early morning start by headlamp. It took us about 5 hours to go the 6.2 miles and 4,000′ elevation gain to get to Trail Camp (elev 12,000′). We stayed overnight there and then went for the summit the next morning. Another 3.8 miles and 2,000′ elevation gain and we were at the summit of Mt. Whitney (14,501′) – the highest point in California and the contiguous US!