My wife and I are considering hiking Whitney on an overnight in mid September. On average what are the conditions like? We will be traveling from the east coast for a meeting in CA and want to bring as little gear as possible. A few years back we went in early June and had lots of gear and experienced fairly deep snow. Thanks for your help. Rob
Of course no one can really predict the weather that far out, but in general Sept. is a good month to visit/hike. I actually prefer it to all other months for a number of reasons:
- I normally spend two or more days at Mammoth Lakes to acclimate prior to attempting higher peaks. Mammoth is at ~8,000', so a good altitude to sleep at. There are many local hikes for "warm up" hikes - Mammoth Mountain (11K feet), Crystal Lake/Crag and Mammoth Crest to name a couple. And, Sept is the "shoulder season" for Mammoth Lakes, so that the Hotel/Motel rooms are "sort of" reasonably priced.
- Mosquitoes are normally gone
- Easier to get permits since there is less traffic (although the first one or two weeks can be active).
- If you can hike during the week, permits are not normally a problem after Labor Day weekend.
For the last two years Sept has been great weather. Sept. 20th of 2012 I hiked Whitney, and only at the top needed a windbreaker. Of course, on different days you might have encountered less desirable conditions. Last year (in September) I spend time at Saddlebag Lake/North Peak, and also enjoyed great weather.
If mid Sept suits your scheduling needs I would not reschedule for a different month. As I'm sure you will, check the Whitney weather and trip reports prior to departure, so you know best what to expect (and what equipment you might need).
Enjoy!
