Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion opinions and reviews on the guided hikes?

We didn't get a spot on the lottery, but we really really want to climb Whitney. So we're willing to use one of the guided tour groups.

Anyone here have opinions about any of them? Are some outstanding, some not-so-smooth or are they all decent?

many thanks

How do you want to ascend the mountain? I do not believe guides are allowed to take you up the main trail, only via the North Fork or from the West Side usually starting at the Horseshoe Meadows.

How many people are there in "we". I've been up there more than 10 times now and have never had an issue getting a walk in permit. Stay away from the major holidays and your chances increase significantly. It's almost a sure bet for the weekdays.

You'll also have more chances if you don't want an overnight on the North Fork which is much more limited than the main trail.

What 2600fromatari writes is correct. Come on out, give yourself several days to acclimate, and while doing that, get to the Visitor Center in Lone Pine, and you are very likely to get all the permits you need. We write this here all the time, and you would expect more and more people to use this method. But most Whitney hikers don't read message boards, so many permits go unused. Read the unused permits threads.

As Steve and 2600fromatari point out, if you have any flexibility in your schedule you should be able to snag some permit(s). Also check out the Whitney Lottery Posts (General Discussion>Whitney Lottery 2014> page 7+). There are still ways to get permits before you get here.

However, if you would like to give the Mountaineer's Route a go then you might be well advised to use a guide. Sierra Mountaineering International (http://sierramountaineering.com/) is a well respected local guide service. They lead people up the Mountaineer's Route frequently, and can likely accommodate your schedule.

Thanks, everyone!

Here's our background:

We are a family of four, and we'll be traveling across country to get there. So we don't want to _not_ be able to do it! (I love message boards for EVERYTHING - hiking planning tips, that busted valve on the minivan radiator, how to make grape ketchup... crowd-sourced opinions always yield better and cheaper info than sponsored opinions!)

We do have flexibility, so if it's a near-sure-thing, then we may find this advice is perfect. We're planning to spend a month in California and want to see Yosemite, the coast, some relatives, the kids want to return to Joshua Tree - and Mt. Whitney. So the flexibility part means we need to work in the other places that will need reservations, such as Yosemite, but we can do other things in between if need be. Husband wants to hike Boundary Peak in Nevada as an acclimatization trip (I think trying this 2 days before Whitney is pushing things; he has such optimism!)

So we are semi-flexible. Tell me more about the walk-in permit process? Can one get permits many days out (e.g. early on in our month), or only next-day? Can someone else pick them up for us?

Maybe this option has some bonus aspects in that we can watch weather, too.

The Mountaineers route seems kinda fun to do the short rope part, but the cost is significant, and we're happy just hiking the main trail. So the guided option is really just to guarantee us a spot, not because we are set on that route.

It's going to be a big deal for us, and we're very excited. We _think_ we're ready; we've done long hikes, we've done overnight, we've done guided rope-climbing, we've done huge-rock and loose grit scramble, we've done bad weather and we've done 14,000+ feet - we've just never done them all at once.

So - tell me more about the process (or point me to threads or search-words that I can read past discussions). THANKS!!

And thanks, John. Sierra Mountaineering is one of the two we narrowed down to using. The other was SWS.

Though it may be moot in light of the other advice!

Steve C - thanks for the link. It does look like most weekdays in 2013 a party of 4 would have been able to get in. That is wonderfully comforting to know!

I will keep following this thread if you all have more advice and so that I can pin down exactly how I would do this this. (chuckle, and then I'll start posting all my excitement about going and planning and packing. )

The main trail is a hike up. No short ropes needed. No scree. Just a trail. No permits allocated to guides from the lottery, and I had thought no guiding permitted on the main trail in summer. (Mountaineeers Route, by contrast, does have scree, class 3/4, etc.)

Don't they release all the unpaid permits on something like May 1? (Since I am not in the lottery this year I am not paying attention.) If so, you get another chance to wake up in the early morning and try to snag permits when they are released. I did that last year.

If that doesn't happen, then after the big release of unpaid permits, keep checking back on recreation.gov every day and you'll find permits released here and there (i.e., when someone cancels). Especially maybe 1-3 weeks before your trip.

If that doesn't happen, then do a mid-week Walk in. Your chances are high of getting permits that way. Just don't have your heart set on Friday and Saturday in peak season, though even that may be doable.

So if it were me, I'd have a plan B and get permits for that plan ahead of time. Probably hike Langley, right next door, also 22 miles round trip, also a 14er, great views, need permits for Cottonwood Lakes trail. Or else White Mountain, third highest mountain in California (also a 14er), no permit needed unless you sleep at the trailhead, in which case you need a California campfire permit if you are going to use your camp stove to cook dinner/breakfast, but those are easy to get. And then if you get permits for Whitney one of these other ways, go for it and cancel the Langley permits.

Or hike to the top of Whitney over several days as a backpack, from either Cottonwood Lakes or Cottonwood Pass trailhead, or from Onion Valley/Kearsarge Pass, if you have the days to do it. Need a permit, but easier to get.

Wonderful, thanks. And yes, the ropes part was only if we went with the guides on the Mountaineers route since they have guaranteed access dates.

Good to know about the unpaid release date. I don't even have to wake up early because I'm on the east coast. (unless they are releasing them at midnight pacific time?) Well, that would be worth it.

Plan B is excellent to know, thank you. I'll note those ideas as we put together the itinerary.

On May 1, they will release unpaid Whitney permits throughout the day at random times. http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/passes-permits/recreation/?cid=stelprdb5150055#timeline. So that is your next opportunity.

White Mountain, by the way, is 14 miles round trip, up a jeep trail, starting at 11,000 feet. Sometimes, they open the gate, and you can drive to the lab, at which point the hike is only 10 miles round trip up the jeep trail. It's a good hike, although lacking the variety in terrain of Langley.

A guided trip up the MR for 4....hmmmm. Have you ever been to places where there is lot of exposure...like on the E-Ledges and final 500' at Mt. Whitney?

brh: The walkin permit process is explained in box 6 of the Wilderness Permit Options link above on the left. It's titled No-Fee options because walk-in permits are free.

Nobody else can get them for you, and you get them same day or day before the start of your hike.

The Unused Permits are numbers after ALL the walk-in requests have been processed. If you are there early in the window, your chances are far better than the numbers indicate. And do understand, the no-shows and cancellations sprinkle in through the day as reservation holders come in and pick up their permit, but drop off a slot or two because of members in their party cancelling. So checking for availability multiple times in the time window would ensure your success.

Do you mean exposure to elements, or exposure to fall?

I guess the answer to both is yes. While Whitney will be more difficult than our previous adventures, we think it is not 10x more difficult. There are some sites that "rate" the mountains and Whitney is 7 and we have previously done 6s and 5s.

I started another thread looking for opinions comparing Whitney to other hikes we have done which list some of the places the family has been: Mt. Elbert, CO; Marcy, NY; Guadelupe, TX; Katahdin, ME; some desert hiking; Carleton, NB. And the rest of the family hasn't but I've done Mt. Washington, Long's Peak and some others as well. But if you have comments, will you add them to that thread? I'd love to hear them.

Thanks, Steve.