My question is, if I have a lifestraw and container, will I need to worry about packing in water for a trip to the top of Whitney? I'm 440 lbs, and training, but I imagine this taking 3+ days, and packing that much water is too much. (I've ran 3 marathons, and completed 3 major swims at 400+ pounds, only for the doubters). I'm going up Whitney beginning Oct 18th. THANKS in advance.

There are water sources periodically along the trail up to Trail Camp, so you can get your water every couple of miles up to that point. Reliable Water Sources Along the Mt. Whitney Trail (a PDF document)
  related pictures: Water availability along the Mt. Whitney Trail

However, on your summit day, when you leave Trail Camp and push to the summit, you have to carry ALL your water, since there are no sources above that point. The rule of thumb is 3 liters from Trail Camp, but your experience may vary.

Good luck!!

By the way... October 18 is quite late in the year. You will have cold and short days to deal with. ...and possibly snow on the trail (Do NOT go if any storm is predicted!) I see you are from NM, but still, you can try for earlier. If you go in September, just walk in and pick up a free walk-in permit. These are always available if you go mid-week after Labor Day. You can see this from the Unused Whitney Permits numbers.

Lifestraws are a pain in the neck to rely on when you need good volumes of water. They take a lot of effort to drink through.

Kelly? Aren't you leaving out something important abut your athletic background? The water estimate of 3 liters from TC to summit and back, is for us mortals. You might want to adjust according to your experience from other athletic efforts.

Recommend the following

https://www.campmor.com/c/first-need-xle-elite-water-purifier-81249

Thank you. Can I ask, how far is "Trail Camp" from the summit?

Oh wow! So you are saying, if I showed up on Tuesday, September 20th, and I needed 4 days (just to be sure) to reach the summit, I'm pretty much okay just to show up and go?

Thanks in advance.

Yes. I'm sure I will need more. I'm a little more "mortal" than most.

Never used Lifestraw, but my impression is that they aren't very fast for obtaining water (like Wiff said).

It would probably work up to Trail Camp since there should be reliable water sources all along the trail up to there, but after that, you'd need to carry 2-3 liters or so for the trip up and back.

I used a Steripen last year, but this year I switched to a Sawyer Mini filter that is installed inline with my Camelbak tube, so I can fill up the Camelbak quickly and not have to wait for the steripen to purify water in 1 liter increments.

That is also very late in the year, so be mindful of storms.

Well, you need to "show up" at the Visitor Center, a mile south of Lone Pine on the turn-off to Death Valley, the morning of, or the day before, you want to start your hike. IF they have any no-shows or unused permits, they give those to walk-in people like you. From those Unused Permits numbers I have posted, you can see there are practically ALWAYS some available.

The quotas are used to limit the number of people starting on a particular date. There is no restriction on the number of days you need to complete the hike.

> Can I ask, how far is "Trail Camp" from the summit?
Trail Camp is 4,000' higher than the Trail Head, and 2,000' below the summit. It is 6 miles from the trail head, and 5 miles from the summit.

If you are hiking slowly, due to the thinner air the higher you go, I think you should try to start up from Trail Camp about 4 AM. That way you could be well-able to make the summit before noon. That gives you more hours to return to camp, plus a cushion in case you have any trouble.

I used a sawyer squeeze none mini version. For one person it's great. Bring an empty water bottle and gather the water from water source then pour into sawyer bag. Makes getting water much faster.

For an alternate view: You don't need a filter at all. Bob Rockwell hiked Whitney and surrounding areas for many years, and never filtered any water, and never had any trouble with it.

I don't filter or treat either.

My daughter this summer:

Might be slightly off topic, but for the first time in many years hiking in the Sierra, 95% of the people encountered filtering water were using Sawyer filters. Only a couple of pump filters and no Steripens. No advertisement here, just an observation.