Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Outpost or Trail Camp

Hi all. I have always done the overnight trip the same, but wondering if there's a better idea.

I always:
Day 1: Hike from Portal to Trail Camp.
Sleep at Trail Camp.

Day 2: Leave gear at Trail Camp and summit, return to Trail Camp to get stuff, and hike back to Portal.
That day 2 is a doozy. A friend thinks it might be easier to sleep and leave gear at Outpost, so there's less to carry for a mile and a half or so.
I think that that will just make the second day that much longer.
What say y'all?
Thanks.

Day 2 is a doozy... Part of that is due to the work required to haul all your stuff up the extra 2k elevation, and the worse conditions for sleeping. By sleeping at OC, you have the extra 2k, but without a heavy pack.

Why not try it out and see how much difference there is?

You could also throw in a little extra food, and spend two nights at OC. That would make the trip that much easier.

We've done both and they have certainly their pros and cons. The thing we loved the most about starting from Trail Camp was we could roll out of our tent and have the switchbacks literally in your backyard, and later in the day when coming down it was glorious to have your tent there waiting to lay down in after you descended.

However, we enjoy Outpost a lot more as the water sources there feel cleaner, you got shade and it doesn't get as windy. Starting from Outpost was a lot more challenging for our old legs, but it was a very easy 4 mile hike to haul the gear up to that point, we acclimated for two days and then went for it.

This year we're still on the fence on the strategy. Trail Camp feels like you're on the moon, it's boring, but oh so darned convenient when it comes to the push to the summit.