June 10.
Sunrise or not? That was a popular question also with other hikers camping at Guitar lake. We opted not to attempt to summit at darkness aiming for a sunrise at the peak. Instead, we started hiking 7.15am. It turned out to be a good decision for us. With daylight, the ascend was swift and we made it to the peak at 10.30am.
The hike was not too difficult from the JMT/PCT side, just in a handful of situations a bit climbing was required. I did not miss microspikes or an ice axe.
On the other Eastern side, the trail leading to Mt Whitney from Whitney portal, seemed to be more difficult. Unfortunately at the time of our summit, an accident involving a few hikers happened there – we could see some of the rescue efforts including the helicopter.
As beautiful as the view was (and finally cellphone reception!) we started down around 12.15pm, arrived at Guitar lake again at 2.30pm.
We picked up the gear we left at guitar lake and tried to push as close as we could on that day to towards Forrester pass. We pitched our tents exhausted at mile 771, still 8 miles out from the pass.
What a great day. Being a second time on the top of Mt Whitney – that meant a lot to me. Happy.
The world is big 