Mt Whitney North Fork trail
Notes by piero scaruffi | See Travel resources | See Mt Whitney pagePictures of the hikes
There are two hiking trails for Mt Whitney: the regular one and the North Fork trail.
Frequently asked questions
Notes by piero scaruffi | See Travel resources | See Other California destinations
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The regular trail is the one that goes through Mirror Lake and Consultation Lake. The mountaineering (North Fork) trail is the one that ends at Iceberg Lake (then you have to scramble up the gulley). Permits |
North Fork trailWarning: This trail requires hiking, climbing and orientation skills that not many people have. People have died on it.This is an alternative and much harder way to hike Mt Whitney. Unlike the regular Whitney trail, the day hike on the mountaineering (North Fork) route did not require a permit until 2006 but as of 2008 the Inyo National Concentration Camp is now requiring permits for this one too. (The bureaucracy is making these hikes less and less appealing. When confronted with the amount and sheer dementia of the "red tape", one almost misses shopping malls and city traffic). This "North Fork" trail is far more strenuous than the regular trail, although quite shorter. It requires some class-3 rock climbing (that's rock climbing without any equipment, just your hands). Note of 2009. The North Fork/ Mountaineering route keeps being improved. It is now much safer to go up the Ebersbacher Ledges. Colossal cairns mark the route through the vegetation. I suspect the idea is to turn the North Fork route into a real trail so that it will be easier for rangers to patrol it and catch people without permits. These notes were updated in 2005. The entire Mt Whitney experience has become an example of bureaucracy's stupidity at its worst. The rangers of the Inyo National Forest have not spared the mountaineering route either. The trailhead is not marked. The trail seems to be well-maintained, but there is no way of finding out where it is unless someone tells you. Most people start from the main Whitney trailhead (marked by a structure eeriely reminiscent of Disneyland), and then (about 20 minutes into the hike) turn right just before the second creek crossing (the Lone Pine creek, not the Carillon creek), where a tiny sign announces the "North Fork". However the North Fork goes through the upper parking lot of the Whitney Portal and that's where the trailhead was and is. From the store walk towards the end of the paved road. Just where it starts bending back to return to the store, there are two "No Parking" signs. The second one is by a huge boulder. You should be able to spot the trail easily even in the dark. Hike up this series of steep switchbacks and you will hit the main Whitney trail about 20 meters down from the John Muir Wilderness sign. Walk down a further 20 meters and, after crossing the Lone Pine creek, turn left where the "North Fork" sign is. In a few meters a funny sign warns you that you are trying something really dangerous (alas, it was replaced in 2006 by a more obnoxious sign). This trail gets very steep right away. At several points you may have to use your hands. The trail crosses the creek twice. The first time it is still a trail: if you find yourself scrambling against a wall, you simply missed the trail. Retrace your steps, look for a way to walk down (not up) to the creek and you should find the trail again. After the first crossing, the trail gets considerably steeper. The second crossing (when you head back for the northern side of the creek) is actually a triple crossing via three small waterfalls (depending on the season, they can be three or two or one, and they can be more or less wet). Once on the northern side again, you coast the wall upstream for about 30 meters. The trail ends abruptly against a narrow pile of rocks and vegetation. The trail follows the canyon of the creek. You are walking on the "Ebersbacher Ledges". This takes you to the Lower Boy Scout lake, which you have to cross (turn left at the sign "No wood fires"). The trail takes you to the other side (south side) of the lake and continues about 500 meters to a hill littered with talus rocks. You are likely to lose the trail because it hits the rocks. There are markers, but hard to find in the dark. You can simply make your own trail through the talus boulders, or look for the "use" trail that resumes after about 100 meters. This trail stays close to the vegetation to your right. If you can't find it, most likely you went too high (if you had gone too low, you would be bushwhacking). You may lose it again a little further up, but, again, look for it near the water. There is also a giant pyramidal rock that is a good reference point: the trail runs right below it. If you follow the trail and the cairns, things get very easy: the trail takes you through some vegetation and a couple of steep granite slabs and then to the northern (right) side of the creek. Just before the Upper Boyscout Lake, the trail bends left to the southern (left) side of the creek again. If you reach the Upper Boy Scout lake, you have to retrace your steps a bit to find the trail to Whitney. Just before this second lake, on your left, there lies another talus slope. You have to climb that one too (but there is a use trail now), which leads you around the mountains of the Upper Boy Scout Lake. The climb is short (if you find the trail it will spare you sore knees). At the top of this climb, turn right and you enter a canyon. (Note: on the way down the most common mistake after the canyon is to wait too long before turning left/downhill, in which case you end up at another lake from where it's not trivial to descend). Walk up the canyon for about an hour. This is a very dry canyon in the summer (no vegetation and sandy bottom). Stay rather on the right than in the center. There is a little crater in the middle of the canyon (a lake till spring). If you stay to the right, you will not have to climb down and then up again. There has appeared a very visible use trail. If you find that trail, it will take you straight to the base of Whitney's eastern face. There is a waterfall coming down from Iceberg lake that provides the only water in the canyon. You do see the ugly face of Whitney right in front of you. To your right up behind the ridge is Iceberg Lake (3870m). Getting to the top implies scrambling up the chute to the right of Whitney's face. If you have not lost the trail, it seems to end abruptly against the rocky wall, but it actually points to the best way to proceed: start climbing up and you will find vestiges of a use trail. This is basically a short cut to enter the very steep chute to the right of Whitney's face and avoid as much of the scree as possible. 
Basically, stay to the left and you'll be on rockier terrain. (This is not intuitive and most hikers end up scrambling up the scree of the chute. If you are on scree, you missed the use trail. The use trail is actually higher than the chute and not visible from the chute. Try to climb up to your left until you hit solid rock and you should be able to tell that this is a much better way to proceed up the chute. If coming down, stay on the right handside against the wall of Whitney, and avoid the impulse to head for Iceberg Lake which would be the wrong way). 
This chute does not look so long, and it is not: but it easily takes one-two hours at that altitude. Eventually, the chute flattens out next to a big boulder on your right. 
Walk down on the other side for about 10 meters and on your left you should now see the final chute: you can't miss it, it's 10-20 meter wide. Now you have two choices. The easier (when there is no ice) is the "traverse": ignore the final chute and keep walking in the north direction coasting the mountain (a use trail is usually visible after the snow has melted), and then, whenever you feel like, turn left and climb the "back" of the mountain. The more difficult but faster option is the legendary summit chute. That chute is almost vertical. If you look up, it feels like there is an impassable wall at the end. There is usually snow and ice in the chute even in summer, so the trick is to make your way around the ice as you climb up. By far the most difficult step is the first one. Most people use two smaller boulders as steps and markers of the best way to start. Personally, i prefer to stay on the right ridge of this chute. The climbing is never more than class-3, i am often able to stand up and simply zigzag, and the grip is always firm when i need my hands. The right ridge takes you smoothly to the top of the chute. Any other route implies some serious climbing at the very top.
(The favorite route on the way down seems to be to go down the left side until
you reach an
almost horizontal ledge that lets you easily cross over to the right side;
then climb down a few meters to another place where you can return to the
left side for the final jump:
After this last scramble, you emerge on the summit plateau, not even 100 meters from the summit house. If you get to the top from the regular trail and want to descend on the mountaineering trail, look for a few cairns that mark the beginning of the chute. From the top this looks like a vertical descent: face the rock to the left (not the chute), find good grip for your hands and find the best support for your feet. Again, the worst part is the very beginning. It takes a while to convince yourself that it is indeed possible to go down the first 3-4 meters. It is a lot easier to find steps and grip when ascending than when descending. Thus descending may actually take you longer than ascending. More pictures of the route My 2007 times for this day hike:
Going down can take as little as 4 hours, depending on how much you want to strain your knees on such a steep route.
North variantThere is a longer way to get to the top without climbing the dreadful chute. When at Iceberg Lake, look for a notch on the northwest that allows one to climb into the valley between Whitney and Russell (thus called Whitney-Rusell Pass). If you find the right notch, the route is easy class-2 to the lakes on the north side of Whitney. There is a class-3 route to the top of Whitney that basically goes diagonally from left to right up the north face. An easier way is to continue in the "valley" to Arctic Lake and Guitar Lake until you hit the John Muir Trail. This trail ascends Whitney, eventually joining the regular Whitney trail. |
