Hiking From Mineral King to Mt. Whitney | Backpacking in the Sierra Nevada Mountains

Starting on July 4th, 2022, my nephew and I spent six exciting days backpacking from the west side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the east side. Matthew and I began our journey in Mineral King and ended our trip at Whitney Portal. The sixty-mile trip took us over two mountain passes and ultimately the tallest summit in the lower forty-eight contiguous United States.
On day one, we climbed over Franklin Pass at 11,710 feet and dropped back down to just below 10,000 feet and camped along Rattlesnake Creek. By the next day we dropped further down to about 6,600 feet along the Kern River Valley. Over the next few days, we enjoyed a variety of environments and wilderness wonders as we climbed our way back above the tree line to Guitar Lake and stayed the night at roughly 11,500 feet. Day five was to be the crowning victory of the entire trek, with us first reaching Trail Crest at 13,645 feet and then trudging the final 1.9 miles to the top of Mt. Whitney’s massive 14,505-foot peak.
For both of us, this was our second trip to the top of Mt Whitney, however, an entirely new experience for us, as we had previously hiked to the top along the more common 21.5-mile route from Whitney Portal, which lies on the eastern side of the Sierras. Even though we started at 6:00am on day five, we could have realistically made it to Whitney Portal in the evening. I made the executive decision to stop about 3.5 miles shy of the trailhead and spend one more glorious night at Outpost Camp.
I can honestly speak for all backpackers when I say; after spending any extended period of time on the trail, eating dehydrated meals and a variety of energy bars, you dream about real food. Then you plan your celebratory feast. Do I devour the double guacamole-bacon burger or do I inhale a large pizza with the works? What about starting with the nacho appetizer or go straight for Apple Pie a la Mode? My appetite diminishes and it’s sometimes even non-existent at the end of a long difficulty day. That hike down from Whitney is long and very difficult, especially at the tail-end of 60 miles with over 40 pounds on your back. It was my intention to fully enjoy that meal.
On day six, we let the sunrise awake us around 6am. Refreshed and surrounded by woodland creatures we enjoyed one last trail breakfast, packed-up our gear and made our way out of camp around 8am. As we got closer and closer to the Portal, we had to frequently step to the side to let fresh and wide-eyed adventures pass as they made their way up the mountain. Eventually, we started running into hikers that mysteriously knew who we were. Matthew’s grandfather and my father-in-law, Mike, who was our ride back to civilization, had anxiously made his way to Whitney Portal the day prior. While he waited, he kept himself and others entertained with his years of accumulated knowledge and stories of the Sierra’s and this famous trail. Not to make my mother-in-law jealous, but I lost track of how many young pretty female hikers that said, “Oh he’s so cute! And it was so much fun to hear his stories!! Don’t worry, he’s had tons of fun waiting for you both to come off the trail!” The 81 year-old man has still got it. Mike also kept himself active by hiking up the trail a few times and finally succeeded in bumping into us with about a mile left to go.
When we reached the trailhead, we ditched out WAG Bags, purchased some souvenir patches at the Portal Store and made our way to that highly anticipated meal in Lone Pine, at the Totem Cafe. With very little battery power left and a little preoccupied, I almost forgot to film the spread. The video hardly does it any justice, but we ate and I can promise you, I enjoyed my lunch tremendously. Oh, and I had the burger.

Music featured in this video:
National Anthem USA
National Anthem Worx
https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/YpQF3cnStF/

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