High Sierra Trailhead — Attraction in Exeter

Hands down the best through hike under 7 days.

Trip report July 11-16 2024

Day zero: picked up permits at the Lodgepole visitor center and spent the night at the campground there, we had reservations. Day one: Crescent Meadows to Buck Creek. Due to the shuttle schedule we weren't able to hit the trail until 9:03. We saw a juvenile black bear at the beginning of the trail. Most of the creeks that crossed the trail had water, which held true for the rest of the trail. Mosquitos weren't bad, but the yellow biting flies were. Buck Creek was a good place to camp with a food locker. The creek itself offered a great place to wash off the sweat and grime of the day. Day two: Buck Creek to Precipice Lake. Passing the ranger station at Bearpaw Meadow we were able to chat with him for a few minutes and got a weather forecast update. We took a long break at Hamilton Lake. By the time we left in the afternoon the campsites were begging to fill up. We had a few minutes of rain on our way to Precipice Lake. I was really impressed with Hamilton Lake, but found Precipice Lake even more stunning. There are food lockers at Hamilton but not Precipice. Hamilton also has a pit toilet. There were few mosquitoes at both lakes. The trail was almost all the way free of snow. Day three: Precipice Lake to Moraine Lake. Having seen a trip report here about heavy mosquitos in the Big Arroyo we got an early start and blitzed our way through it without stopping. The mosquitos were heavy, but I've seen worse. Regardless, not anything I would want to stick around in. Camp sites were plentiful at Moraine Lake and there is a food locker. There were few mosquitoes at Moraine Lake. Day Four: Moraine Lake to Junction Meadow. This ended up being our longest day after spending about two hours at the Kern Hot Spring. The tub was nice and clean and between it and the river was a refreshing rest. We got into Junction Meadow in the late afternoon and found the campsite a little crowded. There is a food locker there, but it filled up quickly and we had to store our bear canisters elsewhere. There were a few mosquitoes there, but not bad. Day five: Junction Meadow to Guitar Lake. The climb out of the Kern Valley was a bit of a grind. At the junction with the PCT we started to run into people doing the PCT and JMT. The ranger station at Crabtree Meadow was a great place to rest up before the quick climb to Guitar Lake. We all took advantage of the pit toilet before leaving. We got to Guitar Lake before campsite began to fill up and got some great sites just above the lake. A few of us got in to ice ourselves before dinner. Day six: Guitar Lake to the Whitney Portal via MT Whitney. We planned a 2 am wake up to catch the sunrise, although not all of us made it to the top before sunrise. The trails to and from Whitney are free of snow.The journey down was long and most of the trail is void of shade. We all got an end of trail burger. I especially liked that I could substitute the bun for grilled sourdough bread.

Some take aways from the trip: Earl start times allowed us to beat much of the heat of the day as well as afternoon storms. Nighttime temperatures were a bit on the warm side. Most nights I didn't even stay all the way under my sleeping bag let alone zip it up. Bring something to keep you warm to the top of Mt. Whitney. And lastly if you've wanted to get this permit but haven't for some...

Wonderful through hike starting at Crescent Meadow and ending at Whitney Portal after summiting Mt Whitney. Completed the hike in six days, staying at Bear Paw, Big Arroyo (bugs are bad here), Kern Hot Spring, Wallace Creek and Guitar Lake camp grounds. You can park at Crescent Meadow (even if the sign says the road is closed - they allow trail hikers to drive through and park) and at Whitney Portal and do a car shuffle. The trail is very well maintained and well signposted at intersections. We started to summit of Whitney at 2 am from Guitar lake and got down at Whitney Portal by 2:30 pm in time for a burger and beer. The views are stunning, but I'm sure that goes without saying since you are perched on some of the highest points...

In my opinion this trail rivals any other hike on the planet. The views are unreal and nonstop changing from glaciers, frozen lakes, warm meadows, steep granite mountains, dense forests, hot and dry switch backs, hot streams, and uncountable streams, rivers, lakes, and ice patches. We took a week hiking and climbing Mt Whitney and one day walking down and out the backside which was the only not...