Mount Whitney Adventure September 18-28, 2021

95 Miles High Sierra Trail to Mt. Whitney

September 18-28, 2021

9 days/8 Nights on the High Sierra Trail

$1,495 per person

$1,595 with gear rental

Come and experience everything the Sierras have to offer including the spectacular Sequoia trees in the Giant Forest, high alpine lakes, whitewater rivers and streams, massive canyons, and a natural hot spring. Finish it off with a bucket-list summit of the highest mountain in the continental US, Mount Whitney at 14,508 ft. This is an EPIC trip and you will make the memories of a lifetime!

Your registration includes a 95-mile, 9-day, 8-night wilderness backpacking adventure, shuttles to and from the airport and trailhead, an overnight at Montecito Lodge (including breakfast and dinner), a training meeting before the trip, all meals on the trail, and devotionals every morning and evening.

*Airfare and hotel lodging in San Francisco are not included.

This hike is rated Strenuous

We reserve the right to adjust the itinerary based on permit availability, group dynamics and safety.

Sept 18               Fly into San Francisco. Stay overnight at a Sequoia Lodge

Sept 19               9 Mile Creek                    9 miles

Sept 20               Precipice Lake                 8 miles

Sept 21               Moraine Lake                  11 miles

Sept 22               Kern Hot Springs             8 miles

Sept 23               Junction Meadow            8 miles

Sept 24               Guitar Lake                      11 miles

Sept 25               Crabtree Meadow          15 miles

Sept 26               Siberian Pass – PCT       14 miles

Sept 27               Horseshoe Meadow        9 miles

Sept 27               We’ll drive 7 hours back to San Francisco, enjoy dinner and stay overnight.

Sept 28               Depart San Francisco and fly back home with memories of a lifetime!

Trail Description:

Day 1: Our pilgrimage begins at Crescent Meadow in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Forest, where we’ll hike among some of the largest trees on the planet.  We’ll hike along the gorge of the Great Western Divide with incredible views, finally staying overnight at 9 Mile Creek.

Day 2: We’ll continue eastward by Hamilton Lakes where we’ll stop for lunch. Then it’s up, up, and away to the Great Western Divide! We’ll camp at Precipice Lake perched on a ledge at 10,400 feet!

Day 3: We cross the Great Western Divide at Kaweah Gap 10,700 feet, then descend into the beautiful Big Arroyo Canyon. After lunch, we’ll continue on to Moraine Lake, a beautiful alpine lake at around 8,000 feet where we’ll camp overnight. 

Day 4: We descend into the mighty Kern River Canyon, an incredible gorge with vertical walls between 2,000 and 5,000 feet high!  The natural hot springs there make for a perfect campsite and make a tired body feel new again. 

Day 5: We’ll join the John Muir and Pacific Crest Trails at Junction Meadow where we’ll camp overnight.

Day 6: We’ll hike up and out of the Kern River Canyon, following Wallace Creek to Guitar Lake, our last camping area before our summit bid of Mount Whitney! 

Day 8: At about 5:00 AM, we’ll begin our summit of Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the continental US at 14,491 feet!  After lots of photos, we’ll begin a long descent off the mountain backtracking to Lower Crabtree Meadow.

Day 9: We’ll hike a long 15 miles along the Pacific Crest Trail, past the Siberian Pass Junction, then through Cottonwood Pass to our camping area at Chicken Springs.

Day 10: We’ll hike 9 miles back to the Horseshoe Meadow Trailhead where our van awaits! We’ll drive 8 hours back to San Francisco where we’ll enjoy a fine dinner to celebrate our adventure.

Day 11: We fly back to our homes and families with more pictures and stories than you can imagine! And with friendships and memories that can only be forged over a week in the wilderness together.

*Your registration does NOT include airfare, ground transportation/shuttle, or lodging in Sequoia or San Francisco.