PCT Planning · Sierra

Mt. Whitney on a PCT permit: what you can do, and what it costs your plan

Your long-distance permit covers the summit as a day hike from the trail. It does not cover camping at Guitar Lake, and it does not cover walking down the east side to Whitney Portal.

Whitney is the highest point in the lower 48 at 14,505 feet, and it sits a few miles off the PCT in the southern Sierra. Almost every northbound hiker wants it. The confusion is that Whitney has its own permit system, famous for a lottery nobody wins, and hikers assume that applies to them too.

It doesn't, as long as you come from the trail and go back to the trail.

What your PCT permit allows

Straight from the PCTA's long-distance permit terms:

The Guitar Lake rule is the one that trips people up, because every trip report from a John Muir Trail hiker describes camping there. JMT permits are a different animal. On a PCT permit, your base camp is Crabtree.

Where you leave the trail

There are two junctions, less than a mile apart, both between Cottonwood Pass and Kearsarge Pass:

Either works, and the distance is about the same. Plenty of hikers go out on one and come back on the other. From the PCT it is roughly 8 miles to the summit, past the Crabtree Ranger Station and Guitar Lake, then up the switchbacks to Trail Crest and north along the ridge.

The part that belongs in your food bag

Whitney adds about 16.2 miles round trip and a full day. There is no store, no mail drop and no resupply up there, so those miles come out of the food you carried from your last stop. On a standard northbound plan that leg is Cottonwood Pass to Kearsarge Pass:

At a 22-mile pace that's the difference between a three-day carry and a four-day one, in the section with the highest passes on the trail. Add the day itself and every date after it moves, including your mail drop send-by dates.

How the day usually goes

The shape that fits the permit is simple. Walk in to Crabtree Meadows and camp. Next morning, leave the tent standing, climb to the summit with a light pack, come back down, and either sleep at Crabtree again or hike on. That's why it reads as one day in a plan rather than a few hours.

Two practical notes: it's a high-altitude day, and you'll have been above 10,000 feet for a while by the time you get there, which helps. Afternoon thunderstorms are common in the Sierra, so the summit is a morning objective.

Short answers

• Do I need the Whitney lottery permit? Not if you're coming from the PCT and returning to it. The lottery is for people starting at Whitney Portal.
• Can I camp at Guitar Lake? Not on a PCT permit. Camp at Crabtree Meadows instead.
• Can I finish at Whitney Portal and hitch to Lone Pine? Not on a PCT permit. Going east of the summit needs a local permit.
• How much time does it add? Plan on a day, and a day's more food on that carry.