August 3-9, 2025

The pinnacle of our backpacking trips, Mt. Whitney is the highest peak in the continental United States at 14,505 feet. This mule-supported trip includes long days and high mileage at altitude, but the mules carry most of your weight, making the trip more feasible.

This route from Cottonwood crosses over the Sierra Crest at Cottonwood Pass, eventually drops west to the Kern River, and then loops east to Guitar Lake below the western slopes of the peak. We like this route for a number of reasons:

It is beautiful with high alpine lakes and expansive views. This is a wonderful backpacking trip with Mt. Whitney’s summit as a bonus!
There are far fewer people than on the regular Whitney Trail.
We utilize the services of Cottonwood Pack Station to carry equipment while we hike with a day pack.

Inclusions

Price includes guiding, pack stock support, permits, group gear, tents, kitchen gear, breakfasts, lunches and dinners. We provide delicious healthy meals – our guides are great backcountry chefs! No pre-packaged dehydrated meals, we promise!

Prerequisites

You should be able to hike, with a day pack, up to thirteen miles a day with 3,000 feet or more in elevation gain. Prior experience hiking on rocky, uneven trails is required. While we use mules to carry the loads, the distances to be covered each day are significant. Review our Fitness, Training, and Acclimatization Tips in the “Resources” tab.

Distances

Day Out	Destination	Mileage	Elevation Gain
Day 1	Chicken Springs Lake	5.3 miles	1405
Day 2	Rock Creek Crossing	10.5 miles	620
Day 3	Guitar Lake	10.3 miles	2985
Day 4	Mount Whitney then back to Crabtree Meadows	14.4 miles	3405
Day 5	Rock Creek Lake	11.3 miles	2020
Day 6	back to pack station	11.4 miles	1435

Getting to the top of Whitney: 32.2 miles

Total 63.2 miles Total Elevation Gain 11,870

Day 1 – Acclimatization Day
We meet for a trip orientation at 5.00 p.m. at the Cottonwood Campground, set up tents, and have dinner before settling in for the night.

Day 2 – The Journey Begins
We get our equipment sorted and to the packers before hiking from the Cottonwood Pack station up and over Cottonwood Pass and descend a little over about a half mile to Chicken Springs Lake, our first night’s camp. This day is about 5 miles long with about 1400 feet of elevation gain and makes for a great break-in day, further improving your acclimatization to the elevation. There will be plenty of time in camp to relax and enjoy the surroundings.

Day 3 – Enter Sequoia Kings National Park
We leave camp and, after a short initial climb, much of the day is relatively flat or downhill. We contour above Big Whitney Meadow with views towards the Kaweahs. After entering Sequoia Kings National Park, we continue to the lower crossing of Rock Creek. This is about a 10-mile day.

Day 4 – Getting Ready for Whitney
Our day starts with a climb over Guyot Pass and into the wide open spaces of Guyot Flat. Staying near the treeline, we climb and contour around into Crabtree Meadows. We now turn towards Mt. Whitney and steadily climb to camp overlooking Guitar Lake (11,460’). The pack stock leaves us here and returns to Crabtree Meadows to overnight the mules.

Day 5 – Summit Day
We are not too far from the summit but we allow all day for the ascent to the summit and the return to a lower camp. There are numerous switchbacks up to Trailcrest (13,550’) where we meet others coming up from the other side. The summit seems within grasp but the thin air limits our ability to move speedily, though with slow but steady progress before long we will be on top and enjoying the highest point outside of Alaska. After summit photos and relaxing on top, we retrace our steps back. While we are climbing the packers come up and collect our camp and move it down to Crabtree Meadow. Doing it this way sets the stage for an easier last day back to the cars.

Day 6 – Return to Rock Creek
The mules return and pick up our gear and we retrace our steps back to Rock Creek Crossing and then head to camp at Rock Creek Lake via a different route.

Day 7 – Return to the Trailhead!
Back to the road head. This is a long day so be prepared for an early start and a late afternoon return to the trailhead.

★ Please Read before you go ★

We feel the following information is essential... (links open as PDF in new window)

PDF Maps:

Rental Equipment:

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Mount Whitney via Cottonwood (Mule Supported)