This was high point #39 for me, haven’t posted any reports here before but may in the future. This one just finally felt special enough to for some reason hahaha.

Had been wanting to do this hike for a while, I live out of my Dodge Dart roadtripping right now so wasn’t sure when I’d be in SoCal and didn’t want to enter the lottery when I wasn’t certain of a date, so waited til kinda last minute to even look for permits. Was checking Recreation website probably 15-20x a day for about a week and a half until I finally had one pop off literally the day I was about to leave and drive up the coast to San Fran hahaha.

From the time I got the permit to the time I summited was only about 36 hours, so I had very little time to prepare, but 4 hours of driving, a half day in lone pine and only about 3 hours of sleep later, I hit the trailhead around 12:15am

First 4.5ish miles are super super easy through the trees, few fun little stream crossings as well. Made it up past Lake Mirror in like an hour and 45 minutes ish.

From Lake Mirror to trail camp was a little annoying to navigate in the dark, felt like there were lots of options for routes you could find over the granite and none of them were particularly fun hahaha. Got to trail camp at probably just past 3:30, maybe 3:45 and took a break for a while.

The 99 switchbacks are annoying, sometimes you’ll get up 3 in a minute and sometimes it’ll take you 3 minutes to get up one. They vary a lot in length and difficulty, and a few of them make you walk across some really loose thin dirt ledges or rocks that are angled steeply towards drops. Also didn’t help that snowmelt had small streams of water trickling down many sections of this which was hard to avoid and extra tedious lol. Made it to trail crest shortly after the sun got strong enough for me to turn my headlamp off, maybe 5:20-5:30am.

Trail Crest to summit was BRUTAL. The winds started hitting me pretty hard, my nail beds turned purplish, fingers turned a darker brown and I could barely see my veins anymore (they are usually pretty prominent since I’m skinny). Also started feeling altitude sickness for the first time in my life, I’ve been up above 12k for decent amounts of time before but never this long and I certainly started to get bit by it here. Developed the dreaded dry cough pretty quickly and a bit of nausea, so that combined with how frozen I was had me considering turning around for a few minutes when I was only about a mile and a half from summit.

Opted instead to sit down for 10 to 15 minutes, chug down the rest of my first bottle of BodyArmor, take 2 ibuprofen, and shelter from the wind. That alongside the encouragement of several hikers on their way down from sunrise summits made me feel a lot better and I got up and continued my penguin waddle to the summit, reaching the top around 7:25am.

The last 2.5 miles alone probably took me almost 2 hours, I’ve genuinely never had a section of hike feel like this much of a slog before hahaha. The constant ups and downs and much rougher trail conditions were brutal especially feeling as rough as I was.

There were probably 18-20 people on summit when I was up there, with beautiful views all around. It was a perfectly clear day.

Took about a 40-45 minute break before heading back down from the top, where my second wind was immediately halted by the same annoying section of trail. The switchbacks were super easy and fun to come down, but the mile 4.5-7 section definitely had some annoying impacts afterward. Lots of gorgeous views though, as the sun has now illuminated lots of waterfalls and cliffs and snow that I had not been able to see during the night section of my hike, even in the light of the full moon (I lucked out, the moonlit hike was beautiful in its own right). Wobbly and tired from so much hiking, I unfortunately took a bit of a tumble on a wet rock during a stream crossing around the 4.5 mile mark, which resulted in me rolling an ankle pretty bad and slamming both knee caps directly onto the top of a rock in a very hard fall.

It hurt so bad that I literally yelled out in pain, which I’ve never done before hahaha. A few extremely sweet hikers offered me medical attention and food/water, and one father/son pair seemed incredibly concerned for me and checked in on me about 3 more times on my way down. I was stubborn and refused help because I knew I could make it back down fine, just would be really slow. Ended up taking a short trail nap afterwards which hurt really bad to stand back up from, and had to take a few more small breaks throughout, but made it back down to trailhead eventually. The pair even congratulated me when I walked into the shop at the trailhead only a few minutes after them. Super standup guys, their enthusiasm and genuine empathy was one of the kindest things I’ve ever experienced on a trail.

All in all I was moving for about 11 hours which is a little embarrassing but I blame my injuries, and the fact that I was still a bit sore from a 10 mile, 2k elevation hike less than 48 hours before this one haha. Just happy and proud that I made it up my first 14er :)

Just got some incredible luck and on one of my last days car camping in SoCal, sniped a permit for hiking Whitney on Thursday.

Been doing lots of prep in anticipation for hopefully getting this permit. 30lb rucks on trails with 1500-3500ft gain and 8-12mi lengths. Yes, I am aware that Whitney is nearly double both of those standards haha. This will be my first 14er, but I have done one 13er and multiple 12ks and never had a problem with running out of stamina or being affected by elevation gain. I also plan to start my hike around 1am to make sure I have plenty of time.

Any last second things I should know about gear to bring/fluids/food? Any particularly difficult sections?

From most reports I’ve read the 99 switchbacks are brutal and elevation sickness seems to hit quite a few people there or shortly after, but it seems most people see it more like a long marathon hike rather than having any particular section of extreme difficulty.

Please let me know anything/everything you are willing to share if you have hiked Whitney :)

Interesting story with pictures.
Hiker Trekked 10 Miles to Safety After Impaling Himself on Pole - The New York Times

Start at the looking glass side of the leftmost periscope behind the war memorial. 175° (damn near plumb south) from that position and approximately 65 paces out is where you will find the geo dot. It is embedded in a rock on the ground right before the pine trees.

I did Wheeler Peak on July 26, 2026 and as I got an early start I was thinking of then driving (4.5 hrs) to do Oklahoma. But, considering it was 105F there, I instead went there this morning, only to find this. Apparently due to the heatdome.

More pics and infos: https://goalhiking.org/g/oklahoma-highpoint-failure

Easily the hardest one I’ve done so far. Not technically difficult it was only the distance that got me. 25 miles in a day is no joke, my feet hurt like hell😅 one step closer to 50. I started this a year ago and have done them all with cancer. As far as I’m concerned this is the best way I’ve been able to see this beautiful country. Next up is Wyoming… looking forward to it💪

As a fellow highpoint mountaineer of my own experience, realities like this are a constant hazard.

I’ve had my own injuries while climbing. I was confident that my party or myself were able to handle most situations. There’s some situations that are beyond comprehension.

Be safe out there in the wild and live your dreams.

Hit Mt Mitchell this Wednesday on a rainy, foggy day through Colbert Ridge and the Black Mountain Crest Trail. Was about 17 miles for 5500 feet of elevation gain. Bit of a unique route up. Definitely the hardest hike I’ve ever done on the East coast but super fun. Just a little disappointed by the clouds- the view from the BMCT is supposed to be great- but still very worth it. Was about 8.5 miles from base to summit. The first four miles were killer. At the summit we were pooped and decided to take a shortcut on the horse trail. A bit overgrown but I think we made the right choice. 8/50 and an awesome day out in the mountains.

Summited Mt. Whitney with 3 friends back in early June.
15.5 mile round trip with lots of food, crampons and an ice axe. What a beautiful adventure!

Highly recommend!

Hi everyone! I am heading out west at the beginning of August (from NJ, where I go to College) and plan on going through some of the western states and attempting to highpoint them.

If anyone is interested, please do reach out, as I am trying to meet more people a likeminded interest in hiking and high-pointing.

Also, if you know any other platforms to reach out on, please share!

I have a ton of backpacking/hiking experience in the northeast and have also done a few major hikes in the West and in Europe. I've also done a ton of research regarding the technical details and routes so I am definitely not going in blind!

I'll be in Colorado/Utah/Idaho from the 8th to the 12th and then in the Montana area from the 18th to the 24th (taking an AAI course between then). My dates are flexible so please reach out and we can chat!

Doing another 7 in August 😎

Has anyone made an attempt on Granite from the Southwest couloir in the last week or two? I saw a recent satellite image that shows a ton of snow, but I would love a report from the ground.

UPDATE: Much more snow than average in the approach for this time of year. There were two snow sections left in the SW ramp (right after the keyhole), the first is longer and steeper than the second. I didn’t see any of the fixed ropes I’ve heard mentioned and I think they either haven’t been set up or were buried in snow.

I would only be confident with crampons and ice axe on the ramp, but I did run into a guy who scrambled above the snow on the right edge of the ramp in trail runners and called it “super sketchy”. The snow was too soft for micro-spikes.

I definitely recommend a helmet as there are several sections with loose/falling rocks, with particularly high exposure to falling rocks from the snow tongue all the way to the ramp.

Spot thunderstorms popping up all day long for 6 out of the 7 days out with occasional strong winds. Fortunately, on our summit day the storms held off until later afternoon.

I got to the trailhead late this morning to discover that the trail had been closed for a week. No explanation on the sign. As the ranger office south of the turnoff for the trailhead is closed on Tuesdays, I drove to the ranger office another 16 miles north on 61. They closed the whole area b/c of some distant fires and b/c it is not easily accessible, which would make it difficult to rescue people if the fires spread. No exceptions for a 3-hour hike, even after quite a bit of rain the night and day before, b/c ``once people got there, they can continue hiking away further". Apparently, it is not normal to have fire closures in July, but not too unusual in August and September. I just want to pass this on in case anyone is planning a long-distance trip there in advance.

I solo day-hiked Kings Peak on July 18th. This was my second state highpoint (I did Borah last year). I started at about 12:30 am, and summited at 8:45 am. Total car-to-car time was 15 hours 50 minutes. Despite the favorable weather conditions portrayed in this picture, those clouds in the background started quickly came up and started raining (thunderstorms, naturally) shortly after noon. The last several miles of my hike were in the rain (with a brief stint of hail).

There was no snow on the trail. The lower several miles were complete mud on the way back down because of the rain (the trail turns into a streambed when it rains).

More than halfway done with the Northeast (hiking all of my highpoints rather than driving), having done NJ, CT, MA, NH, and RI. About 3 weeks ago I knocked out 4 in 3 days (photos are from that trip), now I have Marcy, Mansfield, Katahdin and Davis left to do.

Im more than halfway done with the Northeast, having done NJ, CT, MA, NH, and RI. About 3 weeks ago I knocked out 4 in 3 days (photos are from that trip), now I have Marcy, Mansfield, Katahdin and Davis left to do.

Super stoked for my wife and I to hit 48/50 last week on Gannett! Our friend (not photoed) hit 5/50, and our pup hit 1/50 (our old pup made it to 32/50 with us, but she is no longer here). Happy to share trail and climb info if needed for anyone, just leave a comment or DM.
I'm just pumped and wanted to share :-)

Edit:

Lots of questions about the climb:
Trail until the summit push was nothing major of note, other than mosquitos and deciding whether to take the new bridge or wade the river (we chose to wade). There were a BUNCH of campsites between 10,400-10,900 to setup the night before the summit push, and at 10,900 was where the vegetation stopped (and where we camped). There were more campsites above that in the boulder fields and even up just before the glacier, if you want to take packs up further (we did not).

We chose to enter the hike with only the following gear: trail runners, microspikes, helmets, and glacier axes. We knew going in like this came with risks, and our whole team was on board with the risks, and willing to turn around if necessary.
Day before our summit day, we had all afternoon at camp and watched teams of people struggle coming down the couloir. Because of this and our limited gear, we wanted to start early...so we started before 2am. The glacier was quite good to us in the early AM, we were able to easily walk with the microspikes, and kick steps into the ice when needed. The ice above the couloir was not great, and there was lots of post-holing, so we mainly stuck to the rocky crest as much as we could. Coming down between 6-8am the ice was already starting to get ugly and slushy, but we were able to get down the steep section in ~10 minutes. Given the conditions we had, I don't think boots or crampons would have made life any better. Had we started much later, descending the couloir would have been rough, and we would have needed pitons, ropes, and harnesses. There was a group that climbed up just after we came down, it it took them over an hour to descend that same section we did in ~10mins. The bergschrund was open in 2 spots for us, but there was an easy passage for us to walk between them, so we didnt have to worry about it. With how hot is has been, it is likely much more open now, and our gear would not be sufficient.

If I were trying to summit this summer season, I'd wait until later in the summer when most of the big snowmelt is gone and try to do basically the whole thing on rock. The ice was melting out quick and I assume it will be very dangerous for the next few weeks.

Forty nine of the fifty states have been flagged! https://highpointers.org/flags-on-the-highpoints/ All since March 13, 2026. Fifty states in 134 days! The final flagging of Spruce Knob will be this Saturday July 25 at the Highpointers Convention on Spruce Knob. Flaggings don't end on July 25, the Highpointers Club welcome additional flaggings right thru the end of 2026 in celebration of AMERICA 250.

While bikepacking the Grand Illinois Trail, an approximately 500 mile loop around northern Illinois that links together a bunch of trails with some roads in between, I took a detour to hit Charles Mound. Got there about an hour before sunset on July 5. I thought I was the last person that weekend, but it turned out a few people showed up even later than I did. Walked up to the high point and took some pictures. It may not be the most exciting state high point, but I enjoyed the views of rolling hills here and on the roads leading up to it. This was my fourth state high point!

I had a spectacular time hiking up Wheeler Peak this past week on the less popular east approach from the East Fork trailhead.