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Finishing the High Sierra Trail – Outpost Camp to Whitney Portal

Nearing the end of the High Sierra Trail

Nearing the end of the High Sierra Trail

We were in no hurry to get up and do this last 5 miles or so down to the portal – but when you’ve got Whitney hikers coming up all night long with headlamps blasting, you tend to not get the week’s best sleep. We finally got going at 8am and headed down.

HST Day 8 Details
Distance: 3.8 miles
Time: 2 hours
Difficulty: Strenuous
Elevation gain: 0 ft
Dogs: No
When to go: July-Sept.
It’s quite a nice hike back to the portal, although there isn’t anything on the Inyo side of Whitney that can compare to the beauty of what we had experienced all week in SNP.

By 10:30 or so we were down – and the trip was over.

There was only one thing left to do – and that was to sample the food at the Whitney Portal Store. If that wasn’t the best Bacon and Eggs I’ve ever had, I don’t know when I’d had better!

High Sierra Trail: Outpost Camp to Whitney Portal
Trail Map & Elevation Profile

Download file: HST Day 8 of 8 (7:16:16, 9:03:20AM).gpx

High Sierra Trail – A Recap

A week on the High Sierra Trail really felt like we were stepping back in time – experiencing the park the way Ranger Stewart and all of those from the 1920s and 1930s wanted us to see it. That is why they decided on no roads way back them – the park was to be seen on foot, from West to East, using a trail purposely built for just that. They had put 5 long years into creating that trail, and all I wanted to do was go back in time and thank each and everyone one of those hard working men who built that trail so we could enjoy the park still today.

From our ascent of the Great Western Divide and into the Big Arroyo, to our journey up the mighty Kern River, to our summit of the Eastern Sierra and the highest point in the lower 48, the High Sierra Trail packs an incredible Sierra journey into one epic week. The John Muir Trail? Epic, no doubt. The baby brother High Sierra Trail – shorter but still epic in its own way.

Hike the High Sierra Trail. You won’t regret it.

Greg and Barbara at the end of the High Sierra Trail

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