Author Archives: Jamie McCracken

COMPLETE GUIDE: Hiking Mt. Whitney In 2 Days | 14,505 Foot Peak

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In July 2024, I flew from Nashville, Tennessee to Los Angeles, California, hoping to make a successful solo trek up the tallest peak in the lower 48 states, Mt. Whitney.

THE LEAD UP

This mountain had intrigued me for years. I knew I wanted to do it one day, especially after I really started getting deep into the hiking world in 2018-ish. But I never thought I would be capable because this thing is a beast, and going up it in a day is extremely difficult.

You see, until Fall 2023 I had only day hiked. And one of the hardest ones I had done was Mt. Baldy in Southern California, which stands at a whopping 10,064 feet above sea level. The first time I nearly turned back around 500 feet away from the summit. But once I tagged it, I knew I was more capable than I thought so I went back and tagged it a few more times before I left Los Angeles to live in Franklin, Tennessee in 2022, far away from any big time mountains. The highest peak in Tennessee is Kuwohi (formerly known as Clingmans Dome), which sits at just 6,643 feet above sea level in the Great Smoky Mountains.

A year later (2023), I started diving into the backpacking world and that’s when Mt. Whitney popped back up on my radar. And really, it opened my world up to a whole lot more possibilities. But first, I needed to get the gear and go on a trip to see if I would enjoy it.

That fall, I was off doing my first multi-day backpacking trip in Monteagle, Tennessee, a 31 mile yo-yo solo thru hike of the Fiery Gizzard Trail. I LOVED IT!

The next step was to do some kind of hike that took me up to Kuwohi in the Great Smoky Mountains. So, a few weeks later, I took off on a 3 day, 44 mile trek.

At this point, I had caught the backpacking bug. Mt. Whitney was officially happening the next year. I had already made up my mind.

Funny thing is, I had applied in 2023 for the Mt. Whitney permit and was unsuccessful. Thank goodness. Because knowing what I know now, I would never recommend Mt. Whitney to be your first backpacking trip or first major mountain. Looking back, I was so glad to get experience because it would help me out a year later.

In January 2024, I put my name in the lottery once again for an overnight permit on Mt. Whitney. The reason I wanted an overnight was because I believe it gave me the best chance of success.

A couple of months later, I was notified that I got the permit! I was stoked!

PERMIT PROCESS

The permit process on recreation.gov is pretty simple for Mt. Whitney. There is a window in January where the lottery opens, you fill out basic info and pay a $6 non-refundable fee. The only meticulous part is filling in your your 10 preferred dates in order of most desirable to least desirable. When I went through the process, I gave myself all kinds of margin. I cannot go back and look now, but I know I picked weeks in June, July and August, and I made sure I was making my start date on Tuesdays and Wednesdays because a middle of the week date always gives you a better chance. I ended up getting my second choice which was starting on Tuesday, July 30.

Now just in case I did not land the permit, I had planned a heckuva year for backpacking already so this made my year even more stacked. I ended up doing 4 backpacking trips prior to Mt. Whitney:

3 Days, 27 Miles Backpacking Red River Gorge | Kentucky

Backpacking 42 Miles | Trans-Catalina Island Trail

Backpacking 12 Miles Around Nashville Lake

4 Days Backpacking Havasupai Indian Reservation

I had hundreds of miles under my belt at this point and it was time to get on a flight to Los Angeles, California.

DAY 1

When I fly in to do these types of trips, I like to give myself a long runway, meaning I want a day or two to get adjusted to the time zone change, orientate myself and shop for anything necessary to complete the adventure. And for this climb, that was vitally important.

I arrived in LA around 11:30 a.m. — perfect time to get the heck out of that city as quick as possible before it becomes real LA traffic. By the time I took a bus to the rental car area (I loved the old system when the Turo host would just meet you at the airport and you could take off), it was 12:30 p.m. and I had a 4 1/2 hour drive up to Lone Pine in the eastern Sierra mountains. I decided some snacks would be enough to get me up to my Airbnb, where I could have a nice dinner in town.

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A letter to my Dad and 25 memories that provide 25 smiles

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1992 vacation.

1992 vacation.

Dear Dad,

Crazy how it’s been a decade already.

FYI: Everyone STILL hates cancer.

I don’t talk about you much – not even to Mom.

But damn, I sure think about you – and smile a lot. For me, it’s more therapeutic to think to myself than discuss. #emotionalselfwisdom Crap. You probably don’t understand what that number sign is meant to be or why those words are all crammed together – and neither does Mom, who will end up reading this. It’s OK. Let’s just say a lot of things have developed in the last 10 years.

Things are going well. I am working on goals. Every day is a step closer toward my ultimate goal. Mom is doing well. She has worked her butt off since you past away in order to help me out throughout high school and college, and to this day, she is still doing it! It’s going to be hard to out-Mom her (I should say out-Dad her) one day, but hopefully I will be able to do that.

Back to that smiling thing. You provided me with lifelong memories, Dad. And I’m about to hash them out. From 25 to 1, although the top five could all be number one. Every single one of these memories/moments/things made you unique, and that’s awesome. I love you. I miss you. Now let’s smile!

25) You labeled every single Polaroid photograph you took. That Polaroid camera went through hell. You took that thing everywhere, and when you got behind, you would sit down at the dining room table and write, in pen, the date and an explanation of what the photograph showed. We still have all those stored somewhere – there has to be thousands if not 10,000.

24) You had some wacky mathematical system you wrote out for the Powerball; tons of paper with numbers on it; no one could ever figure it out.

23) You never went into the store with Mom. Hilarious. There was no fun in grocery stores or Wal-Mart unless it was something you needed. We would always play the claw machines though. You won way more than me.

22) You caught the fish; Mom cleaned the fish. We ate the fish. In other words, Mom did the dirty work; we had it easy.

21) You named your/our St. Bernard “Yogi” and there are too many memories to list within this list with that dog. Whether it was going to Dairy Queen to get him a cup of vanilla ice cream to eat or taking random trips to Go Mart to get gas and beer just so you could load Yogi up into the truck and go for a ride.

20) Crushing beer and soda cans in your garage so I had spending money for the beach. You barley paid me for all the grass I raked so this was my best income. You taught me how to crush’em, bagg’em and sell’em. (We always tried to make sure the price was 40 cents or higher per pound.)

19) You called the basketball game  “Around The World” “Round Town.” You were deadly from the right wing. That was your shot. Thing is, you were not into that many sports but you always found time to shoot hoops with me, throw baseball and football with me. I mean, I am sitting here writing this first draft at 3 a.m. and wish I could do that tomorrow with you.

18) You made me stop shooting basketball to hold the flashlight for you. Driving truck, you traveled a lot for work and spent three days away from home at times, so when you were home during the weekends, being a mechanic was your passion. And I was basically your designated flashlight holder. I tried to learn things, but in all honesty, I don’t remember much. You were a pro. You had every tool a man could own.

17) Speaking of those tools. Well, nevermind. That’s too good of a memory to put at number 17. That’s at least top 15. But for No. 17 we will stick with the mechanic side of things. You would read all kinds of random mechanic books – the kind that are meant to literally fix things. Like, 500 page manuals.

16) You and I would go Christmas shopping for Mom. That was fine. But the time and effort you put into wrapping gifts was priceless. You were a horrible wrapper … unless you took a half hour to wrap a package, which you did … for every … … … single … … … one! I helped with the tape. You were not going to put any of Mom’s gifts under the tree unless they met your standards of wrapping. No one could tell you were a bad wrapper, but what went on behind closed doors was several minutes of folding paper juuuust right. Continue reading →