ok, you need a permit and that process is a bit cumbersome. But once you have it, you understand where the funds go to: the trail is well maintained. We did not see a single piece of trash, no wrapper, nothing.

Perfect place with preserved nature, clean water rivers to drink and refresh, wild animals as bears, marmotes and chipmunks, dears and mosquitoes at night. Perfect for camping (authorization required before you in) and tô rock climbing there is a lot of amazing places. Good for trekkers too! Strongly recommended!

Hiking Mt. Whitney is an awesome experience. The summit is at 14,505 feet - the highest point in the continental U.S. This is a great achievement with the proper prior planning. To go to the summit, a permit is required. The Park Service only allows 160 hikers a day. So, you need to make a reservation as soon as your dates open up - usually 6 months in advance. If you want to camp at either the lower camping area (about 10,000 feet) or the upper camping area (about 12,000 feet), you also need permits to do this. We could not get a permit for camping that fit our dates, so we hiked the summit in one day. We departed the trailhead parking area at 3:15 AM, made the summit at approximately 11:15 AM and arrived back at the parking area approximately 7:00 PM. About a 16 hour total round trip. Most of the trail is a steady ascent, not too bad. The switchbacks are steep and once you get on the east side of the ridge the trail is covered with rocks leading up to the summit. We had some snow fields (late July) that we had to get around rather then expending a lot of energy trying to get through. There are water sources along the way, mostly alpine lakes, as long as you have a filter. You can hike up to Lone Pine Lake (about 3 miles) before reaching the point where you need a permit to go further. All in all, a great challenge as long as you are prepared.