This day started technically already yesterday for me. I got up at 23:20 and prepared myself for summiting Mount Whitney (4 414m). We were camping on a tensite at 3 247m where most people would start their summit. Going up for sunrise is pretty popular though a lot of people do it during the day. Since everyone else decided to do it as a day hike I was alone attempting to get up there for the sunrise. It was one of the things I was really looking forward to and not going up there for the sunrise would be probably something I would later regret. When I got up it wasn’t even that cold. I packed everything, took care of nature’s business and started my adventure at 12:05am. There were some groups of people as well so I wasn’t technically alone. I followed them over the river crossing and then the trail went for the first 3 miles (4.8lm) gradually up. I stopped at the last water source to get some water and then started climbing. There were some snowfields that I had to cross and for most of them I would wear my micro spikes and hold my ice axe just in case. The snow was still frozen so it was quite easy.

Once I hit 4 000m of elevation I was taking more breaks and really took my time to adapt. I wasn’t feeling dizzy or anything but the body starts moving a bit slower. Throughout my climb I was taking stunning night photos of the surroundings. The high mountains around me were absolutely breathtaking. I was making good time but the last kilometer took me forever. At one point I thought I wouldn’t be able to make it for the sunrise but after passing the last snowfield (also the sketchiest one right before the summit) I knew I would be just in time. In fact I got to the top at 5:10am and still had more than 20min before the sun rose. When I actually reached the summit I got somehow overwhelmed. I was so damn proud of myself for making all the way up and even got a bit emotional. Maybe a bit more. I sat down on a rock, tucked in my quilt and watched the spectacular show around me. Definitely one of a lifetime experience. I stayed up there for an hour and half and then made my way down again. All of the snowfields were still in the shade so there were easy to pass. Halfway through I met the others, wished them luck and then got back to the tensite. Somehow I managed to sunburn my face a bit even with the little sun I had on the way down (though I was above 3 000m) and got a little headache. Since I was waiting for the others I could take a rest anyway and even got a 2-hour nap in. The others got back around 4pm and since they were also pretty beat we decided to spend one more night at the same tentsite and chill. What a great day this was. Definitely a must side trip when hiking the PCT.