Hiking the Carillon Creek drainage near Mt Whitney

There are actually three trails that start at Whitney Portal: the touristy Whitney trail, the mountaineering North Fork route, and the little known Carillon Creek route. The latter is probably the steepest route out of Whitney Portal. The bushwhacking can be very painful, especially if you are wearing shorts. I don't recommend this route going up (especially if you have big backpacks) but it can be a useful alternative to the North Fork/ Mountaineering Route for the descent from Suicide Pass/ Lake Tulainyo. So the description of the downhill route could be more valuable. See below. A conservative estimate is that it takes 5 hours up and 3 hours down, starting/ending from the parking lot. Uphill The rangers took down the sign, either because the trail is obliterated or because this route allows you to enter the infamous Whitney Zone without a permit. The Carillon Creek trail starts to the right of the first creek crossing, just 5-10 minutes from the beginning of the Whitney trail. After a few steps, look up: after the tree that blocks the view, you'll see two steep trails going straight up. Both work, but the right one is less steep and a little easier to follow. It goes up quite dramatically until it disappears, then you're on your own for the middle section. Find the least bushwhacking route while ascending parallel to the creek down below. At some point it will be obvious that the other side of the creek is better and you can easily cross the creek at 36.589022,-118.247502 and the creek soon disappears (underground). Here the left side is a rather simple affair until a granite wall shuts down the route. On the left you can take a detour up a rocky chimney that takes you to great views of the Mountaineering Route and of Whitney, but the chimney takes you to a dead end. You need to move to the right. Here what was a narrow gorge has become a very wide gorge, although no less steep side to side. You have to move up right to avoid the bushwhacking through the forest. At some point it becomes more sandy than foresty. Here it is quite easy to cross the old trail. Here are some places where you can hit it: 36.588539,-118.256793 (Ta on the picture below), 36.589451,-118.260055 (Tb), 36.589161,-118.261986 (Tc). If you don't find the old trail or if you lose it, just head north west getting closer and closer to the mountains to the north, but don't overdo: no need to climb boulders. You will cross a couple of drainages (with or no water). Downhill If you are coming down from Suicide Pass, start from the lower meadow and head east. If you are lucky you'll find my cairns that mark where the old trail begins. Initially the trail goes up a little bit and it goes east for a long time because you need to bypass a few chutes that would otherwise take you to the North Fork route. When you see that boulder, that's your southern limit (the upper limit being the obvious mountains to the north). The old trail or your own navigation skills should take you east but also down towards those formations. You can hit the old trail at several points for example 36.588539,-118.256793 (Ta on the picture below), 36.589451,-118.260055 (Tb), 36.589161,-118.261986 (Tc). When you get to the sandy area, head down decisively and coast those formations 50-100 meters to the left. When the bushwhacking gets intense, check the far right (just below those formations). There is clear terrain there. And it will take you the creek crossing at 36.589022,-118.247502 Here it takes a lot of luck to stay on the old trail but fundamentally the trail stays high up the creek while going down steeply. This middle section is by far the worst part but at least the navigation is obvious: just go east and consistently down until boulders stop your eastward route. You can pick up my descent trail at 36.589934,-118.244176 or 36.589901,-118.244154 . From there it's almost vertical down to the regular Whitney trail. There is a nameless peak next to Mt Carillon that has good views of the mountains around Mt Whitney. It is not a difficult climb (a mere 3950m of altitude) but it is very difficult to reach, hence rarely climbed. Furthermore, it doesn't have a name, which doesn't encourage people to climb it. I call it "Lower Carillon Peak" because the Carillon creek actually starts from this mountain, not from Mt Carillon. There are two ways to get to this peak from Whitney Portal: from the mountaineering North Fork route or from the Carillon Creek route. At the end of the latter, the slope continues up towards Mt Carillon. Mark the territory because on the way back it is not trivial to find the Carillon Creek route. Keep going up and this Lower Carillon Peak will be right on top of you. Ascend the worst scree of the area until a saddle, then turn right towards the false summit. The real summit is behind it. It would be an easy scramble without the scree.

Pictures of this hike Weather forecast Video of the view As of 2020, this whole route falls outside the Whitney Zone and does not require a permit for a day hike (i fear the day that the rangers will discover this route and simply expand the Whitney Zone to include it)