Death Valley to Mt. Whitney a Lazy Low to High Adventure

The Lazy Low to High is our road trip combination of the L2H Race Route and a Backcountry Route.
I first visited Death Valley in 2009 and learned that you could see both Badwater, the lowest point in North America and Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the lower 48 states from Telescope Peak on the western edge of Death Valley. I haven't made it up Telescope yet because I got sidetracked with Mt. Whitney (twice). At Badwater a man told me that some maniacs, in late summer, run between the two- The 135 mile Badwater Ultramarathon- in as fast as 51 hours! (due to permits for Mt. Whitney, the marathon ends at the Portal, not the summit). Later I found out that some people also backpack a route through the mountains.
I had to get a piece of that experience. I motorcycled the road route between Whitney Portal and Badwater, and climbed Mt. Whitney. I wanted more, but the full backpacking hike is a bit beyond my abilities. When I saw the H2L and L2H films, I got ideas for areas we could visit and sections of the hike Roxana and I could enjoy. We got the dates for the L2H hike and I decided to reserve a site at the Whitney Portal just to cheer them on to the last leg of their hike and it turned out day permits were available... Our Lazy Low to High was On. We had no plans to summit on a day permit, it is too much for our knees and takes too long. I had hoped to make Trail Crest but we got a late start for that time of year and MISTAKE- we hiked from our campsite, an extra mile of very steep, hard to follow trail that took up a lot of our time. Trail Camp was a more than satisfactory destination, and as you see in the video the timing worked out perfectly. By luck I knew beforehand Tuba Solo would be on Whitney the same day as us but special thanks to Teo for helping me know how to time our meet up just right.
Can't say enough about how cool John and Will were. Classic, we didn't find them, they found us at the Portal and I got to chat with them for awhile. Matthew Pless, leader of the L2H Adventure is also an amazing guy I got to speak with briefly. Can't thank them enough for the inspiration to get Out There.
filmed Sept 24 thru 28. Mt. Whitney Sept 27 2016.
Answers to most other questions you might have and extensive information about hiking Mt. Whitney can be found in the descriptions of the related videos linked below.. I also suggest looking over the comments as well for more information.

or use these links to the individual videos..

Please see my channel for many more desert and mountain videos. Here are channels mentioned in the video

Thanks For Watching!

[AdventureWithAprilAndJake]

Woah! Absolutely epic and gorgeous! Thanks for taking us along!

[nicoletheseeker]

I love the desert. Best star nights 🌙 ✨️

[JohnCantHikeAmorosano]

Thanks for all the plugs Thorn. Happy that our crazy vids can inspire people like yourself to get out there and experience the beauty of the southwest. See ya on the trail bud!!

[joemarty]

Good looking view from "inside" that volcano! I peaked Mt. Whitney in '76, '78, '84 and '91 and although I was in my 40's the trip in '91 was the best. USMC OORAH!

[villaschannel]

wow its so dry!! really a death valley. must be an extraordinary adventure and experience to witness. sky looks as best it could be!

[wyopobo]

"if you have to ask you're not ready" the lazy man L2H. i'm all for that. if i was younger i would do the L2H. but not at my age...i would like to hike parts of the route. great video...

[BluecollarBackcountry]

I've said it before, I'll say it again....Ya'll are so fortunate, and blessed to have access to so much beauty. I know you probably have to do quite a bit of driving from Berkeley, but man is it so worth it. You always do such a good job of capturing the Sierras and surrounding areas. Anyone who hasn't been there would have a hard time imagining the feeling you get having that much majestic beauty in front of you. You do a great job of conveying that experience. I do think Roxana needed a good cup of coffee though. :-) LOL Looking forward to the next one !

[DeathValleyDazed]

What a memorable video story you have told here. My favorite scenes were the "shot to infinity" and the flock of birds at Lee Flat towards the end of the story. I enjoyed the relaxed tempo and scene selection. Another reason I enjoyed your work isthe joy I felt while remembering being in all of the same places on previous adventures in the park and summiting Mt Whitney. So thanks for taking the time to shoot, edit and share your adventure!

[SmellNRoses]

Man wow that was awesome. I'd not heard of the Low to High before, but I can certainly see why you found it interesting. I like your "lazy" version of doing it though...much more enjoyable, the other way must be brutal LOL! I can't imagine the 99 switchbacks...we have a place not far from home that is known as the 21 Switchbacks and its a real butt kicker, and 21 is only a fraction of 99 LOL! I think I must have missed your other previous Mt Whitney video. I'm going to have to go back and look that up. It is a stunning area for sure! Awesome running into all those YouTube celebrities!

[TimWatsonOutdoors]

Very cool! I will say it's a different kind of beauty. After watching your videos I always look up to make sure I still have trees around me. 😅

[Sleeves]

Man, this is one awesome place. God's creation is beautiful! The terrain is gorgeous. I have never heard of the L2H. Those guys doing the L2H hike are beasts for sure. You made me laugh while you were chilling with the shot of your boots. By the way, you do look happy! You might call it a lazy man's L2H but it looks like it must have been pretty strenuous to me. Very nice video. You captured some excellent footage. Thanks for the mention in your video. You are correct, God places us exactly where we need to be for a reason. That young couple will never know the blessing you were to them. God stopped you there just for them. Good stuff. I hope to hike Mount Whitney one day. Will definitely want to check out the view from Telescope Peak. Really appreciate the details in the description. Thanks for taking us along and introducing me to L2H. Enjoyed. Take care and Keep Hiking!

[HuckOutdoors]

Looks like one awesome trip, been waiting for this vid since you told me about it! Lazy man L2H! Love it! I really need to make more trips out to DV this winter. Darwin Falls looks like an amazing place to take a nice dip in the summer time. Man you don't sounded winded at all on this trek!

[uptrail]

Very Good Video! I never heard of the Low to High hike. That sounds amazing! I'm getting ready for a quick solo overnight trip at Pictured Rocks. The weather is way above average in our area this weekend, but it will change soon.

[willardwooten]

A new video of the L2H filmed the spring of this year will be released in a month or two. Hurlgoat and Mary Poppins completed the Pct in Dec 2017 and they planned the L2H.. As soon as all his SOBO videos are released, which now show less than 400 miles but they took a detour and did the Rim to Rim Trail in Arizona. They did water and food caches on their trip from Badwater to Mt. Whitney.

[jimkanzelmeyer]

Thumbs up for the celebrity sightings!

[SummitSeeker]

What kind of video gear are you using? Good stabilization & sound. Nice video. Thx

[juliebranstrom]

I am looking for a guide to help do this hike-anyone know of one?