For ascents by moonlight

This handy 80-page guide, an update of a classic published in the ‘60s by Sierra hand Wheelock, offers helpful how-to sections on preparation, gear, essential supplies, permits and rules, plus chapters on Whitney’s first explorers, its geology, flora and fauna, and a mile-by-mile trail breakdown. If your goal is a bit steeper than the main Whitney Trail, there’s advice on moonlight ascents and more technical climbs, with route illustrations. The book’s final chapter, “Up the East Face,” was written by legendary Sierra mountaineer Norman Clyde, detailing its first ascent in 1931. The book is small enough to justify its place in a backpack, but complete enough to deepen any Whitney climber’s appreciation of the experience.

-- Martin J. Smith

Summitted Whitney in 2003