Mt Whitney - 04

AZBrad123 · Joined: 29 Jan 2004 Posts: 196

Hey All, got back from a succesful trip to Mt Whitney last night. Davis2001R (Tim), his cousin (Rob) and a friend of mine (Marissa) took a road trip up there, and all four of us summited Whitney on Sunday. I just uploaded my pics that i took before my camera fell into the river.

Tim will post a trip report and his photos soon. I am leaving for NM in a minute so wanted to get those up there.

Hnak · Joined: 06 Jan 2003 Posts: 1766 Location: Prescott, AZ

Thanks! Great photos, they bring back lots of fun memories of last summer...

Davis2001R6 · Joined: 12 Dec 2003 Posts: 5591 Location: Italy

Well the day finally came and we all made a successful trip out of it. We arrived in Lone Pine on Friday morning and ate breakfast in town, then went to the ranger station and picked up our permits and asked a few questions. We then headed up to the lone pine campground at around 5500 feet. This was supposed to be our camp for the next 2 nights. It was pretty much dessert terrain that looked almost like a lunar landscape. We decided to drive up and check out the Whitney Portal campground and we were lucky enough to get the last spot available. The camp host was also nice enough to switch our reservation for a different site that we had reserved for Sunday night. This was all great news because the sites we beautiful. Huge pine trees, a stream 30 feet away, bathrooms about 150 feet away, plenty of trees for shade and the altitude is around 7500 there. The temperature was perfect also, mid 50's at night and maybe 80's during the day. We were also thrilled that we wouldn't have to pack up camp at 3AM on summit day.

After we got all settled in we went for a hike to see where the trailhead was and to get familiar with the area. We followed a stream up for a while which had many waterfalls and very clear pools. Took lots of pictures on different parts of the falls. Unfortunately Brad's camera decided to take a swim while we all posed for a self-timer shot. We tossed a Frisbee around for a while too. Afterward we went back to camp and Brad made us some great steak and potatoes dinner. We relaxed and played card for a while, and a small Bear decided to go fishing about 30 feet from us. So I got my camera and tried to get what pictures I could but unfortunately it was too dark and they didn't come out that great.

The next day we got up and had breakfast at the Whitney Portal Store. They have a pancake that is $2.74 and is about the size of two large plates. It could easily feed three people. After breakfast we walked up to the falls for a few more photos, then went back to camp and relaxed for an hour or two. We knew we needed to get acclimated a little better so we went out to Cottonwood Lakes which is only about an hour away. It was a nice hike that started at about 9500 ft and at the 1st lake which is where we stopped the elevation was 11,000 ft. It was a nice easy 5 mile hike each way with a destination I would move to California for. We ate lunch there played toss with the Frisbee a bit and headed back. It took us 2:05 to hike in and 1:50 to hike out. I think we would have liked to hike this on Friday instead of Saturday because we all didn't exactly want a 10 mile hike the day before a 22 mile one. We all felt really good for being up at that altitude.
When we got back to camp Brad made some great chili and cornbread for dinner. While Brad was cooking someone spotted a bear so I grabbed the camera and chased after the bear again. It was a little more interested in fishing that it was me though but I did follow it about a 1/4 mile down the stream. It was just about dusk again so the pictures didn't really turn out but there still in my head. It was the same small bear from the night before so I wasn't too worried about it. I was more worried about Momma bear around the corner somewhere not liking me as bear paparazzi. I did get within about 15 feet of it numerous time though. Back at camp we all got all out packs ready for an early morning departure.

We awoke at 2:45 and were on the trail by 3:45 and the weather was a perfect 56 degrees. There was a scale at the trailhead so we all weighed our pack. Rob came in the lightest at 15 lbs and mine the heaviest at 20lbs. I was pretty mad about that. Why in the he** is a daypack 20lbs?(Lots of extra food) We got just high enough to get some sunrise pictures over lone pine lake. I really really regret not getting a tripod for this trip because some of those sunrise pictures could be a lot better. It was an amazing site. If I only had Glen (Boynhisdog) with us we all could see how truly beautiful it was. We got to consultation lake pretty easily and filtered water and eat some lunch there. This was the half way point to the peak at 6 miles. After a long break we go back on the trail and started the dreaded 96 switchbacks. We started off at a great pace but that was a bit much for us so we just slowed it down to a good conversational pace and we made much better progress. At the top of the switchbacks is trailcrest at 13,600 feet. But just around the corner you drop about 400 feet which has to be gained again. I found this to be the hardest part of the trail. We finally made our way to the summit 7 hours and 45 minutes after we left. We took a nice break up there and took lots of pictures. Talked with some other people that we met along the trail. I had brought my phone and it did happen to work up there so we made some celebration phone calls. (Verizon) We then started heading back down. Brad and I had also intended on bagging Mt. Muir while we were up there but we were unsure of which one it was. We got some information from some people that said it was right were we were, so we climbed up 100 feet or so and I knew it wasn't it so we headed down. I found it about 10 minutes later but had no energy and Brad had already started running down to catch up with Marissa because she didn't have a water filter. Rob and I made out way down a little slower and finished about 40 minutes after they did. Brad and Marissa finished at about 13 hours and Rob and I around 13hours 45 minutes. The trail is pretty rocky half of the way so it's pretty hard on your feet, but we all did pretty good. Only a few small blisters between all of us.

We all enjoyed our $5 shower at the Whitney Portal store and ate some burgers and picked up our I hiked Whitney souvenirs. We went back to camp and called it a pretty early night. For whatever reason I was having a very hard time catching my breath and didn't sleep much at all. A bear decided to visit us also and tried to get into our trailer but it ran away after Brad yelled at it from inside his tent about 5 feet from it. It hung out around our tent for a while that night but unfortunately I left my headlamp inside my pack in the trailer so I never got to see a good view of it that night. It was really a great trip but I could have been in far better shape for it. This hot summer thing is killing me. Got on the scale when I got home finding myself the heaviest I have been in my life. So I need to do some major conditioning before I set off on any other adventures.

Thanks to Brad, Marissa and Rob for making the trip memorable. It was a blast!!!

-TIM-

BoyNhisDog · Posted: 8/10/2004, 11:23 am Post subject:

Another epic adventure. This is a beauty too. You both got lots of good photos but the one I really like it the snow and how it is shearing off into segments. That sunrise with the glowing peaks is fantastic as well. That was a good long walk over those rocks!
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SUN_HIKER · Joined: 05 Dec 2003 Posts: 1057

Congratulations, great accomplishment!

GB
PS quick question Tim, how long did you have prepare (train) for this?
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AZBrad123 · Joined: 29 Jan 2004 Posts: 196

Nice writeup Tim!! It was a great time. Looking forward to the next hairbrain idea you come up with!!

Davis2001R6 · Joined: 12 Dec 2003 Posts: 5591 Location: Italy

AZBrad123 · Joined: 29 Jan 2004 Posts: 196

Sun Hiker, if i could make a suggestion, from a guy who did train, i began running and doing progressively heavier cardio for the last two to three months. Ending with 55 minutes at 6.8 mph. Every week i jumped up the speed, and always did 55 minutes. I focuesed on cardio, with a leg work out once or twice a week. My leg workout was primarily lunges (with weights), step ups (with weight), calves, and squats, with random leg stuff thrown in and random core stuff thrown in too to keep my body balanced. I think that really helped, since the biggest issue you will have is with the breathing, hence the cardio, but the stronger the legs the better.

Also, we all took a drug called Diamox to try to acclimate faster and to mask the symptoms of the altitude. Since we only had two days, we knew that without the diamox this hike would not be possible, or we would be plagued with so many symptoms we would be misserable. Diamox helps with acclimization and masks the alitude sickness that we would have experienced. If you do not have a good week or so to acclimate to the high altitude, i would strongly recommend this medication, i believe it helped immensly. It does not make you better off, only gets rid of the low level symptoms of high altitude sickeness.

http://www.pdrhealth.com/drug_info/rxdrugprofiles/drugs/dia1131.shtml

We discussed next time taking a few extra days and backpacking up to 11K feet and camping. The Saturday hike tim talks about was at 11K and was amazing. I think next time that will be in order.

Hope this helps.

SUN_HIKER · Joined: 05 Dec 2003 Posts: 1057

Thanks for the great info guys (and here I thought the main contributor to this achievement was Brad's cornbread and chili Laughing

) if only it could be that simple.

So what's next on your list? You know, now you will have to aim even higher. Crazy

GB
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without your permission.
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fairweather8588 · Joined: 30 Dec 2003 Posts: 716

Can you camp along that trail (say at/near the top)
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Shihiyea · Joined: 20 Oct 2003 Posts: 1135

Wonderful write up, great trip! You guys ROCK! Mary

Davis2001R6 · Joined: 12 Dec 2003 Posts: 5591 Location: Italy

fairweather8588 · Joined: 30 Dec 2003 Posts: 716

Tom Treks · Gear Addict Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 3347

Nice job guys. Looks like a pretty exciting trip. I got a kick out of the last campsite/bear thing.

Davis2001R6 · Joined: 12 Dec 2003 Posts: 5591 Location: Italy

Just a bit of info on the Diamox. It does have some side effects. The worst probably being that beer or any carbonated drink for that matter tastes like crap afterword, and there is nothing better than finishing a long hike with a cold beer. Also you will feel pins/needles in hands and feet, similar to them falling asleep. It isn't a commonly asked for drug at the doctor so just remember the name of it, but it is in the PDR for it. So your normal doctor should prescribe it for you without a problem. I would ask for 125mg tablets not the 250. From what I have read it will help out just as much but with less side effects. It will help you aclimate a bit better but if you already have AMS it won't cover up the symtoms. They say to take it 2-3 days before you get up to altitude. We just took it before bed on Friday night and then on Saturday and Sunday. I was taking the 125's and Brad the 250's. He seemed to think that I made a huge difference but I think that it was the aclimating we did prior to the hike, and he was much more prepared than I was so I think that's why he did better. I would really like to try Whitney again with out it but maybe spend an extra day out there. We just wanted all the help we could get with this being our first time up at that altitude and all the time and money spent planning the trip for months.
-TIM-