Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board My Whitney Diary - 2010

Plans
Through cancellations of two hiking partners it ends up that I will be attempting a two day summit with an overnight at Consultation Lake. I will be arriving at Horseshoe Meadows on Sept 4th. I will spend two nights at Horseshoe meadows on the 4th and 5th. On Monday Sept 6th I will come down from HM to hang out with my Dad who is driving down from South Lake Tahoe. Will make final preparations such as purchasing fresh food and preparing it for the hike. Spending the night in Lone Pine so that I get to use the indoor plumbing facilities and take a nice hot shower. Then over to the Ranger Station to see if I can score an overnight permit. Assuming success, I will hustle on up to Whitney Portal and start the hike by noonish on Sept 7th. Planning on taking my time getting to Consultation Lake. I’ll be thrilled if I keep to a pace of 1mph. Though I expect that I will be walking a bit faster than that. My estimate of arrival at Consultation Lake is 4pm. This is based on my training with extra padding thrown in to reflect the altitude as well as experience from my previous pace to trail camp. Most importantly, my plan is to conserve as much energy as possible so that I am fresh for the next day. I don’t expect to sleep late on Wednesday morning (Sept 8th). I expect to hit the trail around 6am. Again planning on keeping a pace of 1mph. I will be using the daypack, so most of my gear will be staying at Consultation Lake until I head down the hill. I plan on bringing 4L of water. One of my rules for turning around is when I get down to 1L of water, I must turn around. I don’t expect this to be a problem. In 2008, I went through less than 1L of water from Trail Camp to Trail Crest. I know that I will be carrying too much water, but I’m willing to carry the extra weight.

And then….Summit, Sign the Register, Take a few photos and start the trek home. I’ll have to stop long enough to pick up my gear at Consultation Lake.

History
My first experience on the Whitney trail was in August 2008. I was with three women: Aunt Mary, Mimi and Bev. I arrived in Lone Pine the day before the hike since it was my son’s birthday the day before. We took a warm-up hike to Lone Pine Lake and came down to relax for the rest of the day. I didn’t sleep at all that night and we ended up starting up the trail at 4am. Within the 20min of the hike Mimi got very physically sick. Obviously something she ate. We walked her back to the portal and she headed back down the hill. The three of us started again. Everything pretty uneventful for the beginning of the hike. I was exhausted from no sleep and took a 30min nap at trailside meadow. Bev decided to continue hiking on her own. We had two-way radios and before too long Bev radioed to tell us that she was lost (I was amazed that anyone could get lost on the main trail). Aunt Mary and I headed up the hill and located Bev and started on our way up again. Stopped at Trail Camp to fill up water bottles and have pre-lunch and frolic with the marmots. Started hiking again and right at the base of the switchbacks I got a pounding headache and felt nauseous. Aunt Mary and Bev had been in the area for 4 days and each day did hikes at horseshoe meadows. So they were properly acclimatized. At this point I couldn’t go on, so Aunt Mary and Bev took off up the switchbacks. Within about 20min I felt better and decided to go forward. I caught up with Aunt Mary and Bev right above the cables. Bev was done. She was rushing most of the hike instead of pacing herself. Bev is tiny and she did not bring trekking poles. She was having a tough time descending because of the large drop off on the steps. I gave her my poles so she could get down comfortably. Aunt Mary and I decided to go on. Right around switchback 80 I got violently sick. It hit me like a freight train with no warning whatsoever. All I can say is “sorry about the mess”. I didn’t have a choice, I had to drop elevation quickly. I went down probably 10 switchbacks and started to come back to life and decided to lay down on a flat rock and sun myself a little bit to help recover. After about 10 minutes of sunning and starting to feel at peace with the universe I felt an intense burning…ahem..ummm….on my privates. Something had either crawled up or flown into my loose shorts and the mesh liner was obviously not enough to stop the bite/sting. Doing what any guy would do, I dropped trou to see what the hell was going on. Unfortunately I inadvertently did this within about 3 feet of Aunt Mary’s face. Noticing that I was flashing my wife’s 65 year old aunt, I flipped around only to expose myself to a young couple making their way up the trail. I was still in too much pain to be embarrassed, but a byproduct of the whole event was that I felt great other than my stinging balls. Aunt Mary and I decided to head up the hill again. We arrived at Trail Crest around 1pm. We figured that at our current pace it would take us 3 hours to get to the summit. Decided that we were about 3 hours behind where we should be if we wanted to summit…..so we decided to turn back. We had an uneventful trip down the hill except that Aunt Mary has RP (retinitis pigmentosis) and had a really tough time navigating the trail in the dark. I had to walk directly in front of her and announce ever drop off step. Got into whitney portal well after dark and headed down to Lone Pine to get some needed sleep.

My next Whitney experience was in November 2008. My wife had underwent radiation treatment and my son and I had to vacate the house for a few days. We decided to make a “dude-cation” out of it. We brought rifles and fishing poles and daypacks and had my Dad meet us for three generations of fun. We went out east of Lone Pine and did some shooting on one day and then the next, my son and I hiked up to Lone Pine lake to do some fishing. When I went to Lone Pine Lake in August, I noticed a veritable parade of trout swimming close to shore and my son was excited to catch some of those fish. We got to Lone Pine Lake only to find that it was frozen solid. I tested the ice with some very large rocks…..not a chance we would fall through. So we did some slipping and sliding and ice bowling and then eventually headed back down.

My third Whitney experience was July of 2009. This time it was Aunt Mary, my son Jackson (almost 10 years old at the time) and me. We were going to take three days to get to the summit with our first night at Lone Pine Lake and our second night at Consultation Lake. We had a three man tent and one bear vault, so I was carrying all of my stuff and the tent and all of the food. I packed as lightly as possible because I knew that Jackson would end up giving me most of his weight. I wasn’t wrong. Anyway, we didn’t sleep at all at LPL. The combination of the jets and it being too warm and who knows what else conspired to make a sleepless night for all three of us. Oh, another thing, I failed to pack the fly for the tent. In the morning we took our time. We only had to go as far as Consultation Lake…plenty of time to hang out and get some fishing in. Jackson caught (and released) four golden trout and 2 rainbows. By the time we started packing up the camp we noticed big black clouds rolling in. It was clearly raining up above. We made the decision to turn around since I forgot the fly for the tent and frankly, Jackson wasn’t feeling too keen on continuing. We headed down the hill and by the time we got back to Lone Pine the whole mountain was socked in with a nasty looking storm. Probably the right decision to turn around that time.

Physical
I am 47 years old. 5’11” and 240 lbs. I am not one of your more svelte backpackers. However, growing up in Lake Tahoe and skiing all of my life as well as lots of mountain biking and other activities has given me a pretty strong foundation to build on. On my previous trips up whitney I never ran out of gas. Though I am definitely not the fastest hiker on the hill and I won’t hesitate to take a 2 minute break every now and again., I do keep on trudging on.

Training
I have been training since mid-June. I have only done one hike at any altitude and that was over the July 4th weekend in the trails above Lake Arrowhead.

I do five hikes a week. During the week I do a 3.5 mile loop in the Santa Monica mountains that has 900’ of vertical. Since I wasn’t doing any real altitude training, I have selected trails that are relatively steep so that I get winded faster. I also recently added a hike from Trippet Ranch in Topanga Canyon to the trailhead near my home in Tarzana (7 miles). On my hikes I carry 5 liters of water. Not because I need 5 liters of water, but because I want to be accustomed \to the extra weight of a pack.

When I started training I weighed 240lbs. My goal was to lose 10 lbs by the time of my hike. As of 10 minutes ago I still weigh 240 stinking pounds. I’ve lost exactly zero pounds.

However, on my standard loop that has 1.25 miles of uphill, it originally took me a full hour to get to the top. I now make it to the top in 40 minutes and then after walking one mile, I jog the rest of the way down the trail. So I know that I am in much better physical shape than I was when I started my training.

Gear
Tent - Alps Mountaineering Zephyr 1 - 3 lbs 14oz
One of the few items I purchased this year for the hike. I only had 3 and 4 man tents. Obviously I didn’t want to tote them up the hill. Purchased on Overstock.com for $90. Normal list price is $149. It is a one man freestanding tent that has ample room for me. Took me about 4 minutes to set it up without looking at the instructions.

Pack - REI Traverse Evening Star - 5 lbs
I bought this 12 years ago when my wife and I did the AIDS ride from SF to LA. It’s an ok no-frills pack. Hopefully I will have the funds next year to get myself a nicer pack.

Daypack/Hydration System - Gerber Caleo XC (modified)- 3 lbs 5oz
I have a camelback pack and the Gerber pack. I bought both of them in 2008 for the one day trip up whitney. I was getting a lot of shoulder pain from the camelback so I sought out a pack that had better support on the hips. I bought the Gerber in Lone Pine the day before the hike. I originally used the camelback hydration system in the Gerber pack because I don’t like the Gerber deliver system (mouthpiece). But, for some reason the water coming out of the camelback bladder tastes funny to me. So, I took the hose and mouthpiece from the camelback and put it on the Gerber semi-rigid bladder. Also put the neoprene hose insulator on the camelback hose. Definitely needed for hikes on hot days. I should note that the camelback hose and the Gerber hose do not have the same inside diameter. The camelback hose is smaller so it took some work to get the two to mate. I will strap the Gerber pack to the outside of my main pack for use on day 2 of the hike.

Sleeping Bag - Mountain Hardwear Ultra Lamina 32 (long) - 1 lb 15oz
Nice light sleeping bag. The one thing that I didn’t notice when I bought it is that the zippers only go down a little bit. So if you like to hang a leg out when you are sleeping, you can’t do it. I consider this a pretty serious design deficiency as it doesn’t allow for any heat regulation for us heat producers. Otherwise, not a bad bag.

Attire
Feet - Lowa Renegade GTX
I got these for my 2008 Whitney trip. During training I noticed that the boots are about 1/2 size too small on the downhills. This even though they are size 11s and I normally wear 10 1/2. However I had zero problems on the whitney hike. It seems to only be a problem on steeper pitches. I LOVE the traction that these boots have. They never slip. They are also very comfortable and provide great ankle support. I did decide to try trail running shoes. I got a nice pair of really light Mizuno Wave Ascend 5 trail runners. I didn't like them on trails. I could feel rocks through the soles and I found that I really like the ankle support of the Lowas.


Sleeping pads - two pads, Thermarest ¾ and thermarest full - 1 lb 2oz and 1 lb 11oz
I sleep on my side. Last year I discovered that one pad just ain’t enough. I happen to have two sleeping pads, so I am going to use both of them instead of going out and getting a better/thicker pad. I figure that the other 1 lb 2 oz is well worth a little comfort while I sleep.

Trekking Poles - Black Diamond Contour
I bought these for my 2008 hike. They suited me just fine. But then I bought my son some Leki Makalu Shiva Anti-shock trekking poles. These cost a bunch more than mine and were noticeably lighter. So I decided to try the Lekis out. They seemed to flimsy for my weight and I didn’t like the anti-shock feature. Happily back to my Black Diamonds.

Bear Vault - BV500 - 2 lbs 9 oz
Probably too big for a solo only going for one night, but it is what I have. I am lining the bottom half with ½” bubble wrap to insulate it for cold storage. Along with the food that I am preparing for the trip, I will be putting a couple of bottles of frozen aquafina to keep it cool.

Cooking System - MSR Pocket Rocket - 3 oz

Fuel - Isobutane/propane - 8 oz

Headlamp - Black Diamond
Not sure of the model, but I love the thing. Batteries are in a pack on the back of the headband. Provides enough light to annoy and blind anyone who you happen to look at with the lamp on. I use it all the time around the house.


Backup Headlamp - Petzl
Just in case something happens to the black diamond. I am a little paranoid about the possibility of having to hike down at night with no light. The weight is negligible and it gives me peace of mind.

GPS Tracker - SPOT II
Since I am doing this trip solo, the wife was pretty worried. The SPOT II does allow me to send pre-programmed messages to her to let her know that I am ok. It also lets her track my progress on the hike. Only the second item that I have purchased specifically for this hike.

Visual explanation on why the orientation of the SPOT tracker is important
http://picasaweb.google.com/tfdietz/Whitney0709#5509366489996329266

Photos from 2009
http://picasaweb.google.com/tfdietz/Whitney0709#

One suggestion... well maybe more than one...

There is the spring on The Switchbacks that is a reliable souce of pure water, so I wouldn't carry 4L from Consultation Lake. That's like 9 pounds you're putting on your back and I don't care how tough you are, that's a S/L of extra weight!

Carry bottles instead of a 3L bladder so you can stash some on the way up for the way down. Tank back up when you get back to the spring and at camp.

Also, use some hard candy to "wet your whistle." If you drink a couple of liters on the way up and down, that dry mouth is probably caused by breathing dry air, not dehydration.

I'm glad you said that....

I have to be honest, I really don't like camelbacks/bladders. I always drink in too much air. That makes it easy. Plus I want to have a bottle that I can put powdered sports drink in. This is one of those things that I was forcing myself into. Simple answer is to stick with bottles.

I was planning on hitting the spring. I just left that detail out. I have a preference for drinking running water rather than still water. I do have a steri-pen, but I am not bringing it. I grew up in Lake Tahoe and we drank out of the streams and the lakes all of the time. And Tahoe certainly is far more risky than Whitney.

I'll also try the hard candy trick.

Thanks!

took my first hike with a fully loaded pack. Just wanted to make sure that everything was still comfortable. And it was. For some reason the weights don't add up properly. My pack weighs 5 lbs less than I calculated (sans food and water). Not sure how to account for that, but not unhappy at all. With food and water I expect my pack to come in at about 30lbs.

Was able to keep up my pace on my standard loop last night with the full pack. I was a little worried. I hiked on Monday last week when it was 105deg. Big mistake. I had a very adverse reaction to the heat. All the signs of heat exhaustion. Even though the problem was obviously the heat, I was questioning my conditioning. Last night quelled any concern.

Nice and cool today. I may go for some extra miles.

Training continues to yield very positive results on my conditioning. I still haven' lost an ounce of weight, but I am now able to power up the uphill portion of the hike with no rests and requiring a reasonable amount of water (about 250mL for 1.5miles of steep uphill).

Tried the chicken in a pouch that Bee recommended in my chicken soup recipe....unfortunately it didn't work for me. Just a bit too salty and it tasted cured rather than fresh. I'm sticking with my plan to bring two carrots, two stalks of celery and two chicken breast filets that I cook the morning before the hike. I'll mix those with noodles and a bit of butter and spices. My tuesday night meal at consultation lake will be a stew like chicken noodle soup. And it turns out that this will be my breakfast too. BTW: I did use my pocket rocket to cook my test batch of chicken soup. It worked fine, but I have no idea all this is going to take to cook at altitude. Just gonna wing it.

Plan on arriving in Lone Pine on Saturday the 4th. Heading up to HM for the first night and then I am going to break camp and head to Onion Valley and do some hiking and maybe get some fishing in too. I plan on spending the night at OV and then heading back to lone pine to do a little food shopping, hook up with my dad and spend the night in a motel room so that I get to start my hike on Tuesday after a nice fresh shower.

Getting excited and somewhat relieved that my two potential hiking partners bailed on me. I am really looking forward to doing this alone so that I am not having to worry about how the others in the group are faring.

I did it! Reached the summit at 1:30pm on Sept 8th. Complete trip report coming..until then, here are pictures and the plot of my track.

Track
http://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=1eb14c7e72bbf06a4

Photos
http://picasaweb.google.com/tfdietz/Whitney2010#

Nice pics....can't wait for the TR. Looks like you had a blast, great camp site and great chicken soup.

Mt Whitney Trip Report
Sept 4 - Arrive Lone Pine around noonish. Went to Subway and grabbed a sandwich and then headed up to Horseshoe meadow. Found a campsite, set up camp and relaxed.

Sept 5th - Leisurely morning. Had originally planned to do one day at HM and one day at OV, but once I had made camp at HM, little chance that I was going to break camp and then set up again someplace else. Ended up doing a hike to Cottonwood Pass.

Sept 6th - Broke camp and headed down to Lone Pine to get my permit. My Mom drove up to see me off, so we got to hang out and go shooting on the east side of Owens Valley. Had dinner at Seasons…yum! And I always like to start off a hike with a nice clean shower, so I spent the night at the Dow Villa.

Sept 7th
The Portal to Consultation Lake/Trail Camp
Pack weighed in at 35lbs (with water). Not bad….I worked hard to eliminate anything that I didn’t need. Next time, I hope to get it down around 30lbs.

Two other guys were weighing their packs at the same time…they took off about 3 minutes before I did. My official start time was 8:45am. We played leapfrog most of the way up to Lone Pine Lake and eventually just started hiking together. Nothing much of interest on the first day of hiking. Ran into a friend of Bob R’s who worked with him at China Lake. Dick referred to him as “Rocky”. Outpost camp was deserted. Maybe too early for people to be setting up camp there. Anyway, Mike and Charlie and I were all planning on staying near Consultation Lake so we picked a site that was relatively sheltered and set up camp. They couldn’t believe that I had no intention of not treating my water, so they hiked down to consultation lake and filtered 3 liters of water for me….of course, they filtered water for themselves too. Meanwhile, we had decided to do a potluck dinner. So I started on the first course. I made homemade chicken noodle soup…and it was damn good! I got rave reviews from Mike and Charlie who both made sure that I gave them the recipe/instructions before I left. Charlie made some backpacker pouch pad thai and Mike made backpacker pouch blueberry cheesecake. I’ll stick with real food.

The wind really picked up at night. So much so that I didn’t get any sleep. Literally no sleep from the noise from the wind.. Mike and Charlie both ended up not sleeping either. I had to re-stake my rain fly at one point as it had come loose in the night and was flapping like bird. I ended up putting rocks on all of the stakes…just in case.

Sept 8th
Since I take the “tortoise” role in the race with the hare, I wanted to start the day early. I had decided that if I woke up at 3am, I would plan my start at 4am…but, since I never had an sleep to awake from, I was still trying to atch a few Zzzzzs until 4:30am. I started making another pot of chicken soup for breakfast and here’s where I like the idea of hiking solo comes into play. I like to get ready and go. Mike and Charlie tended to take their time. We didn’t get out of there until 6:45am. Though it didn’t seem too cold at camp, the wind was still very strong so it was cutting through light clothing. We all bundled up with gloves and various head coverage (my choice was the ever fashionable balaklava).

I was going to refill my water on the switchbacks, but they wanted to stop at the Trail Pond and pump/filter. And hey, as long as they are willing to do the work….

And up the switchbacks we go. There is PLENTY of water on the switchbacks. And in my opinion, the best water on the whole MMWT. It is melt water from the snow field right above it. No way can it be contaminated with anything. And as long as that snow field is there, there will be water. The lower sections were frozen, but the upper sections were flowing freely. I dumped one bottle of trail pond water and refilled with switchback spring water (the other bottle already had powdered Gatorade in it). Some guy had slipped on the ice on one of the lower spring switchbacks and dropped his GPS/Walkie-talkie. Hooked him back up with his GPS thingie and he and his friend joined our little group for a while. Cables doesn’t have any snow, but it has a lot of ice. Stick to the outside part of the trail to avoid ice. Grabbed a couple of icicles to wet the whistle rather than reaching for the bottle. And on up to Trail Crest. In 2008 I got AMS just below Trail Crest, so I was kinda nervous, but I didn’t feel anything adverse. While at Trail Crest I searched for a hidden treasure that I had left my son in 2008. Nowhere to be found. I suspect that the melt/thaw cycle moved rocks about. Oh well.

Wind really started kicking up again once we reached TC. I had shed a layer halfway up the switchbacks but quickly put it back on at TC.

Drank one liter of water up to TC. Had a snack of some GORP and a granola bar of some sort. Probably should have eaten more, but didn’t want to slow things down. A group of four came back up to TC from the JMT junction and said that there was no way they would summit today because of the wind.

Headed down to the JMT junction. Saw a girl struggling on her way up to Trail Crest. Saw that she was wearing hiking sandals and socks. The sandals were in bad shape and she had already started duct taping them, but her mends had already failed. I offered my roll of duct tape so she could repair her sandals. she was near tears when I got to her, so she was very appreciative for the duct tape.

Lots of backpacks at the JMT junction and the wind was roaring. The wind will be a recurring theme. The windows were spectacular. I would normally be surprised that anyone would get nervous walking by them, but I saw the wind knock a couple of people into the rocks….if that happened at the windows that wouldn’t be such a good thing.

I may have mentioned, I ain’t the fastest hiker up there. I’m 5’11” and 240lbs (last Friday). So I have a little excess baggage. And I felt every single one of those extra pounds on the way up. Still, as long as I’m not puking my guts up or a storm isn’t brewing, there is no way that I would not summit. Storm? Did someone say storm? Yup, some young guy on his way down pointed to the west and said “big storm brewing, better get up there and don’t waste any time”…..Damn. I renewed my effort and resolve to get to the summit. I was worried that this storm…or my legs might thwart my efforts. I came up with a mantra of sorts. I kept saying to myself “each step I take is the highest step I have ever taken”. It seemed to work, before I knew it, I was no longer traversing, but now I was heading up. When the Summit Hut came up over the horizon I was ecstatic. I was going to make it. And I did. I made the summit at 1:30pm, Sept 8th, 2010. I didn’t think anyone was behind me. My signature in the book reflects that (“maybe the last of the day“). Mike and Charlie beat me by about 30 minutes and they were hanging out and taking photos. It turns out that 13 people attempted the summit after I signed in. I know that 3 turned back and 7 made it, but I don’t know about the other 3.

Didn’t spend a lot of time at the summit. The clouds were coming in very fast and very dark and very mean looking. The wind was brutal at the summit. My estimation is 45mph sustained with 60mph gusts. I think the incoming storm scared the marmots, as there were none to be found anywhere. Had a couple of photos taken and then set a fast pace down the hill. Had a PBJ sandwich about halfway to TC. Looked back at the summit…couldn’t see it….totally socked in. Picked up an abandoned wag bag. I saw more, but there’s only so much of other people’s crap that I am willing to carry.

A bit relieved to hit trail crest again. The wind died down immediately once crossing over to the other side. Mike has Glaucoma and the combination of wind and altitude was messing with his vision. So I went on ahead and then would wait for mike and charlie to catch up. Stopped at the switchback springs again. I only drank 1.75 liters of water from trail camp to the summit and back, but I wanted to bring a liter home (it’s already labeled)

Walking by trail camp I saw a woman taking down her camp. She had obviously just removed the stakes from her tent and turned away to do something else. Right then I gust of wind turned her tent into a kite that flew about 100yards west and then up into the air about 100’ and then south toward Consultation Lake. No idea if she ever recovered it.

Headed back to camp, ate a quickie PBJ and started packing things up. Mike and Charlie got to camp and decided to stay another night. Mike’s eyes were bad enough during the day, but he would never be able to walk out at night without Charlie being his seeing eye….dude. Oddly enough, I had to do that two years ago with my aunt who has RP. The clouds that looked so ominous before were completely gone now.

Packed up and headed out….Was making great time all the way to LPL. A little bit past the log crossing I could feel my legs getting weak. In the dark, the last two miles of the trail are always painful for me. It doesn’t seem like that great of a distance, but at night there are no landmarks to let you know how far you have to go until you hit the signs just above the north fork crossing.. I started paying more attention to things….like the big granite outcropping that is on the south side of several switchbacks and of course the traverse back over to the north side of the canyon. My legs really started giving out to the point that I felt like I was walking my uphill pace. Finally saw the signs and crossed the north fork and tried to pick the pace up….no joy. I was wiped out.

Got to the portal, went to make a deposit at the human waste bank…and would you believe that I was so spaced out that I couldn’t figure out how to open the container….yikes!

Lessons Learned
Packing - I eliminated many unnecessary things. I got my pack down to 35lb I eliminated a change of socks, which was a mistake. I’ll find a place for the socks next time.

Food - I took to heart that I should bring food that I like. I had decided that a hearty chicken soup would be just what I needed. It was spectacular. I did all of the prep work the night before and pre-packaged each ingredient individually. I had plenty to share with two people for two different meals (dinner and breakfast. My recipe:
-Mini Bowtie noodles
-2 chopped celery stalks
-2 chopped carrots
-2 cooked chicken breasts cut up into bite size pieces. Chicken breasts from Seasons restaurant.
-1 packet of chicken flavoring stuff from top ramen
-1 pre-mixed spices
-1 tablespoon of butter

Water - I started off with 3 liters of water. Carrying that much water is foolish until after you leave the switchback springs. In the future I will carry one liter of water with two empty and collapsed liter containers to fill up at the switchbacks. Even though I only needed 2 liters of water to the summit and back, I like to have a little buffer since there are no other sources. Also, the hard candies definitely helped to cut back on the water consumption.

Sleep - I have to figure out a way to sleep while it feels like my tent is going to do a Wizard of Oz tornado scene thing.

Training - I thought I was doing a lot with my 3mi a day…but it wasn’t anywhere near enough. I have vowed to summit Mt Whitney again….but only after I lose 40lbs.

Equipment - My tent and my sleeping bag performed beautifully. My bag is an Ultralamina 32 (long). I never got cold…and it was cold that night. It was a little bit “snug” around the shoulders, so I will probably look for a bigger bag. Tent was a $90 (overstock.com) Alps Mountaineering Zephyr 1. Easy to set up in spite of the wind. I could never get my backpack to sit right. Too much weight on my shoulders. Time for a new one anyway.

Altitude sickness - I was a bit paranoid that I would get it again. The two nights at HM and one night at 12,000’ seemed to have done the trick. Not sure how much of a role the diamox had in keeping it in check. Next time I will try it with no diamox.

Attire - The balaklava was the best. It may have made me look funny, but my head and ears were warm, even in the biting wind and cold. My fleece gloves were good too. My Lowa boots were great again. They never slip and were comfortable the whole time.

Photos