Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Hydration and AMS

Bob R,

In your reliable water sources along the Mt. Whitney Trail, you mentioned Switchback#23. Is the Switchback #23 marked, or do I have to count how many Switchbacks myself.

For that matter, is there mile marker posts all along the main trail?

The switchbacks are not marked, but Wayne Pyle has counted them and every now and then reminds the board. Last time was about two weeks ago:

http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=002169

Go to that link for an explanation, and a link within to see the map.

There used to be mileage markers, but they have not been maintained and some have undoubtedly disappeared completely. There are two left I can recall at the moment; see below. The first one is around 20 feet above Trailside Meadow, and the second is between Switchback nos. 94 and 95. For accuracy, you'll have to add 1/4 mile or so, because they were put in before the newer (longer) trail start at the Portal.

But the quick answer is no, there are no useful mileage markers.

<img src="http://a5.cpimg.com/image/AB/91/34502315-b8ef-0200016D-.jpg"width=480>

<img src="http://a2.cpimg.com/image/EC/0F/21586412-d00e-028001E0-.jpg"width=480>

"And it doesn't matter. If you get sufficiently dehydrated during exercise, you will get sick. If you have AMS in addition, you will feel even worse."

This simple statement by Bob has been true for me. Regardless of elevation, if the hike is strenuous I need to drink and eat regularly or I feel cruddy. But the additional point I've noticed personally is that hydrating well seems to make a difference in whether I get leg cramps or not. I know I'm going to get a little headache and lose my appetite at altitude, but it's those cramps I really hate. If I'm drinking regularly, adding the Hydrolite, stretching a little after breaks, I'm able to avoid them.

Thanks for the water location info. Just this year I switched to carrying less water, filling up more often along the way when needed, and ditching the filter...just use iodine if I'm feeling that the source is shakey. What a relief in pack-weight. By the way, I looked around a little a few weeks ago for that old trailhead past the store, but couldn't find it. 1/4 mile shorter, eh? Kind of appealing.

Just a little FYI on the trail mileage markers. A few years ago I contacted the local forest service and told them I'd bother to take up a little can of paint and a brush to refresh the fading markers.

Well, they had an absolute hissy fit saying that the markers detract from the pristine nature of the trail. I don't think they do. I always found them very helpful, especially to newbies who've never been on the trail and don't rightly know where they are.

SummitSeekr, I couldn't agree more with your assessment. Compare the visual impact of some blue paint on a small rock, a spare ten times between Portal and summit, with that of (say) 97 switchbacks hewn into a 3000' x 1500' slope!

Of course, trails help the experience. But signs do, too. Fortunately, they do tolerate both here and there. But I wonder how anyone could be bothered by some small blue letters on a rock, and not be offended by the incongruity of the big metal sign at the top of Shepherd Pass, several square feet in area, for example.

Personally I find some of the clothing people are wearing on their hikes to be far more distracting than information that helps hikers navigate.

Wonder how many times over the years those mileage markers were referenced toget someone injured person some assistance?

Thanks Bob for the list of water sources. Two questions:
1) Is there visible water on the main trail that one should avoid drinking from? Clearly I wouldn't drink water that didn't at least look clean and I'd try to go upstream of the trail a bit to fill up. Any advice for a first timer would be appreciated.

2) Do you have to actually know the location of the places you listed or are they visible from the trail?

Thanks

This is great stuff!