Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Climbing Whitney with the Young'uns

Just a note to say hello to all of those people we met on the trail this last August 14th. My daughter (16) and son (13) accompanied me to the summit that day; we did the round trip in just over ten hours. We left the portal at 6:05, no flashlights were necesary. We summited at 11:38, just in time to beat a hasty retreat in advance of approaching lightning. Thanks to ranger Brian Spitek for great conversation on the way down to Trail Camp, and to some of the other fellow hikers we met along the rest of the way. We hit the store at about 4:25, and then it was off for well-earned pizza and cokes.

I was celebrating my 40th birthday - what a way to do it! It was my third attempt and first success on Whitney; the other two times were in the 80's and early-season (with much snow and ice above Mirror Lake).

My question is this - Anyone else have experience with their teenagers on the trail? My kids had no problem at all with the hike, but we hike a lot at home, and live at about 7000 feet. Any comments would be appreciated.

Hope to make it a regular event from here on out - see you there!!!

Wow! My children and I only made it to a little past trail camp. There was much complaining, and a whole lot of foot pain in my group. Its impressive that you and your young children could make it to the top, and in such a short amount of time! Even alone it took me about 7 hours to make it to the top. But it does not matter how long it takes, as long as you enjoy the experience. Happy Trails! (Oh, happy birthday. Most people go "over the hill" at 40, but you literally did!)

Doc -- I have done the day hike with my son a couple of times, when he was 11 and 13. We had outcomes similar to yours, except one less kid and a dad who is 10 years older. Last time (a year ago), we took over 11 hours, but spent nearly 2 on top.

We live at 1200', not 7000', but my son loves to hike every chance we get and we were well prepared for altitude, elevation gain, and distance both times.

We have noticed other kids of similar ages. Some were doing very well, some not so well. Preparation obviously matters, but I think the kids doing the best had the least parental pushing. I never talk my son into a hike, but the reverse happens a lot.

10 hours! My God.

Our first time up Whitney in 2002 took 16 hours. One member of our group had a severe case of altitude sickness and we figured that's what slowed us down.

For our second ascent this summer I thought for sure we'd shave an hour or two off the time. There were no altitude problems... but it took 16 hours again. That is with a few short breaks and only 30 minutes on the summit. And we're in good shape!

How anyone can get up and down in less than 12 hours is beyond me.

My son was 12 when we did Whitney in 2001. We didn't try for a dayhike, choosing instead to backpack to Trail Camp and dayhike from there. Trip report under "highpointing" on my <a href="http://www.mtritter.org">WWW site</a>.

We live near St. Louis, at about 500', so we generally take a couple of days pre-hike to acclimate. Wish we lived higher, but such is life. Of course, I've been taking him backpacking since he was 5 or so, and now that he's 16 and 4" taller than I am, I have a built-in pack horse at least for a couple more years! (Compare the 2001, 2002 and 2003 summit photos!)

I feel strongly that if you break 'em in early to hiking and backpacking, kids will keep up with most anything you choose to do. Even when he was little, Nathan could "hike his age" or more...he did 8 miles at age 5-1/2 and 10 at age 8, with a 25% body-weight pack. (Of course, poor ol' Dad had to shoulder the rest of the weight...) These days, he outwalks me with equal loads, until we get above 12,000', where experience pacing myself lets me catch up and pass him.

Next summer will be the "final exam"...we'll be headed out to Philmont, the big Scout ranch in New Mexico, for a 10-day, 70-80-mile trek. Ought to be fun...

Doc,

I'm sure I saw you on the trail and on the peak as my brother and I were there at about the same time, although your overall time was quite a bit faster. There was also a pretty large group of boy scouts on the trail at the time (coming up from east side of JMT) and I was amazed at how well all of them seemed to be doing. It must be something about youth! My son isn't quite 1 year yet, but I'll be thinking of Whitney again when he's a teen.

You can find a bunch of pictures of our trip here:
http://wiggin.rice.edu/~jeff/whitney/thetrip/page01.html

-end

My son and his scout troop are supposed to go to Philmont next summer... but I'm wondering, after Whitney, will they ever want to hike again....?

Just a quick question for those of us who hike with kids. Who leads - you or your child? This obviously depends on age, but my son is almost 11 and I have always had him lead on the way up. My thinking being that I can monitor his effort/pace and make sure I'm not going too fast for him. On the way down I go in front to make sure he doesn't go too fast - get out of control and slip, and warn him of tricky steps. However, I feel uneasy about the fact that I wouldn't be much help if he slipped while he was behind me. What do you do?

Wolfmom - are you asking because Whitney is the ultimate goal and what can top that? Or because Whitney is a challenge and could turn them off hiking? Either way, I don't think you have to worry. I started a post called, "So, what brings you to Whitney?" And many, many people spoke that a trip to the Sierras, some including Whitney, sparked their enthusiasm for hiking and the great outdoors. Besides, Whitney may be the tallest 14'er in the lower 48, but it's definitely not the only or the hardest. There's always another challenge out there.

Doc,
We saw you guys, played leap frog a while, we were the group coming from the west hiking the High Sierra Trail, I was the woman who's 35th birthday it was. You guys were doing really well and had smiles on your faces until the confrontation with the @$#% about right of way.

Last year our 10 year old daughter hiked Whitney with two nights at Consultation, she still got a headache at the top, we live at sea level. She really enjoyed it and has hiked the Grand Canyon twice and Half Dome as a day hike with the cables down along with various other backpacking trips, she is hooked and wants to backpack every chance she gets. Your preparation and daily activity at altitude was a trip maker for you guys, glad you had such a good time.

Hike on!

That was us! Great to hear from you - we really enjoyed talking to you and your group on the way down. What a wonderful day that was - even withthat one unpleasant "dude". I'll never forget how the clouds made it seem like twilight at 2:00 PM.

Hope to see you again on a hike somewhere...