Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Hiking the mountain in 1 day

paloreno, I'm not sure what your recommendation for a rope would be utilized for? It seems like carrying extra weight is a problem for many, and extra stuff would seem to make things worse?

Also, I think the standard recommendation for when you are getting bad altitude illness symptoms is to stop ascending, at least for awhile, as opposed to sucking on candy (which can be very helpful with energy). Maybe I misunderstood?

My feeling is that what is the most important is your preparation for the hike.

In Southern California, there are three good peaks which provide challenging hikes; if you can do Baldy (Ski Hut trail), San Jacinto (Deer Springs Trail to the top), and San Gorgonio (Vivian Creek trail) in a long day, you should be ok in terms of hiking strength. I do not know if N. Cal has similar hikes in terms of distance and elevation gain.

In terms of food: Everybody has a favorite, but the practice hikes are the place to find yours. Some people like trail mix; others hate . The only comment is that the hike up Whitney is not the time to experiment; you should know what food combination (and drink powder) work best for you.

In terms of drugs: Make sure you do determine if you can tolerate diamox before the hike. I took it on a Baldy trip and it made me sick so I don't use it.

It is probably obvious to make the point, but the more you prepare, the easier the day hike is.

I may not have as much experience on Whitney as many on this board, but I have been on top three out of the four attempts that I have made. My first time I got hit hard by altitude sickness at Trail Camp, and going down was a chore - going up was absolutely out of the question. I have always had summit fever, so it was a hard decision to turn back. But, as they say, the mountain was there still there the next month when I went back for my first successful summit.

The next time I tried it in one day, I started at 3:30 AM, and got back down to Portal at about 6:30 PM with an hour on the summit. Be prepared for weather, drink plenty of water (last year, from Guitar Lake to Outpost Camp, I ran out of water after drinking 4L), and don't carry any more weight than you absolutely have to.

Conditioning is very important. There is a huge difference between running on a treadmill at sea level and hiking a trail above 12,000'. You need to get in some time on mountain trails. And sleep high before you start (Portal, Horseshoe Meadow, or White Mountain). Another trick that I have learned is that aspirin will thin your blood and reduce altitude sickness, which has always been a problem for me. Just realize that if you thin your blood, any injuries will bleed more.

Aspirin does not thin your blood. It does reduce the ability of your blood to clot, which is not necessarily a good thing when you are miles from medical care. As everyone knows, it also reduces pain perception, so it makes that altitude headache hurt less. It can also increase sweating, so may require you to drink additional water and perhaps electrolytes.