Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board training hike in Utah

a group of three of us are hoping to summit whitney July 18. As our last big training hike together, we went up Mount Nebo in Utah, via the Andrews Ridge trail (16 miles round trip; 5400 elevation gain). As I live at around 5000 ft, I was suprised how much the elevation got to me at the end, and Nebo is only 11,900. Has anyone done a similar peak, or has anyone hiked both Nebo and Whitney and can compare the two hikes (beyond the obivous longer trail, higher elevation). I'm a little nervous about the Whitney tral, as the Nebo trail really left me wrung out!

a few months before I hiked Whitney the first time I hiked up to Nebo. With the excitement of the hike, not much sleep, a 2 1/2 hour drive to get there from Ogden and our early start time, I was very tired. It was one of those "death hikes" for me. The trail is steep and steady, and although the top was "only 11900 feet", the last segment up the pyramid summit was very tough for me. I am sure I underestimated the hike, thinking it couldn't be that hard at 11900 feet. We went on and did Whitney. It was of course a little longer and more elevation gain. But was Whitney a lot harder....not for me. You will find a worthy hike in most of the Wasatch mountains...Twin Peaks, Lone Peak, Timpanogous, Mount Ogden, Ben Lomond. etc. The difference with Whitney is the altitude sickness issue for me, now living at sea level.

Thanks so much. I think I underestimated it too; I've done the Timpanookee Trail on Timpanogos many times and didn't think the Nebo trail would be much different--boy was I wrong. The last pyramid summit part was a killer for me too. I hope I'm up for Whitney. I thought I was ready, until Nebo. Your posting, having done Whitney before, gives me a little hope.

My last hike to prep me for Whitney was American Fork Twin Peaks just above Snowbird (11480 or close to it). About a 3400 foot gain, and some off-trail boulder hopping/bushwhacking last Sunday. An excellent hike. I did Timp the weekend before from Aspen Grove, and was amazed to see all the snow. I haven't ever been up there before September.

I'm going to be down @ Whitney on Friday, so I'll keep you posted how it compared to a few other Utah hikes!

-ben

My brother is one of the forest rangers up on Timpangous. Consequently I have been up on both the aspen grove trail and the Timpanookee trail. Once we climbed the glacier to the top, hit the South peak, went over the top and hiked the ridge all the way to the North peak, before coming straight down the front (toward Alpine) to our second car. It was a long and tiring day. I also did Lone Peak up the Draper ridge. But for me Nebo was by far the worst...It almost made me want to give up hiking. My brother says few do Nebo...it has a reputation for being tough. Whitney will be no piece of cake, but you can do it.

I have family in Northern Utah. Your coments sound very familiar. Once I hike straight up the front to Mt. Ogden (4400 feet to 9200 feet). I was thinking it would be easy (afterall I had been much higher). 5000 vertical feel is work, no matter what the peak elevation is. And yes, I suffered more then a little summiting Nebo. Whitney is 6250 vertical...that makes for a long one day hike. For me the switchbacks from trail camp to trail crest (13700) were the hardest. After that the trail is more gradual and the peak is in sight. It sounds like you are ready for a great adventure bagging the big one. Enjoy Whitney.

I recall Nebo was a breeze. I summited in 3.5 hours from the trail from the south. I did go only to the signed summit, maybe some 300'(?) lower than the class 3 North summit, though. I took some 8 hours to do Whitney in 2001, although this was over 20 years later. Back then, I was adapted, highly, to gain and altitude.

If you had problems on Nebo, don't do the MR on Whitney.

4xsummit has hiked hundreds of peaks, if not more. He reminds me of people who cruise up to the top easily, while the rest of us struggle with an occasional big hike (big for us). Anyone who can hike 5000 feet in 3.5 hours is in the super hiking group. Hey the record for Whitney is about 1/4 of the time it takes the average person. One day you hike strong, one day you don't. That is the way it is. I agree that Nebo was harder then Timp, even though you wouldn't think it should be. But I would tell you this...I wouldn't think twice about taking anyone to Whitney (even up the MR) who has summited Nebo or Timp. It may be a little harder but they have proven themself to me. They know what hiking it all about and how to emotionally keep going all the way.