Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board New guy w/questions

Great info./advice here. Doing the sprint with two others on 9/3. First time for all. Wonder what the weather could be like? Is 3 litres adequate water to carry, providing I'm carrying a filter? Do head lamps alone provide enough light for this trail? Anyone here familiar w/El Cajon-El Cap in the San Diego area. Does a double there compare to the elevation gain on Whitney, cuz if it doesn't, we're in deep caca! Sounds like getting up there a couple days early is a good idea....where to stay in town?

The water requirement varies from person to person and depends on temperature, humidity, etc. My son and I did the day hike on the 17th, which was a typical July day. We took 3 liters each and that was enough for the whole hike. We had a filter, but it was not necessary. I recommend taking a filter and having 3 liters with you as you set off on the 97 switchbacks.

A headlamp should be fine, although we hiked in daylight only, so take someone else's word on that.

We stayed at the Dow Villa, with a nice view of the peak from our room.

Re water: I prefer to drink up at the trail head, carry a half liter, drink as req., a mile or so after its gone filter (or fill from a clean source) drink your fill and carry a half liter. Above trail camp 3 liters should get you up and back to TC. Carrying large quantities of water up hill seems silly to me (unless there is none where you are going).

I've done El Cajon a few times. The 10-mile+ round trip is an excellent arobic workout, but the elevation gain falls way short, as you start at 1,543 ft. and go up to the summit at 3,675 ft.--only a 2,132-foot difference. Altitude is no factor on El Cajon, compared to the nearly 14,500 ft. of Mt. Whitney. If you do the El Cajon trail back-to-back two times, you should be able to do Whitney in fine condition. The biggest unknown would be your susceptibility to altitude sickness, in its various forms. Check out the Board here to find out ways to mitigate this potential problem. But two back-to-back hikes or runs on El Cajon, especially in the heat of summer, makes you and your buddies very fit, in my estimation.

On a cool August day I went through close to 8 qts of water and carried 4 up from Trail Crest. I'm conservative when it comes to water above Trail Camp figuring if I get stuck up there I want to as self sufficient as possible and I drink a lot of water because I do not want to dehydrate up high.

Since the highest peaks in San Diego Co. only approach 6,500' they don't compare no matter what you do. I would come up a couple days early and do some hiking in the Horseshoe Meadow area. The trailheads are near 10,000' and the hiking is pretty easy. Where you stay at night is up to you personally I like Whitney Portal and the Portal Store for meals.

Bill

Hi,

El Cajon can't compare to Whitney because of the low elevation there and the fact the elevation gain is only about 2,200 feet. The trail conditions at El Cajon are also much more favorable than at Whitney. You don't have nearly as many rocky sections or boulder sections as on Whitney. Even if you do it back to back, it's still not "adequate" preparation for Whitney. I feel this way because you go up 5 miles then take a mental break by descending 5 miles. Then you repeat it, so it's not ascending for any great length of time. The mental aspect of Whitney is as big of a challenge as the physical, IMO.

Whitney is 6,200 elevation gain, all gradually up, up, up. I don't want to discourage you (honest!) but I don't believe El Cajon is adequate preparation for Whitney by any stretch of the imagination. If you live in San Diego, do San Jacinto, Mt. Baldy and San G. and if can do those successfully, you're all set. Based on personal experience, I wouldn't feel comfortable attempting Whitney if the sum total of my training was on El Cajon unless you suplemented it with the 3 hikes I mentioned. Hey, best of luck anyhow and don't let anyone discourage you. I'm just trying to help and be realistic at the same time.

Yeah, the water issue is my main concern. Sounds like there's plenty of places to "top-off" along the trail? Candace, you can't discourage me (honest). I know what you're saying, and I know the altitude is going to make it more difficult. I'll be able to get to Jacinto twice before doing Whitney and if everything goes well we might get to Lone Pine a couple of days early. It is good to hear about the terrain. Can anyone describe it in more detail for me, please? Oh, what about the weather? We have NO IDEA what we'll be running into as far as that's concerned. Thanks

Weather on Whitney is always a wild card. Don't trust any forecasts that you read, because they're often wrong. A 'typical' August day might look something like this: low temp in the 40 - 50's at the portal at 5 am, gradually rising to high 70's low 80's during the day. In the late afternoon, clouds start building up resulting in scattered thundershowers around 6 - 8 pm, then clearing. The standard temperature lapse rate is 3.5 degress F per thousand feet (~ 20 degree difference betweeen portal and summit), so this same day would see a high at the summit around 60's. Low temp at the summit is usually around freezing at night.

If you take layered clothing including a good goretex shell (and nothing cotton), you should be prepared for the variety of wether conditions that you are likely to excounter (which could be warmer or older with more or less precip, including snow) than the 'typical' day.

Sam,

Ah, the typical Whitney day. Last August, we summitted at around 9 AM and it was still below freezing, about 14 F on the crest at dawn. I told everyone we'd be in shorts by the time we made it back to Trail Crest...HA! More like Trailside Meadow.

There is no such thing as a typical day in the Sierra. I've have rain on two out of two bp trips so far this year. You have got to be prepared for cold, wind and rain all summer long up high in the Sierra.

Bill

wbtravis5152 - I totally agree with you that there is no typical day on Whitney, or any other big mountain that I've climbed. That is why I put the term in quotes and said that they needed to bring gear to deal with anything.

My first August trip to Whitney was the day after a mean storm..it was windy and cold. My next trip we overdressed and it was clear and hot. My last August trip we got rained and snowed on all the way to Iceberg lake, after which it cleared out. The only thing that makes since is to go non cotton and layer your clothing so that you can adjust to whatever weather you get. Either way it can be a great place.

Thanks everybody. This all helps and this is going to be a blast. Does the Whitney Portal store sell a t-shirt for the sprint?

I just completed my first one day hike of Whitney this weekend and believe that viewing the trek to the top as a sprint greatly decreases your chances for success. My advice is to drink plenty of water. I drank 4 liters from trail camp to summit and back to trail camp. Be prepared for rapid weather changes. We encountered heat, rain, hail, a few scattered snow flakes, lightning, wind, and cold. We hiked under a crescent moon and had plenty of light with a 2 LED headlamp. Try to get as much altitude acclimitization as possible. I spent two days fishing in Mammoth before hand. Go slow up the trail. It's easier on your body and increases your chances of success. Get an early start. I would try to leave at 3:00 AM or earlier. We left at 5:00 due to poor plan execution and it almost cost us our trip. Talk to Doug Thompson and the Whitney Portal Store. He is full of great advice and they have great trinkets. They sell many styles of Whitney t-shirts and you can see them at their online store.

Rudyray--Concerning terrain--I had never been there either, and I love to research things first, too. My library here in Utah got a book from Glendale CA library thru the inter-library loan. See if your library has a copy of Mount Whitney: the Complete Trailhead to Summit hiking guide. It is great at breaking the hike down section by section, so that I was not at all suprised by what I was seeing(except it was so much more beautiful than the author's descriptions).(if you need the copy from Glendale, I still have it; its not due for a week, sorry )

What is the terrain like? The first 2500 feet is mostly in and out of the forest. There are some easy river crossings and a few lakes. Above 11000 feet the trees thin out and it looks like rocky landscape from there to the top. You will pass a few more lakes up to trail camp. You will be in a canyon and not really see much of Whitney until you get to trail camp, although you will see numerous other peaks on the way. As you go up the 97 switchbacks you keep getting higher and higher until you reach trail crest. The view as you reach trail crest opens the whole great Western divide, quite spectacular. Generally the trail is good all the way to the top, although there are lots of rocks in the trail, where you step up or down a little. There are lots of photos now of the trail/ area if you look back in the trip reports. Have a great time.

Wow, you have all painted a very lovely picture. I've heard the one day called "The sprint" by several people. That's certainly not how we're going to approach it. I'm 56, and I don't sprint anywhere anymore! Being a first timer I plan to simply flow up the mountain, slowly, enjoying the experience and take a lot of pictures. Sounds like the unpredictable weather and the altitude are cause for concern, but with all of the info. that is available, especially here, we'll be fine.

In town, the Dow Villas is great. The hot tub is nice after you come down.

Sam,

I was just concurring. There are too many, I did this thing with a quart of water and pray and you can too' type posts. Anyone with just a little experience in the Sierra knows you had better come prepared or be willing to pay steep prices for the ounces saved.

Bill