Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Trip Report - August Backpack MMWT

Hi Everyone,
Sorry that I'm on the late train with my trip report, but I wanted to take a few minutes to sit down and relate the experiences of a n00b, and a first summit for my friends and I.

We had one guy who tried to summit several years ago, and had to turn around due to altitude issues, goad us into doing it with him back before permit applications were due. Three of us decided to join him, and we secured day permits for a Saturday in August through the lottery. We sent in our application on the first day it could be post marked and we got our second choice of days.

Through the Spring/Summer, we did training hikes a couple times to Mt. Baldy, San Jacinto, and at the end of July, Gorgonio (via Fish Creek to get the distance ~19 miles). After Gorgonio, I realized that a single day summit of Whitney was going to be painful for me. San Gorgonio now is a complete blur. We spent 13 hours, and I vaguely remember the scenery, but I didn't take it all in and really enjoy the wilderness. After that, one other member and I decided that if we were going to do Whitney, we were going to take our time and enjoy it. That meant, we needed to secure some overnight permits.

I called the permit office every day looking for cancellations on overnight permits and had very good success. When the two of us decided to turn it into a backpack (both of us have backpacked a lot) we talked to the other two (who had never backpacked before) and told them our plans, and let them know they were free to join us in a backpack if they wanted to. They were up in the air for a while, but I began to secure permits. After several days, I managed to get my first overnight permit to start on a Thursday, and then a week later, I was able to snag 2 more. By now, they had decided to backpack with us, so we just needed 1 more. We hadn't secured it by the time we left for Lone Pine, so we showed up on Thursday morning and got in the lottery of people looking for permits. The other two guys decided if they didn't get the fourth permit, they would still day hike on Saturday. Luckily, we were able to snag one more permit in the daily lottery.

Here's what my reasoning was for choosing the backpack vs. dayhike, for anyone considering the same: We were already going to be in Lone Pine since Thursday, staying at Portal two nights to acclimate for a day hike Saturday. Myself and the other experienced backpacker have had no altitude issues in the past, but we had one hiker who hadn't been at altitude for any real duration, and the other who had to turn back at Trail Crest several years ago (who is otherwise a cross country runner, in great shape). To maximize our enjoyment and acclimation, we decided to hike up to Lone Pine Lake the first day, then to Trail Camp, then Saturday summit and back down.

In all, this worked great for us. No one had any issue with altitude, and we all summited. The camp at Lone Pine Lake was perfect. We were able to enjoy hiking around the lake and taking in all the view before dark, even played some dominoes. Being at Lone Pine let us sleep in, and not be disturbed at Outpost Camp by day hikers. This was the best thing we could have done. There were only two other groups around Lone Pine Lake as opposed to the 12 to 15 tents we passed at Outpost the next day. The second day was more brutal with our packs than the first, but we took our time and enjoyed the scenery. We stopped for an extended lunch at Trailside Meadow, and tried to get out of the sun whenever possible. By the time we got to Trail Camp, we had plenty of time to lounge around, set up camp, do our chores, eat, and clown around a little before the sun went down. We started up the switchbacks the next morning about 5AM and were treated to a view of the sunrise right about at the cables. We summited about 10AM and enjoyed our lunch at the top. We spent a little more than an hour trying to make some phone calls and lounging in the sun before we headed down. My experience with the phone (AT&T) was that I had enough signal to send and receive a few texts, but tried to make a call and couldn't hold a line open to talk.

The worst part of the whole trip was the backpack down. What killed me most was just the sun beating down on us all day long. We were in great spirits once we got back to Trail Camp, but by Mirror Lake, I was miserable and feeling like heat stroke was begining to bear down on me. We ended up at Portal about 6PM, and hauled it down the hill to try and enjoy the hot tub and some pizza (Sorry Doug, I swear no offense, we were going to get portal burgers, but someone started talking about pizza between Lone Pine Lake and Portal, and it got to the point where we were all craving pizza!).

So, lessons learned:
As I read on here before setting out, don't assume a backpack up to Trail Camp will be easy. 6 miles in with packs sounds leasurely, but it's not! I took this to heart from the get go, and believe me, there were times I suffered. The last half mile to trail camp, up all those steps, was brutal on my hips and back.

The sun is killer, it felt worse than being in the desert (grew up in the low desert). Apply the sunscreen early and often (especially if you're as pasty-complected as me!).

I definately lost my appetite up above Trail Camp, and I couldn't force down the granola and dried fruit I had for breakfast. This is the first time I have experienced this at altitude, but it bears repeating, take things that you REALLY like to eat for the trek above Trail Camp. Salami and cheese on the summit was awesome, and was really appetizing.

For supplies, I laid out everything I wanted in my living room the week before the trip, and every day went through it, removing what weight I could, earnestly thinking about each thing I was going to take, and trying to figure out alternatives that would do double duty. Most of my gear is still being used from my scout days, and is light, but not the newest and coolest ultralight stuff. I also went back and forth figuring out the lightest clothing I had that provided the most warmth and versatility. Even in the summer, it's cold above Trail Camp, and when we were there, very windy on the East side up to the summit.

The Dow Villa will give your room away in a heartbeat if you are not there at 6PM! This was the biggest let down of all! We didn't realize this was on the paperwork until we were on the way down from Trail Camp, and we had no cell reception obviously until we got out of portal out onto the road. By the time we called, it was about 7 and they had given our room away. Everywhere else goes with the standard, call earlier than the day before to cancel, otherwise, we're charging your card whether you show or not. They would have gotten their money either way, if we stayed or not. So needless to say, no hot tub for us. We ended up just driving back to the Inland Empire after having our pizza and got home around midnight.

Lastly, don't let someone with no backpacking experience go with you on Whitney as their first backpack, especially if you haven't checked out their gear personally and said yay or nay. I sent the two novices my list of everything I was taking, told them they had to buy backpacking packs, and made sure they knew that they would be carrying a bear can. Of course, they both told me they had gone to Big5 and found a good deal on a backpack, only to find out that they both bought pretty much big campus book packs that had a few lash points and a chinsy waist belt. I didn't have the heart to tell them they're not coming with me like that, so we tried to make it work, but I wish now I had told them flat out, no way. I spent way too much of my time helping them adjust their gear, and duct taping their bear cans to their backpacks (if you saw them, they were the two dingbats with lime green duct tape holding their garcia cans up on top of their packs). At least I brought the whole roll with me from the car when I saw they needed some help. Lesson learned: If you're a novice, and someone who has a little more experience tells you to bring something specific, please don't ignore his advice. =)

Ok, that was way longer than expected, but I hope I've provided some insights to first timers, from a (now) one timer! Hopefully this winter I can find some deals on more ultralight gear and do some more backpacking with my prepared friend!

Congratulations on a successful summit. I have chosen the backpack route also to enjoy the journey more.
I'll be hitting the MWMT on Tuesday 9/15, heading to Trail Camp and attempting the summit on Wednesday.
I'll be camping at Lone Pine Lake tomorrow, then acclimating in Horseshoe Meadows Sun and Mon.
My pack with food for the whole week stands at 35 lbs right now, but should be about 30 on Tuesday up to TC. My daypack will be about 12 lbs + 8 lbs for 3L water.

BTW, how much water did you bring from TC to Summit? How much did your backpack/summit pack weigh?

Jim

Thanks Jim,
My pack weighed right at 40# when we set off with 2L of water (just going to Lone Pine Lake first leg). I have a heavy sleeping bag 7-8# which makes for a heavier overall pack. The pack I used on Whitney is basically a really really big daypack, not really a full Sierra pack. It is internal frame, 3600cu. in., and weighs around 3-4# empty. It fits everything inside just right for about a 2 night pack. More than that, and I have to go to a bigger pack.
For the summit, I just took everything out of the pack and took only my survival kit, food for the day, and 4L of water, so probably less than 15# total, with the water. All of my other gear is light, my rain gear, clothing, and survival kit.
I only drank 1.5L getting to the summit, and mixed up 1L of gatorade at the top and drank almost all of that with lunch. I hardly drank any on the way back down from trail camp, having about 1L left when we got to where our tents were left pitched.

Good luck with your trip! I definately enjoyed breaking it up. Lone Pine Lake was so cool to boulder around, and check out the view back down to the portal road.

I'm hoping to find an off season sale on a new sleeping bag to shed some of those pounds on my trips.

Jack, great trip report - I like 'em long - and congrats on a successful summit! I did the MMWT a little over 3 weeks ago as a dayhike and I can promise you the next time will be at least a one-nighter. Dayhiking this sucker is just brutal. I can recall lots of intricate detail going up, but the return is just really a blur. I swear it's 11 up and 22 down. I took 147 photos ascending and 3 descending.

Your comments about the sun ferocity while descending rang a very loud bell with me. You just can't get away from it, and it wears on you. No shade, anywhere, for miles and miles. I had read this in posts on this board before I left, but didn't pay that much attention to it. Mistake. Even though I had a wide-brimmed hat on and lathered up with sunscreen at Outpost Camp, I got burned on the inside of my ears and the inside of my nostrils from the reflection off the granite. Lots'a lessons learned the hard way the first time up this mountain.

Thanks for posting a report!

a picture would be nice...

I'll try to upload them this weekend so I can post them. They block FTP at my office, so I can't put them on my server right now.

As promised, some pics:

The other three guys in my group, notice the green duct tape


Self-taken picture at Lone Pine Lake


Another shot of duct tape boy, approaching the meadow before Outpost Camp where a CHP chopper landed


Our summit pic, me on far right

Congrats to you and your "team"... well done! Good thing you brought an entire roll of green duct tape. The "pack set up" of your buddies was quite interesting... I must admit, I got a smirk on my face.

MC

Those pictures are classic on any trail. Definitely not lightweight backpackers, hahahaha. However, you guys made it and that's all that matters.

-Rudy