This day was circled on my calendar well in advance due to a number of convergences: my usual hiking day (Mon.); the last day of summer, my birthday, and my early retirement eligibility day (though I won’t be retiring for a number of years). A previous attempt on June 30 topped me out at Trail Crest due to the sluggishness induced by a minor foot sprain. If I was to continue my streak of having been to the summit once a year since 1993, I would have to return now. And I’ve always wanted to do Whitney on my birthday…

I took it easy in the days leading up to Whitney, but I had to walk a little and explore something new on my acclimatization day, and this time it was the old trail up Little Cottonwood Creek, starting just beyond Walt’s Point. Still in good enough shape to merit a hike, and when the trail fades you can travel cross country without much difficulty. I went to 10,200’ and met only one couple.

Perfect weather on Whitney, certainly cooler than early summer with less intense solar radiation, but just enough to take the chill out. Some temp readings with a digital thermometer:
Portal Family Campground 4:00am - 48
summit 11:15 – 42
Trail Crest 1:15 – 42
Trail Camp 2:35 – 50
The high at Bishop for the day was a slightly-above-normal 90.

I left one of my two quart water bottles behind, but my favorite watering holes were dried up anyway. I did not refill until the descent when I reached the spring on the switchbacks above Trail Camp, which was running just enough in the early afternoon for a bottle fill. My total liquid consumption from the Portal to the summit and back to Trail Camp was 2 quarts which included 8 oz. applesauce. Drinking less liquid did not impair my comfort or speed, and in fact I hiked faster than last year, so this may be the norm for my future hikes. I ate my usual 1400 calories on the trail, but dined lightly on the trip as a whole – about 3500 calories in 48 hours, with just one major meal. Dropped 2 pounds week over week and I have more energy after work this week!

There are usually fiftysomethings and oldersomethings day hiking on any given day, but there seemed to more than the usual amount this time. I ran into a couple of others celebrating birthdays, too: one was a man from Tennessee said he had been planning this for 3 years. The man at the campground site next to mine was going for his 2nd summit – his first had been on a backpack in 1981. He said he trained on hills near his house, and he made the summit in 9 hours and change. People under equipped or in trouble? I rarely see them on weekdays, as I avoid Amateur Days as much as I can (Fri-Sun). Dogs on the summit bother you? How about guys with semiautomatics ?

Back at Trail Camp, I was ahead of schedule and had some reserve energy. I was due for a Keeler or other needle scramble, but with water conservation in effect until Trail Camp, I decided to save that for next year. I chose to explore the area around Consultation Lake , walking / scrambling down the rim a ways. I noticed a use trail heading down to the NE shore, followed it down a bit. I did not go all the way to the shore, but I’m thinking about coming back on a non-summit day with book in pack. Plenty of solitary spots to camp for the slightly ambitious trail traffic noise whiner…