Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Training for first timer

Currently training for my first (and hopefully annual) ascent to Mt. Whitney on 9/22, plan on acclimating 2 days before in Mammoth. In addition to near daily sea level conditioning, did San Jacinto twice from Humber Park in the last two weeks, last time was two days ago (9/2) and added 5 miles by summitting, descending to Wellman's Junction and returning to the summit before returning to Humber Park for a total of approx. 21 miles. Started with 8 liters of water for extra weight (left one liter at the summit hut as extra emergency provisions-I plan on carrying 3 L and bringing a filter to MW). Two questions: what are the similarities and differences to the terrain of San Jacinto and MWT? (SJ, at times is with lots rocks and seems unstable-trekking poles helped.) Any other additional training tips? Obviously can't simulate training at 14,000 but tried to do the distance. Other than mild to moderate muscular soreness, no other problems. Thanx and looking forward to making it.

If you're doing 20+ miles, you'll be fine on Whitney unless, like you mention, the altitude gets to you.

Even after hiking up from Palm Springs, the route up to the summit of San J didn't seem all that difficult. I don't think you can compare a 10,000 foot peak with a 14,000 foot peak.

I wouldn't carry three liters. There are plenty of places to tank up (and filter if you don't think the Sierra water is pure enough).

If you want a super quick day hike up to 13 k go Hike Dana at Tioga pass. its give you a small taste of the extra 3000 feet. Its quite steep and definetly makes you work. Im just now starting to train a bit for a hopefull fourteener climb next year. So it was a good little experience without having to jump through hoops to get to the mountain. The trail head is right of Tioga pass and you essentialy just go straight up to 13k

I'm not big on killing yourself with acclimatization hikes, therefore, I'd consider Mosquito Flats to Mono Pass and maybe the north ridge after you reach the pass to get a look at the Mono Recesses and Pioneer Basin. That should be no more than 8 miles of absolutely beautiful hiking, +<2,000'.

You are conditioned to do 21 miles at lower elevations. This will serve you well during a dayhike of MMWT. I would reduce your water to 2L on the way up since you will not be consuming as much during your trip through the darkness.

The trail up Whitney is in great shape but it has a lot more "stair stepping" sections up rocky areas than most of the trails up San Jacinto have. If you are looking for conditions that are similar to those on the Whitney Trail, I feel that the best trail up SJ is the Marion Mountain Trail that goes up from the west. If you've done that one a couple of times, particularly if it is embedded within a 20+ mile hike then, other than potential altitude issues, you should be ready.

Good luck!

RV

Thanks for the advice; two liters sounds reasonable since there is no problems with water. I understand there is no water after the start of the switchbacks; two liters still enough from that point? Stair stepping is not a problem as long as the "stairs" are stable and not loose like some areas of SJ. No way to mimic the altitude so i'll leave that to the things I can't control (altitude sickness and weather). Will take Diamox however. Are acclimatizing hikes necessary...was going to sit at the top of Mammoth (11,000) for half the day beforehand? Useful or useless? I guess I could hike the 5 miles up from the main lodge (no stair stepping, all trail) Thanx again.

So, we meet again!

I'm the guy that suggested using the Deer
Springs side of SanJ for your extra loop last
Saturday.

Anyway, good luck on the 22. I go on the 11th.

Jim

I've been training for a one-day up and back on 9/12. My "final exam" had 3 parts: (1) hike White Mtn. (14,250) to be sure I can handle the altitude, (2) hike the Bear Flats Trail up Mt. Baldy (10,046) to be sure I can handle the steepest, nastiest slopes Whitney can throw at me, and (3) do the 24 mile grand circle on San Gorgonio (11,445)- S.Fork to summit via Dollar Lake, return via Dry Lake, to make sure I can handle the distance. I passed all the tests and will head up next week with some confidence. Good luck!

Sounds like you're doing all the right things, and I trained for Whitney doing just about the same. Now, I backpacked it, but my pack ended up being "way too heavy" (52#). Through the training I did as prep, tha pack weight didn't bother me at all. I'd agree with the Marion Mountain approach to SJ: great elevation and a really wonderful trail.

I liter of water isn't going to make or break you, so I'd say go ahead and carry 3L. Personally, I think COMPLETE hydration at all times is one of the primary keys to handling altitude.

-Laura

Dr. Kenny,

Sounds like you'll be fine on Whitney. We did day summit on 8/25. Previous Sunday did the SJ summit from Humber Park as well. While WMT is longer, it's no more difficult than SJ trails. Arrived in Lone Pine around noon on the 24th. Had a Doug burger at the Portal and then hiked up to LP Lake to stretch legs and get some altitute. Drove up to Bristlecone Ancient Pine Forest (out of Big Pine)the next day just to spend leisurely afternoon above 10,000 feet. Sleep in the motel (Dow Villa works well). You'll get better rest than camping at portal. We left portal at 4am next morning, light pack with 2L bladder, mixed with diluted cytomax. Sipped (instead of gulping) at the way to the summit, and only rehydrated once from spring towards lower part of switchbacks on the way down. 7 hours up, 6 down, and only problem were sore knees last couple of hours on the trail.

Have fun, enjoy the experience. You're training should provide an excellent foundation for an enjoyable Whitney experience.

Our recipe for success in August included staying in the Ancient Bristlecones and climbing White Mt. It was during the open house so we eliminated the miles from the gate, but the trail was gentle, didn't take too much out of us, and gave us a clear understanding of what 14K felt like 2 days before we summited. Did alot for our confidence. Next year, we'll do the same thing.

Thank you all for your confidence building.
Jim-pleasure meeting you on the SJ trail. Will consider Deer Springs and the Marion Mountain trails next time. For those that do MW annually, do you train like marathon runners...6 months beforehand start with smaller runs and work up to race day?
HikerLaura- I see your point regarding 2L vs. 3L. Besides, after carrying 8L for SJ, 3L should be easy.
Corazon525-appreciate your comments on the similarity of the trails. How long of a drive (in minutes) is Lone pine to portal? Need to plan meeting with our group. As to the knees, I use advil prior to starting activites, and with MW, will do it every 6 hours as a preventative for inflammation from overuse.
I will have to look into Mt. White...sounds like a good way to test the altitude.
Thanx all for your sound advice.
Be safe.

I agree with the recommedation of doing San Jacinto the Marion Mtn. route. It's harder than the Humber Park way, much more shady, cooler and I think more scenic. The steepness on this trail is actually steeper than anything you'll encounter on Whitney, but that's not a bad thing.

Whitney is more rocky than almost any part of the Humber Park trail, except the section going up about 2.5 miles below the summit, with the mule ears and overgrown brush on the trail.

Also, as you've undoubtedly read here many times, the trail after Trail Crest is very rocky in spots. There's nothing like this on the San Jacinto trail. Mt. Baldy via the ski trail mimics Whitney more in this area.

The Mosquito Flat recommendation is a good one! This is a great hike to Pioneer Basin, 16 miles RT and you climb a lot on the return trip, which is good training. Extremely beautiful scenery, but very exposed. Bring sunscreen, there's almost no shade on this hike.

Dr. K,

It's about 30 minute drive from Lone Pine to Portal. Whitney Cafe (next to Dow Villa) is open 24 hours and isn't bad for oatmeal and coffee before early morning starts.

Back side crest trail is indeed "gnarly", especially one spot just before JMT junction, and requires good concentration, but the vista's and associated photo ops are well worth the trip.

The High Sierra Cafe (one block south of Whitney Portal Road on the east side of the street) is my solid go-to for a big breakfast. They have the best biscuits and gravy around!! They're also open 24hrs, so no worries on opening/closing times.

I can only comment on personal experience, but your training mirrors much of what we did. We made the peak in early August. It took us 12 hours, or so, of hiking time, 13 and 1/2 total. (The day was so nice we spent almost 45 minutes on top of Whitney.) We had no real problems, except we carried too much weight in terms of food.

We did the Deer Springs as our final warm up hike. We had done San Jacinto from Humber Park twice and Mt. Baldy via the Ski Hut trail once. We also did the stay at Mammoth for a couple of days (hiked to Duck Lake).

The Humber Park trail to the top is perhaps too easy. The mile before Little Round Valley from Deer Springs or Marion (Marion is fairly short, which is why we did not go that way) is steeper than most anything you will find on Whitney and a challenge to scramble up. If you can it as well as do section from Ski Hut to the top of Mt. Baldy, you should be in good shape.

The only other comment would be to make sure you are comfortable walking with a dropoff of several thousand feet off to one side. The one thing I found somewhat unnerving was how perched you were side of the mountain at points. Your first real taste of this is when you reach Trail Crest and basically look straight down.

As long as the weather holds, you should have a great trip.

Wow, you guys have really done some intense training. I wasn't familiar with White Mountain but was reading about it and it does seem like good training for Whitney, at least to guage one's reaction to the altitidue.

I was reading on how White Mountain is very dry for the most part and gets little rainfall. Does anyone know if it is usually pretty snowed in around January or might it be clear at that time? I'm visiting LA the first week of January and might drive over there to hike up the mountain if it was relatively free of snow and ice.

Thanx Fred for your comments. Humber Park trail may not be as steep but our primary purpose of summiting twice was to achieve the distance of 21 miles. Will have to look at Deer Springs for next year's training.
Not prone to acrophobia but we will have to see. As to the dropoffs...I'll just have to be sure my wife doesn't read this before I go
Ken

TC, White Mountain in January is definitely all white. In fact, it would be tougher to access than Whitney in winter. Although White Mountain only accumulates several feet of snow, the road is closed some 20 miles back.

In fact, I don't think there are any easily accessible high altitude places in California in January.

...unless we have another 1999/2000. Whitney was still a walk-up into February, if I recall correctly.