Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Trip Report 8/31 - 9/2

The following is my report about my first trip to Mt. Whitney......

We had permits for 3 days with a 9/1 entry date but we decided to try our luck and see if anyone had cancelled last minute so we could start up a day earlier.
(Just a note to those picking up their permits on the day of their hike...if more than 3 groups show up at 8am at the Ranger Station they do a lottery to see who gets helped first. Although we had been there since 6:30am (we were really hoping that no more than three groups would show) 4 groups ended up showing up and I drew a 4! At that point #3 got the last avail. permits....fortunately they had more permits that would become avail at 10am, which we were able to get!)
Anyway, I digress…. we got permits for 8/31 at about 10:30am (3-day permits) and after a trip to the grocery store we were headed up. The parking lot was soooooooo full, we were expecting it to be somewhat full because it was close to noon on a holiday weekend but we weren’t expecting it to be THAT full! Kurt (my husband) dropped me off at the bear boxes and drove down to park along the road because no one seemed to be leaving the parking lots anytime soon.

12:30pm we started up the trail.

3:00pm we made it to Outpost Camp – At this point I was really tired so I decided to take a 10min nap while Kurt pumped water (he is such a great Husband)….I never thought I could actually fall asleep on my thin sleeping pad right there on the rocks but I didn’t seem to have any problem catching some zzzzzzz’s, I even rested my head on a rock and found it mighty comfortable. We were trying to decide whether or not to camp at Outpost or Trail Camp and opted for Trail Camp because I really wanted to keep our “summit day” as short as possible. Kurt, who had summated 3 times prior (2 day hikes and 1 overnighter) has always felt that the section between Outpost and Trail Camp was the hardest section of the hike and I would now have to agree. So off we went to Trail Camp.

5:30pm we made it to Trail Camp boy oh boy was that section hard! We set up camp, chatted for a while, ate and went to bed. I think in the 12hrs we were in our tent we maybe slept for 4 hours….the wind was incredible! However that same wind blew out all of the nasty clouds from the day before and gave us a gorgeous day to summit.

7:30am we left Trail Camp and started for the Summit. The switchbacks were not as intimidating as I expected, they weren’t as steep as I was anticipating and the trail was in really good condition. It wasn’t easy but it just wasn’t as difficult as I expected. It was however VERY cold and VERY windy…not dangerously windy but pretty annoyingly windy.

The section between Trail Crest and the Summit…..by this time I was really tired but still determined! I was not expecting the trail to be so rocky and it was VERY rocky, I guess for some reason I thought this trail was “built” not “created” by rock slides! There were some sections that really scared me.

11:30am WE SUMMITED!!!!! Although very cold and windy I was so proud to be up there! During our time on the summit we met a lot of really nice people, took a lot of pictures…..and yes, made a few phone calls (we have Verizon for those who are curious).

12:45pm – 3:45pm…..back down to Trail Camp. Amazingly enough the section I decribed above from Trail Crest to the Summit didn’t even bother me on the way back….in fact I kept waiting for “that section” and next thing I knew I was back at the 97 switchbacks!

We hung out around camp but when the wind started to pick back up we headed to the tent for an early night! Fortunately it was not nearly as cold or as windy that night so I was able to get a little more rest.

6:30am we awoke and 7:30am we headed back down to our car…..4hours later we were back at the car!!!!! Oh boy was I sore. We enjoyed a pizza at “We Toss’em They’re Awesome” and headed home!

Lessons I learned….

When it comes to shoes: Wear what you know……I wore Solemn XA Pro trail running shoes (well broken in and have NEVER given me blisters) and Kurt wore Merrell Boots. My feet definitely felt the rocks more than Kurt’s (he wore his XA Pros the trip before) but I get blisters in my boots so I would rather have sore feet than blistered ones.

AMS can affect anyone! Kurt has summated 3 times and never been sick and this time he had a pounding headache from Outpost until halfway home 3 days later! He never got any worse which is why we kept going…..if it had we would have turned around immediately! Don’t ignore AMS….at least one person (that we know of) had to be airlifted to the hospital today. The summit will always be there if you can’t make it this time.

Water is probably the most essential part of your “gear”.

Ginko/Asprin: I used both and did great….Kurt didn’t and was a little sick. Does this mean that it worked? Who knows? I think for me it did, but I also think it helped me mentally feel like I wasn’t going to get sick!

Sunscreen…USE It!!! It was so cold during our summit we didn’t even think about it and we are both pretty badly burned!

Bring a windbreaker with you to the top…the weather is can be very different up there!

Wow this is REALLY long…….I guess I just want to tell all of you people out there that come to this board for support and information in preparation for your hike to BE SAFE, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY, TAKE TIME TO LOOK AROUND, AND HAVE FUN!!!!

Thanks for reading!!!

April

p/s I am sure there are some of you that will disagree with my opinions of the trail, weather, etc but please respect that these are my thoughts of MY trip....I would appreciate only positive feedback if any at all!

Thanks again.

Congrats on making it to the summit!

I agree with your Portal/Trail Camp, Trail Camp/Summit/Trail Camp, Trail Camp/Portal three day itinerary. That's what my son and I did in 2001, and it worked well for us, too.

We had different weather from you...afternoon t-storms and overnight rains the second night at Trail Camp, but less wind. "Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get," or something like that!

Now, it's time to drag your husband off the Whitney treadmill and try some other mountains...we did <a href="http://www.mtritter.org/CONMOK/jar_CONMOK.html">Mt. Elbert</a> (CO), Wheeler Peak (NM) and Black Mesa (OK) this year. Elbert is about 60' shorter than Whitney, but less than 10 miles round-trip, so a nice dayhike. The others are shorter, both distance and altitude.

Again, congrats, and happy hiking!!

Congrats on bagging the peak! We are doing Whitney on Saturday so we really appreciate your recent info. Amazing that it can be so cold at high altitude when it's so blazing hot down below.....but I always did prefer hiking in cold weather. Anyway, thanks again!

April,

I have to agree that the section from about tree line to trail camp was the hardest part of the entire trip. I think it was because we passed above 11,000ft and it was our first time so we really didn't know how long that section would be. If I did a day hike I would say that it would be much easier between tree line and trail camp. Also, the switchbacks would have to be the easiest part. I could have done it much faster, but I had to wait for my dad to catch up. The weather the night before we headed up was very windy and cold, but when we were their at trail camp it was perfect. Mountains have a crazy way of changing the weather very quickly. I enjoyed sitting on a rock at trail camp and watching all the dayhikers straggle down the switchbacks. I was amazed though at how many dayhikers weren't even down past the cables at sunset. The last group came through trail camp at 7:30pm and they were cursing and just wanted it to end. It was one the best part of the trip.

Matt

April, you inspire me...

~Swifty