Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Post Whitney Depression

Hey folks,

It has now been 2 weeks since I returned from my Whitney trip. I have been feeling a little down though. It started shortly after we left the portal. We decided to take a side trip to check out the Lake Isabella and the southern Kern River. I remember looking at one of the nearby peaks and thinking "that would be a great training hike for Whitney....oh...yeah; we just did Whitney...now what?”

For the past year I have been hell-bent on Whitney. Whitney Whitney Whitney. Ate Slept Drank and...well, basically my life revolved around Whitney. I still took my wife out to dinner, but we would talk about Whitney or some "training" aspect of my Whitney goal. I still took the kids to the beach or to a park, but I would always bring a book on the Sierras or we would go to Corona Del Mar so I could sneak in a little more "training".

To climb the East face of Mt Whitney was the first real "goal" I have ever had. I have always been really scatterbrained and interested in too many things at once to be able to focus on one. Feels funny to write that, but I guess its true. Anyhow, It felt good to have a goal.

I ask myself: Now what (?), over and over again. I hiked up San Gorgonio on Sunday. Nice hike, beautiful scenery, but very little sense of accomplishment. On the way back home I was thinking about my family. "My wife and 2 kids definitely put up with a lot over the past year or so as I have so selfishly sought Mt Whitney" I thought, "maybe my next goal should center around them".

So now I am seeking a new goal, one for my whole family. I want to give them something big, something that they want, and something that will inspire awe; all the things that Whitney has been for me.

I don’t know what it is yet. Hopefully I will find it soon.

Thanks for listening.

sounds like you need to take the three day cruise to ensenada
its about 250.00 per person and well worth it...after i selfishly
solo hiked the john muir trail my wife was upset and the kids too
after the cruise they were ready to send me back to the sierras
good way to get over mountain withdrawls

Sierra Club:

Hundred Peaks Section. - http://angeles.sierraclub.org/hps/

Sierra Peaks Section. - http://angeles.sierraclub.org/sps/

Desert Peaks Section. - http://angeles.sierraclub.org/dps/

You already have a SPS peak.

Southswell:

I know exactly what you mean when asking the question, "What next??" I had people out on the trail asking me exactly that while I was on my big trek last summer, and I hadn't even finished THAT adventure yet!

How old are your kids? What do they and your wife like to do? Putting together a family goal/trip can be so rewarding from trying to match many different likes and dislikes, I would imagine. Maybe one night at dinner have a brainstorm of all the craziest things each one would like to try: something may stand out as being not so crazy after all!

As for what's next: open a map. That's what I do every Monday evening when I get home from work as I sit with a glass of wine. Even then, it's easy for me to get distracted by the world beyond our beloved Sierra. So many adventures, only one lifetime. But that's why I think I'm the luckiest girl in the world!

-Laura

Get a good trail map of the area(s) you might be interested in. Attach it to the back of a door so nobody can really see it to ask all kinds of questions about it. (Why do you do this? Are you nuts? You belong to come secret sect?) I thought the back of the bathroom door would be a great place. Nobody in the house ever sees the back of that door...except for all the guests. Garage door it is.

After you hike a trail, mark it and put a reference number on it. Then someplace else put the date, and any particulars.

Keep adding to your 'collection'. Won't take long before you will have all kinds of goals planned to finish off THAT map to get on to the next one.

I absolutely can relate.Do what I do. Read the board several times a day.Read every TR,re-read over again if necessary. Start planning your next Whitney trip. Just because you have done it once doesn't mean you can't do it multiple times.Every time can be a new fresh Whitney/Sierra experience.

Take the family to camp at the Portal or up to Outpost or as far as they want and feel comfortable.

Wow Steve Peacock you have Sierra-itis bad.

Well, you can never go back to who you were before you set the goal and made the hike. Whitney has left its mark on you. Continue to make plans, set goals.

I was lucky because my husband and son did all the training and the Whitney hike with me. Afterward, like you, we asked "What next?" so the following Thanksgiving we hiked the Grand Canyon (down Kaibab, up Bright Angel day hike -- so much fun!). That could be a good family trip depending on the age of your children and your wife's interests.

It didn't stop there. We spent another year tramping up peaks in SoCal and Whitney before heading for Africa to do Kilimanjaro. Now, after a 3rd Whitney hike, I'm studying Mt. Rainier, while husband and son are poring over maps planning a second father-son backpack trip.

Go with the flow, never close the door on the urge.

My feet still hurt, but I'm already thinking that Bubbs to The Portal via Forester can be done in 36 hours. Only this time no bivy - just a nap during the day like Doug Sr suggested. Hmmmmmmm..........................DUG

hey, that sounds like me too!

so, later that summit week, i called to see if there were any one-day permits available for one.

there were.

so i sumitted again, one month to the day and almost to the hour of my first summit.

the depression finally eased some.

DUG67 you are certifiably crazy or very young or both...lol

bsmith it is addictive. I have been told that I am obsessed with Whitney. "I reply Yeah...So?"

I believe the term "nutjob" was used in another thread.

The route is shorter, the gain is less and the trail is a lot nicer. Get the weight down to about 10 pounds and I can do it. Better yet - after we make the crossing and have 3-4 burgers and a beer, we hitch a ride to Onion Valley and then hike back to Roads End to pick up the car? Think about it - no huge shuttle problem for the wife. Plus after that bump to get out of Onion Valley it's all downhill to Bubbs.

Oh and I'm a very young 41..........................DUG

Here I thought I was the only one... I was calling it the "Whitney Woes".

Linda and I reached the summit on 21 August 08 and since then I have lost my way. We still got out in the local mountains (The Angeles Forest) area last week and are heading out again tomorrow but the motivation is low.

Reading all the TR and looking at the photos just brings me down knowing that its not in the cards. The boys are in school and have that and their after school activities that come first.

Whitney was almost a 2 year preparation and now its over and we accomplished the goal so what is next? We will still do the family hikes but the epic journeys will slow down.

The kids want a real vacation next year..Disney World I think.. maybe I can climb the Matterhorn...

Ron

I wanted to go back before we'd even gotten there!!! Just preparing for the trip entrenched the Sierra so deep into my blood it was like a fever!!!

Mom and I have been trying to get back this year before it's to late but things just aren't working with us at all!!! And even though I know we'll be there next year... I wanna go ---now---

DUG:

Name the date.

-L

Are you serious? Don't be messing with me..................................DUG

Once a mountaineer has climbed so high, for the rest of his life he dreams of returning.

Peter Boardman, Sacred Summits
in Boardman Tasker Omnibus page 173

The "nodding off" that I did when Laura and I took our breakfast break (about an hour) during our OV to WP trek worked wonders. I remember how refreshed I felt after maybe 10-15 minutes of snoozing. It also helped me avoid the halucinations that I usually have to deal with on these epics.

BTW: Next time don't put your wife thru what you just did. Talk to us and maybe we can exchange keys as we pass in opposite directions.

In regard to the depression: there are lots of goals you can set for yourself in the Sierra and beyond. Lots of us have wives that don't participate in our mountain activities. You just need to figure out how to balance it out. (Bob R is one of the masters of this.)(I just remind my wife that she knew what I was before we committed to a long-term relationship. :-)

Richard - You want me to carry KEYS? My gawd man, how much do they weigh?

I slept almost an hour at Guitar Lake. That cost me the summit, but without it I would have not made it at all. Man, it was nice chilling on my pad with my boots off, head on a baggie of used socks.......................................DUG