Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board First time an Old Guy tries and does it in one day

Laura you can't flip through a book, look at the pictures, and then say you read a book. And NEVER lend money or books EVER!!!!!

My books don't HAVE pictures, Rod...

Geezers Rule!!!!

Damn, that all sounds familiar, including the achy knee. I, too, missed the WPS being open by an hour my first delusional day hike trip up the mountain.

Shar,

My story is very similar to MC Reinhardt's, except I was 54 on the Kili summit. I was encouraged by a book titled: How to Climb Mt. Whitney: for middle-aged, weekend, and amateur day hikers, by Sharon Baker-Salony. How could I go wrong with a title like that? Get on the stairclimber, get out on the trails on the weekend, and you are there! Warning: hiking and summit fever may be addictive, and beneficial to your health.

To Bill, who thinks he's over the hill: When I was in my 30s I thought people in their 60s were old, but my perception of aging has changed greatly in the last couple of decades. I am now convinced "old" is a state of mind. Peter Pan was right, he didn't have to grow up.

Hi Shar,

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you. I am starting a new business and things got a bit intense.

I picked July, right after the 4th because the traffic is low, ‘casue while I like people, I don’t like crowds. In July, there is lots of water to be found on the trail and the weather is usually OK. When we went up, it was 90 at Lone pine, about 75 at Portal and about 55 at the summit. There is the possibility of a thunder storm with its danger of lighting, but you just have to take your chances.

Now to get in shape. Here I am going to probably annoy a lot of people. You are going to need to carry at least a 12 to 15 pound pack. I trained by hiking up Iron Mountain (in Poway CA) twice a weekend and increasing the weight of my pack to about 25 pounds. It got so I could finish the 6 mile hike on Sunday (after the same hike on Saturday), then turn around and do it again. When I thought I could climb 11 miles, uphill I figured I was ready.

Now for the part that will probably draw some flak. A very Major Part of this little stroll is the part after the dreaded switchbacks, from Trail Crest on. Take a look at the map at http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/recreation/wild/traillarge.shtml and you will see you have about 2.8 miles at over 13,500 feet. This is the really hard part. I had read where once you got here it was an easy stroll. I truly beg to differ, this was the part I really had to pull out all the stops and plug on.

Shar, I know you can do this if you really try. There was a group of people, 6 or so, who had just turned 50. They were doing it as a “thing to do” when I was at the summit. They weren’t very happy with the guy who suggested that they do it. But, they did do it.

The main thing to do is to pace yourself. It might even help to do this with a friend so that you can encourage each other. My buddy helped by slowing my pace down during the first part of the hike. After we hit the switchbacks, he didn't have to tell me to slow down anymore, but was there as moral support. It helped a lot.

When I got back, I thought, “well that is out of the way, I won’t do it again.” Now I have 2 other friends and all four of us are going to attempt it again in early July.

So, you give it a try. Not to worry, if you first don’t succeed, the mountain will be there next year. I know that if you want to do it. You will one day stand by that little shack, put your name in the book and rightfully so, feel very proud of yourself.

Bill

Kim,

Kool, now I have to save up my pennies and aim at a new mountain. You people are making this better by giving me ideas on what to climb.

By the bye, I am really “Over the Hill” in body only. It has taken my a long time to realize that it now takes me months to recover from things that would have taken days when I was younger. My mind keeps telling me I am only 8 years Old. But, the mirror, the aches and pains when I get out of bed, not to mention my wife, says I’m a bit passed that

One thing is certain, when I was in my 20’s most of the people in their 60’s were not in the same shape as I and a lot of people I know are in now. Maybe it is this unreasonable mindset we have about not letting old age win without a fight.

Keep up the good fight.
Bill

I made my 33rd annual Whitney day hike this last September. That's not enough to place me well up in the 'old timers' or 'long timers' categories, but I've learned that it's easier and more fun to stay in shape for Whitney than to get in shape or recover from not being in shape for Whitney.



Trash the mirror, train away from the aches and pains, and ... I'm afraid I can't advise you on that last item. Good luck.

Dale B. Dalrymple
http://dbdimages.com

Hi Dale,
I wish I could say that I had the time to train. Other than hiking Iron Mountain twice a weekend, walking my dog each night for 45 minutes (up and down hills) playing golf and taking my son out on Boy Scout outings, I don’t have time for more, besides, I truly detest gyms and trainers. I have spent a lot of my life out doors and can’t help but feel cramped inside working out.

My congrats on your 33rd annual Whitney day hike. I hope to have my second annual Whitney day hike come this July.

I still need the mirror to comb my hair and trim my bread.

Have lots of fun
Bill

Shar,
I am an over 50 female who made my first climb of Mt. Whitney a couple of years ago. My husband had gone the year before and made the summit in a day so I had to rise to the challenge and do it too. I did quite a bit of hiking before we set out on the big hike. We also came to Lone Pine a couple of days before the big day so we could do a couple of short hikes at elevation. One of those hikes was to walk the first couple of miles up the Mt. Whitney trail so that we would have some knowledge of the trail before we had to hike it in the dark. I highly recommend doing this! I started earlier than most and was on the trail by 1 a.m. and it was a good thing because I did not get back to the bottom of the trail until 8pm that night. I too felt the hardest part for me was the section from Trail Crest to the summit. You are tired at that point and you will need to push. And then going back along that section is quite depressing as parts of it are uphill on the way back. Be sure and keep eating and drinking as you go.We fueled and drank every hour. Use hiking poles. The are very helpful especially on the long downhill. My husband finally asked for one of my poles and after that hike he got his own pair! Lastly, make sure you have someone to hike with. The first year my husband went up Whitney one hiker in his group got altitude sickness. He needed someone to keep and eye on him. Bad things can happen so do remember, as they say, that the goal is to get up and down safely, not necessarily make the summit. The second time I went up I was not feeling so hot, had not trained enough and had a sore knee. I went as far as Trail camp and turned around. I did not want to hold up the group nor be unable to get back down without needing help. Odds are you will make it just fine. July is a good time as most although not all of the snow will be gone. Just be prepared for wide temp swings considering you start in the cold of the night and then by mid day will likely be exposed to bright hot sun. Good luck.

Thank you so much for the encouragement! I am getting great info from this forum. I have been learning about some of the San Gabriel peaks we can hike in preparation for Mt. Whitney. You must have camped midway if you summited at noon.(?) I am rethinking the one day climb.

Do NOT second guess yourself. If you think you can do it in one day train yourself up and go for it... if you don't get it in the day.. then you can try again later and try the camping.

Mom and I originally were going to day hike it and then we started second guessing ourselves... we've tried camping twice and it doesn't work for US. Next year we're going back to the dayhike plan...

Anyways... my point being... shoot for what YOU think you can do and go for it...

Good luck!

Thanks for the response. It is really appreciated! My sons (18 and 25) are on board with me and my hubby says he will train with me, although he has no desire to climb Whitney. I am not sure whether or not to try the hike in 1 day. I'm not too keen on backpacking and camping overnight, but I don't want to not make it because we weren't acclimatized! We went on a mini hike last Saturday near Wrightwood along a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail near Mt. High - cool, windy and rainy. I'm just learning about some of the local hikes and am excited to try them.

It was very helpful to see the map of the trail up Whitney with the distance and elevations. Thanks very much the encouragement!

Thanks for your input. Do you not enjoy camping, or carrying a backpack, or both? Did you and your mom make it to the summit?

I have read the posts from other women and will look into the books they've recommended. All very encouraging!

We both enjoy camping... but Whitney was our first attempt at backpacking. I enjoy it... if I could get the stupid thing to a managable weight and get it to sit right on my hips.

We haven't made it to the summit yet... we were turned back on both our attempts this year for various reasons. But we'll be back when the snow clears and the air temps begin to rise somewhat.

You have a completely awesome support group here...

And if you ever need a hiking partner down here in SoCal... there's plenty half way between us...