Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Training for Whitney in San Francisco

Alan,
That's probably a good idea. Friday will definitely be some kind of hike at altitude. I just don't know what my options are as I have not done too much research on that yet. Once I get my permit, I'll start trying to figure out where the best pre-Whitney hike will be.

Leigh

The BEST martinis in the world - in Mill Valley??? I don't know -living 36 years outside Manhattan I'm not sure I can get on board with that one but since I have not been to the Buckeye I guess I can't disagree at this point!

Hello, my wife and I did Whitney last July as a day hike. We arrived Saturday morning and hiked to Cottonwood Pass in the afternoon then camped at Horseshoe Meadow. Saturday we took it easy and just did a day hike up to Lone Pine Lake but moved our camp to the Portal. We did the MMWT starting Sunday at around 3:30AM and didn't experience any issues with altitude. We are from the Bay Area as well and think the Horseshoe Meadow/Cottonwood Lakes area is great to explore and acclimate.

-Rudy

Better idea: drive to the top of Tam, say we did it, then cruise over to Healdsburg and up and down Westside/Eastside road for some QUALITY wine tasting! Mmmm... Topolos Zinfandel... Apple pie in Gardinerville...

**sigh** I guess I DO miss the Bay Area a little...

Find a spot in Mill Valley and hike to the summit of Mt. Tam. A day or two before Mt. Whitney, do a stop over enroute to the Portal at Touloume Meadows and get some acclimation of 9k ft activity.

I did some 60 and 90 minute jogging loops along the ridgecrest of Redwood Regional Parks with deep decents and climbs in and out of the canyons.

Result? 6 hour hike up to Mt. Whitney.

I Live in Sebastopol, near Santa Rosa.
Mt St. Helena is a good training hill, 4300 to the top. you can start at the hwy 29 lot for a 5 mile 2000' gain to the top. I was up last week and the vis was great, you can see the Sierra's, Mt. Lassen, sometimes Shasta. If you go at a fast pace it makes a great workout. Bring water the place is dry. The first mile is trail and the last 4 are fire road.
Summit Post has a good write up on it.

It was my daughters first summit a week before she turned 3, under her own power ( I never carried her ) We have lost count of how many times we have been up.

Anyone want to do a moon light dinner on top and a hike down in the moon light?

If you do Tam count me in too.

Hiking up Mt St Helena is a good idea too. I forget it's only an hour away from the city. We've done a lot of wine tasting up there but no hiking. Maybe if it ever stops raining- I can get outside again and work out!