Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board A couple of questions for a first-time hiker...

Hi -

My wife and I will be hiking Whitney for the first time next Monday and have appreciated all the comments on these posts. A few questions as we get ready for the big hike:

- What clothing is recommended? I know to layer and be ready for rain but recent pictures have people in everything from shorts to fairly heavy jackets.

- How does a 3:30am start from the portal sound? We're staying in Lone Pine which I think is about 30 mins away). We're both pretty solid hikers but haven't hiked in altitude.

- We know to drink a lot of water and have a filter so don't want to carry too much weight early on. Was planning on starting with about 2 liters each and filtering on the way up. How does this sound?

- Any opinions on pure water versus electrolyte powders?

Thanks and hope to see people on the trail on Monday!

REI carries an item # 778897, Gatorade Endurance packets, which I have found to be great. Have more sodium & electrolytes than other powders. Might be hard to get it before your Monday trip, but other electrolytes would also work. These help me prevent cramping up and work better than water for me.

I’d wear/bring: long sleeve synthetic shirt, fleece vest or jacket, a lightweight rain/wind shell and synthetic convertible pants. Hat and gloves optional.

3:30 start? There is always an amount of sleep, to early start trade-off. You’d be much better off camping in the portal, then sleeping lower, and further away.

Electrolyte drinks hydrate better. They usually are tastier, which promotes more drinking, and they provide extra calories, which you’ll need.

Bring some Excedrin, it’s very effective curing what ails you at altitude.

To answer your questions...

Clothing...You will see heavy to light all the time. I comes down to what you feel comfortable wearing and carrying. I use a flexible system, travel shirt and convertible pants as my base layer, with 3-season down jacket and windshirt in the pack.

Start Time...How long do you think it going to take you to do the round trip and what time do you want be back to the Portal. Answer those to questions and you will have a starting time.

Water...Everyone does it differently. I start with 2 L and reload with 4 L at Trailside Meadow for the trip to the summit...that's me.

Electrolyte Powers...I use Cytomax. A half liter at Trailside Meadow, the summit and another back at Trailside Meadow. Using Cytomax has all but eliminated leg cramps during and at the end of the day.

Have a safe trip.

If time permits, I recommend going up to Horseshoe meadows trailhead (about 50 min from the Portal) hiking around in the 10,000 ft elevation for the day and spending the night before at the Portal -> "hike high, sleep low" in order to best acclimate yourselves. I like Vitalyte mixed in my camelbak - cytomax is a great product but a bit too sweet for my tastes especially when huffing and puffing up the trail.