Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board TR for 9/6/08 and 8/13/09

I hiked the main trail as a day hike on September 6th of last year with my older daughter Lacey and this year I duplicated the effort with my younger daughter Emily on August 13th, They were among the best days of my life.

Thanks Doug for this message board, Richard P and others for sharing their knowledge through your posts and Moosetracks for her many photos and stories that inspire and break up the monotony of the work week. This forum was a great source to plan and prepare for our hikes. We also did Baldy and Ice House Cyn hikes every weekend before our two trips to the Sierra.

Lacy and I left LALA land and went straight to the Bristlecone Forest to spend the day at altitude. Even though we arrived the day of the fire at the visitor center, we managed to do a couple of walks through those magnificent trees. After spending the day there we left and checked into a motel in Lone Pine. The next day found us on the trail to Lone Pine Lake. After the 5 mile day hike, beer and burgers at the Portal Store were just what we needed. That night we had a light dinner and turned in early.

Camelbacks full (electrolyte tablets work!) and food consisting of mostly Power Bars, trail mix and energy candies we left at 3:00 AM. A slow but steady climb put us on top 10 hours (and 3 Advils) later. Because of a bad knee we almost gave up, but persistence and slowing our pace paid off. The return trip to the portal was fast (5 hours) as Lacey was concerned her knee would lock up and she just kept moving.

Because of school Em could not make the trip with us so I vowed to go back this year with her. We followed the same routine to prepare for the hike (why change a winning formula?) and found ourselves on the trail at 2:30 AM on the 13th. Our menu included PB & J's for Em and salami sandwiches for me, this time we decided to "eat what we like". It was warm that morning, after starting out in pants we quickly switched to shorts, Stopping only to refill our water on the switchbacks, we made the summit at 11:00 AM. It was a beautiful day on top. The return took us 6 hours and we were back in Lone Pine sitting in the spa by 6:00.

Thanks to all that we met on both trips for words of encouragement, humor and sharing our joy on the trail. That is the beauty of this experience, sharing moments with complete strangers but knowing that the bond of the mountain and the challenge brings us all together...

> and we were back in Lone Pine sitting in the spa by 6:00

After a big hike like that, it always amazes me how quickly one can slip back into the comforts of civilization. You sit there soaking in the spa, thinking how far you have gone in such a short time. Good times!!!

Your hike reminds me of a short JMT section I recently took with my son. We encountered two father-daughter pairs hiking the JMT.

I forgot to mention the Jack and Ginger I was drinking and elk medallions for dinner....all the while looking at the "top" and wondering who was looking back and what they were enduring at the same time I was enjoying the end of my day.

Congratulations and thanks for the compliment.

I was eating PB&Js on Sunday on Thor Peak, provided to me by Mike Pyle. Didn't remember how good they can taste.