Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board WPSMB group hike 2009

Hello, new to posting here, so I hope I am doing it right.
My husband and I have tried to climb Mt. Whitney unsuccessfully, not because we are not in shape... we do hike a bit, done Mt. Baldy about 4-5 times this year, done Mt.Gorgonio overnighter... well, my husband has problems with the altitude. He has tried to climb it 3 times and no luck. The past two time I was with him and those were my first time trying to climb Mt. Whitney and because of his altitude sickness we were unsuccessful. The first time we tried it this year was in June (lots of snow) and we got as far as Trail Head... beautiful views from up there but we had to head back, he got dizzy, headache, (threw up ).... The second time was just last weekend on Monday the 5th... this time we only got as far as just before Mirror Lake..then he came down with the same symptoms.... and, I do have some knee issues specially coming down but I wear a knee brace and seem to hold them together.
I Look at Mt. Whitney every morning via the Webcam (thank you for that )and read what is kind of going on up there…..
I just found this blog about a group going up on October 17??, and I was wondering if this could be a hike we could join Group A? If it is not something that you guys think it’s for us or that we would be in the way, we understand. I just thought that maybe we could try it again before it really gets tooooo cold. We have no rock climbing skill at all, we just do regular trails.
Could we get some possible feed back on this? We would really appreciate it.

Thank You
"us"

Hi FMM,
Welcome to the message board.

The group hike next weekend is not to Mt. Whitney. The group is actually climbing Thor Peak, a lower elevation (12,304) peak in the shadow of Mt. Whitney.

Your husband suffers from the quite common altitude sickness. If you really want to achieve the summit of Whitney despite the AMS, you need to come over and spend at least two days above 8,000' elevation, so his system can acclimate. There are a number of good ways to do that, and if you ask on the board, lots of people will chime in with their favorite places.

Good luck!

Thank you for your respond. Ohhhh.... that still sound like fun, but first we need to conquer the top of Mt. Whitney. We have read some of the stuff on altitude sickness and the first time we went up we spent one day at Lone Pine and the next day we camped at Trail Camp... that is when we got the furthes up... maybe we do need to spend a bit more time at higher altitude for him to aclimatize? (sp)...maybe next year when warm weather comes around again and we get new overnighter permits. Thanks for having this web site and maybe one day we will get to post our pictures of when we make it to the TOP ..in the mean time we will just keep on reading what is happening up there... from down here. hee, hee...
Ever thought of doing the same group hike kind of thing you are doing now but for a trip to the top of Whitney????
Later,
"us"

Im definately looking forward to this It will have been >1 month since Ive been out and will have just finished a couple work projects. Id like to do the class 3 route (Group E w/ Laura), depending on how fast she wants to take it (or slow she is willing to go!) Group A w/ Tom or F w/ Doug are all okay dokay too!

you got it backwards... first you need to climb 12,000, then 13,000, then attempt Whitney. There are some easy ways up Thor. It would be very beneficial in your quest to climb Whitney, to first do Thor, IMO. Not a waste of your time, at all...good luck, in any case...

Melville has it right. Thor at 12,300 would be a good acclimation hike for Whitney - roughly similar elevation as Trail Camp. The route we are taking(Smiley Face) has but a minimal amount of class II - mild hands and feet.

Robin, I think you and I are going to be buddies! I’ve been on my treadmill every day at full incline, but I haven’t been “out there” since I finished my JMT end of August. It's going to be a great hike, whichever group I'm in.

Looking forward to seeing you!

Rosie

Well, we did make it to Trail Crest back in June when we had permitts and spend the night at Trail Camp... then we climbed to Trail Crest which I believe is at 13,600?
That is one of the times when we had to turn around and head back because my husband was not feeling good at all..... soo close but yet so far...
.....he just told me if schedules permit to try again that same weekend you guys are going to Thor...as Steve suggested we should spend at least two days up there... see what happens.

Thank You..

Maybe it is time to see your Dr and get a diamox RX?

Maybe.... but that stuff is hard on your kidneys??? We'll have to think about that one but thanks for the suggestion.

Although natural acclimatization is preferred, my son and I have used Diamox very successfully when time is an issue. We both had incidents of near and actual debilitation from AMS, but never any issues when using Diamox. We have had the normal side effects of increased urination and tingling finger tips, but those are minor compared to splitting headaches, nausea and vomiting.
I would be interested to hear from experts regarding kidney damage. My prescribing doctor did not mention this.

There has been alot of discussion about Diamox in this forum but
I don't know how to direct you to the sites. Others will know.

I would suggest you try a low dose of Diamox at home to see how
you react & then do Mt Baldy prior to Whitney. Many find that one daily 125 Mg is adequate & others use 125 Mg twice a day or more Mgs. Urinary increase happens with many but not all. Also finger & toe tingling can be common. There are other side effects, but those are the main ones.

Your history of attempts & not finishing might suggest that the
addition of Diamox might help, but talk it over with your Dr.

FMM, the time for climbing Whitney this year has probably passed, unless you have equipment and knowledge to deal with snow and ice. Please see Fall Conditions on the Main Whitney Trail

Destination: Thor Peak
Date: Saturday October 17,2009


Time to get your reservations in now
Separate thread now up for potluck / festivities

Who's going:

Tomcat_rc - Tom
- Lisa
RichardP - Richard
GigaMike - Mike
HypoxicZombie - Arthur
Brent - Brent
JamesL - James
DobeMom - Kristine
Jeff Schofield - Jeff
Rosabella - Rosie
Hedgehog - Doug forbes
ElMicheal - Michael
Adam S.
Moondust - Alice
Karen R. - Karen
AreteJoe - Joe
Simon
Sierragator - Jim
M. Mouse - Ava
markjwpcp - Mark
SanDi Carole - Carole
Graham - Rick
NormaR - Norma
Ranboze - Robin
Ridgeline - Dave
Trailbud - Doug
John H. - John
ocns2mts - Johnny
Jeff_M - Jeff
Wtny n1 - Betsy
Trucker - James
White Tundra - Scott
Dave G. - Dave
BobH - Bob Huey
It511 - Larry
Moosetracks - Laura
Melville1955 - Mark
Wagga
Weed Patch - Flip
Shin Nimura - Shin
Ken(Rosie's brother)
KRVHiker - Nathan

Temperatures dropped significantly this week.
No longer just shorts and t-shirts weather.

10-3-09 hiked to Thor with Lisa and Snow Nymph
Ice early morning on the slabs at Clyde Meadow and long sleeves thoughout the day

So here is the way it is shaping up

Group A -leader Tom Brown aka Tomcat_rc will also have several friends that will help and are familiar for this group.
I will lead a group up starting up the North Fork. We will be taking the Smiley Face Route and plan to start around 7am hiking from the Portal. I did this hike Saturday at a simluted group pace and we summited in 6:05 minutes. This included several stops for break and a nice easy pace. Anyone who wants to make this hike but is not sure if they are in condition or other worries should be encouraged to join this group. If you decide to turn around during part of the hike(LBSL or Clyde), we will make sure you are provided for a safe passage down.

Group B - talked to Sierra Gator - possible will lead this group.
This will be a faster paced group. We talked about leaving 1/2 hour to 1 hour later than the group A. The start time will be finalized by leader

Group C - Jeff M leader

Leading a group starting up the Main Trail and ascending via the SE culoir. Jeff will announce his start time. This is a loose chute and group size should be limited. Jeff can add to this section.

Group D - Stemwinder.

This is a techinal route. Graham, Dave and Bob H. are capable of leading. They will handle all of their group contacts for start times and other logistics. By now I belive they have already picked their groups - but any questions should be directed to them directly.

Last posting I belive Norma, GigaMike and Richard P were the rest of that team.

Group E - leader Laura aka Moosetracks

leading a class III route from Girl Scout Lake(aka Barney Lake)
This route is the same aproach for Smiley except from GS Lake will use the class III boulder for a more direct approach to the summit. People taking this route should have comfort in class III boulders. If you have to ask what this means - this is not the route for you. Any questions contact group leader. Laura will set start time.

Group F - Doug Snr. - route TBD
Ok - even though he is much more interesting and has a lifetime of stories to tell, not everyone gets to hike with Doug. Remember no punching, kicking or scratching. We are all adults.

Remember the idea is to get everyone to the summit as close to 1pm as possible. My guess is that everyone should be able to descend within 3 hours.

Several of us will have radios and monitor on station 6 sub 3
Last weekend I was able to communicate with friends at Clyde Meadow while I was near Lone Pine Lake.

Feel free to add to message or pm as needed.

Additional information:
I would like to meet at the Hostel at 6am.
That will give us time to meet and divide into groups.
It will take about 30 minutes to commute up to the Portal and get ready to start the hike

We need to keep tabs on the snow conditions after the Tue/Wed dump we are likely to have. Temps will be on the low side for this hike.

Yeah I will be keeping an eye on it.
But on the bright side - it could mean cancellations of permits - a plus when trying to get 40 for Saturday.

Yes.. I know. We went up October 5h and our water froze along with our toes.... You are probably right. We'll keep checking the weather and this blog and make our decision in the next couple of days.
You guys have fun.

I'll be arriving in Lone Pine for the group hike on Friday, 10/16. If anyone is interested in a meet and greet and some dinner, we'll be at the hostal around 6 p.m. Arthur

Sounds good! I should be getting in to Lone Pine (hopefully) by mid-afternoon, I'll be ready for a little rest.... it's a loooong drive down from Washington. The "meet and greet" dinner sounds like a fun idea!

Rosie

Tom - I haven't been to elevation in > a month so need to sleep at the Portal. Can I skip the drive down to the Hostel?

Ridgeline - I was kinda hoping to avoid a repeat of last year's Plan B NoFo hike in bitter cold and fresh snow... altho it sure was pretty!

Rosie, et al - I won't be leaving LA until around 5pm so who knows what time I'll be in LP... probably will be eating in Mojave.