Mt. Whitney 9/7-9

[Staley]

I entered the lottery for Whitney last March and managed to secure one for this past weekend. We drove up Friday night and camped at Horseshoe Meadows at 10,000 ft. It's higher than the Whitney Portal, cheaper, and quieter.

The next morning we drove down to Lone Pine to pick up our permit (a bit of a hassle, but we arrived after the visitor center was closed on Friday). Here's Whitney way off in the distance:

As we ascended to Trail Camp (about 6.5 miles and 3,300 ft. of vertical), we stopped at Lone Pine Lake:

There were a few beautiful meadows that we passed by as well. The scale of everything here is just a little larger than the rest of the Sierras.

This is what Trail Camp looks like. We were lucky enough to find two protected sites for tents, as it was fairly cold and windy (some light rain and thunder as well). For whatever reason, the number of campers our night didn't seem that large.

The lake next to Trail Camp got glassy enough around sunset for some pictures:

We got an early start up the 97 switchbacks the following morning (hoping to summit early to avoid any potential thunderstorms) and were treated to a beautiful sunrise:

While one member of our group had altitude issues, I was surprisingly fine all the way to the top--I've never been higher than 13,000 ft. before and this is 14,500. I'll attribute that to sleeping at 10,000 and 12,000 ft. the previous 2 nights.

The summit was in the clouds for us, but we still tried to take a few pictures:

The scenery behind Whitney (to the east) is beautiful as well:

The hike itself is not difficult. We took 2 days since we wanted to enjoy it, but I could have easily done the ~22 miles in ~8 hours with a day pack. I was expecting huge crowds, but I think we timed things right and never experienced crowded trails. The permit process makes planning the trip a bit of a process, but it's completely worth it.

 

[Admin]

Gorgeous photos.

 

[EMSC]

The hike itself is not difficult. We took 2 days since we wanted to enjoy it, but I could have easily done the ~22 miles in ~8 hours with a day pack.

So it's just really long with no exposure or scrambling or etc... ? How much vert does it cover in total from the trailhead?

 

[Tony Crocker]

While one member of our group had altitude issues, I was surprisingly fine all the way to the top--I've never been higher than 13,000 ft. before and this is 14,500. I'll attribute that to sleeping at 10,000 and 12,000 ft. the previous 2 nights.

I found a few notes from when Adam (then age 14) and I climbed Whitney on Labor Day weekend of 1999:

Adam and I climbed Mt. Whitney on Labor Day weekend. On Sunday we hauled full packs from the 8,361 trailhead to a campsite at 12,000 feet after spending two nights at Mammoth attempting to acclimate. My friend Richard and his daughter Joy (age 20, but not in as good shape as Adam) hiked to the campsite, but were unable to make a summit attempt on Monday. We all had varying altitude symptoms at camp. Joy hardly moved the whole time she was there, and Adam and Richard both threw up at dinner. Adam and I slept intermittently during the night, but were warm, rested and free of headache by morning. The Monday summit hike to 14,495 was more comfortable than the full pack hike to 12,000 on Sunday. We ate a decent breakfast and both observed a lack of appetite during the summit climb, but made ourselves eat a little trail mix and granola bars anyway. Hiking out Monday evening we were both quite hungry from about 11,000 feet on down. I brought Diamox on the Whitney hike, and while we had just taken aspirin or Tylenol before, we were uncomfortable enough at 12,000 feet that we each took a Diamox. Adam and Richard may not have gotten the full effect, but I was up 5 times during the night peeing in tremendous volume. Diamox relieves the brain swelling which causes altitude headaches, because it is a very strong diuretic. Anyone taking it needs to be aware of the effect and be prepared to drink huge amounts of water to avoid dehydration.

Just the one night of acclimatization before Whitney that Staley had would not cut it for most flatlanders. We had no issues on the comparable altitude Inca trail (max altitude 13,800, max sleep 12,000), but in that case we had 3 nights sleeping at 11,000 in Cusco plus first night on the trail at 9,800. We also had porters hauling the camping gear. In Peru we only used Diamox the day we flew from Lima to Cusco. We stopped after the first night there as everyone slept well and had no headaches. Thus we did not need Diamox on the Inca trail. I also used Diamox on Shasta with exactly the same prior acclimatization (2 nights at Mammoth) as Whitney. And on Mt. Fuji (12,300) as I went directly from sea level to the 7,900 foot trailhead.

I will try to dig out and scan the Whitney pics from 1999. Weather was clear blue the whole time but we were too dazed/busy to get any sunrise pics like Staley did.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Sept. 5-6, 1999

Toughest part was climbing to Trail Camp with full packs here at 11,000+

View down to Mirror Lake

We started hiking the next morning from Trail Camp with light daypacks at 7:30AM, made it to Trail Crest in just under the 3 hours projected by the guidebooks. View west into the Upper Kern River part of Sequoia NP.

View east down the trail toward Whitney Portal.

Trail Camp is at the small lake to the right of Adam in this pic. The big one is Consultation Lake.

It's 2 miles more to Whitney. Not that much more elevation gain but still slow going at 14,000. Guitar Lake at right in this view SW from the trail.

We got to the top about 1PM. Looking off the steep east face to Iceberg lake

View SE toward several false summits that fooled 19th century explorers.

View NE, just a few scraps of snow left after an average snow year.

Labor Day is one of the peak times to climb Mt. Whitney, so this guy looked well fed.

Adam and I at the summit plaque.

In the afternoon sun the Hitchcock Lakes sparkled, but without a polarizer doesn't show so much in the picture.

Partway down the switchback, a profile view of the summit ridge from Mt. Muir to Mt. Whitney.

Adam raced down the switchbacks and started taking down camp. We started hiking down with the full packs 4:30PM and made it to the Portal about 9PM, also in line with guidebook projections. Richard thought we wouldn't get off the mountain until midnight and so he and Joy took a room in Lone Pine and crashed. Fortunately there was barely enough cell signal at Whitney Portal for me to roust him and get him to pick us up.

So it's just really long with no exposure or scrambling or etc... ? How much vert does it cover in total from the trailhead?

6,200 vertical in 11 miles with a very steady and consistent grade. I expected some knee issues on the downhill after hiking down Vivian Creek from San Gorgonio (5,000 in 7 miles) 2 months earlier, but there were no sections as steep as the bottom 1,500 of Vivian Creek.

There is a "Mountaineer's Route" which directly ascends Whitney's steep east face. Two day hikers ascended that our first day, summited at 5:30PM but it was after dark when they got down to Trail Camp. The section below Trail Camp is on granite and hard to follow without flashlights. So they hung out at Trail Camp but got cold as temps plunged into the 20's (high temps in the day were probably ~65F). On one of my pee breaks they asked for help and we gave them the emergency reflector blankets.

I could have easily done the ~22 miles in ~8 hours with a day pack.

Yes, it's not as much of an ordeal getting a permit if you don't camp. But I think most flatlanders will need close to a week at altitude to be comfortable doing that hike in one day. Staley and a few others may be exceptions, but I would recommend testing that hypothesis somewhere else first, perhaps in Colorado with similar altitude but higher trailheads.

The scale of everything here is just a little larger than the rest of the Sierras.

Our family had been up a tram to the Zugspitze in the Alps just 3 weeks earlier. Whitney felt more like the Alps than elsewhere in the lower 48 states because it's so far (~4,000 feet) above tree line, as can be seen from both sets of pictures. However Whitney is surrounded by other high mountains and the dramatic dropoffs are much less than in the Alps, not to mention Yosemite's domes or San Jacinto here in SoCal.

 

[Marc_C]

We got an early start up the 97 switchbacks the following morning (hoping to summit early to avoid any potential thunderstorms)....

Everyone stresses about the switchbacks, but I found that long stretch on the west side of the ridge going from 13k to 14K far more sapping, but good to have the concern about the T-storms. The general rule is to summit by noon - 1p at the absolute latest.

The scenery behind Whitney (to the east) is beautiful as well

Er, "behind" Whitney is the Kern River drainage, and is west of Whitney.

The hike itself is not difficult. We took 2 days since we wanted to enjoy it, but I could have easily done the ~22 miles in ~8 hours with a day pack.

We did it as a day hike - fast and light is right. But really, the trail is difficult. It's rocky, steep in many places, involves boulder hopping and extensive time at high altitude. It's long - actually closer to 25 miles round trip - with an elevation gain/loss of roughly 5k'. It took us 13 hrs with a 6a start and about 40 minutes spent on the summit. We had been climbing in Tuolumne Meadows the week prior, so pretty well acclimatized from sleeping at 8600' and climbing at 9k+. I disagree that merely sleeping one night at 10k and one at 12K is sufficient to acclimatize. Yes, everyone is different, but it just doesn't happen that quickly. I suspect it was the relatively short days (in miles and elevation gain) that made more of an impact on the ease of your summit day. Also, I consider Trail Camp nearly useless.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I disagree that merely sleeping one night at 10k and one at 12K is sufficient to acclimatize.

+1 See the discussion of Adam's AT day on Mt. Dana 7/3/11:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9741

For many people 12K is the "wall" above which multiple days of acclimatization are necessary to be comfortable climbing. We know Staley is in outstanding condition from doing half marathons. But he also must be one of the lucky ones in terms of altitude sensitivity.

3 of my adventures above 12K have been comfortable: The Inca Trail plus short hikes at Silverton and Highlands Bowl. Both of the latter were after a full week sleeping in Colorado at 8,500+.

 

[flyover]

Great pics and trip report!

The altitude thing has always confused me a little bit. I understand how, excluding the variables of fitness and acclimation, altitude tolerance can naturally vary from individual to individual. What confuses me, however, is that it seems, at least for some individuals, to vary from trip to trip.

Even though I’ve spent almost my whole life at sea level, I generally do pretty well with altitude, until I don’t .

Example: several times, I’ve caught an early morning flight from MSP to SLC, skied my brains out over half a day at Alta (sucking wind for sure, but otherwise just fine), crashed at the Peruvian, and been none the worse for wear in the morning. Once, however, this proved to be a recipe for a killer headache and lousy night’s sleep. Why would one time be different from the next?

My only experience with altitudes over 14,000 ft. was up to Mt. Kenya’s Point Lenana (16,355 ft.) during the rainy season (which meant snow down to about 13,500 or so) in 1989. I made this trip with one other guy. We had both been living between roughly 3,000 and 6,000 feet for the previous 2-3 months. The national park wasn’t particularly well regulated during the rainy seasons in 1989, which was good for us because it meant we could travel on a shoestring budget (no guide or porter). Looking back, our itinerary seems a little loco, at least on the way up:

Day one: Chogoria (aprox. 5,000 ft.) – Chogoria gate (9,800)
Day two: Chogoria gate (9,800) – Minto’s (14, 100)
Day three: Minto’s (14,100) – Austrian Hut (15,700)
Day four: summited Point Lenana (16,355) and slept a second night at (15,700)
Day five: Austrian Hut (15,700) – Two Tarn (14,300)
Day six: day hikes, second night at (14,300)
Day seven: Two Tarn (14,300) – Shipton’s (14,200)
Day Eight: Shipton’s (14,200) – Sirimon gate( 8,700) (a Loooong day!)

. . . but we were both just fine. Of course we were also in our early 20’s. I suppose I’d be more cautious now. :wink:

 

[JHoback]

These are all such great pics! Thanks for sharing and now this thread will give me more reason to go and do it myself.

 

[Tony Crocker]

What confuses me, however, is that it seems, at least for some individuals, to vary from trip to trip.

No one knows the answer, but I have heard this before. I've personally observed minor variations on Mammoth weekends. But one's prior experience is the best guide to what you can tolerate.

We had both been living between roughly 3,000 and 6,000 feet for the previous 2-3 months.

I'm sure this was a key factor. While I suspect the breathing difference between 5,000 and 15,000 is not necessarily the same as between 0 and 10,000, it's perhaps an indicator of why you were comfortable on that trip.

I have to ask: Is there enough snow to ski on Mt. Kenya? Skiing is prohibited on Kilimanjaro.

 

[flyover]

It was really a memorable experience to travel through a world of white pretty much right on the equator, but only the glaciers appeared obviously skiable and IMO far too small to justify carrying skis half way around the world and up to 16,355. The Lewis glacier between the peaks of Point Lenana and Nelion and Bation (each 17,000+) is the most obvious snowfield and even that would only yield 600 vert at most. There may be some hairball couloirs off of Nelion and Bation (each technical ascents) that hold ice and snow, but my only semi-educated guess would be that that vert with skiable surface would again be pretty short.

Like Kilimanjaro, Mt. Kenya's glaciers are quickly receding and it is my impression there is a lot less ice up there now than there was in 1989.

However, a quick google search indicates some folks have skied Mt. Kenya over the years:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xod1ka ... ller_sport

http://articles.cnn.com/2004-03-02/trav ... =PM:TRAVEL

http://articles.cnn.com/2004-03-02/trav ... =PM:TRAVEL

I have no idea what is or is not permitted by the Kenyan authorities at this point in time.

 

[Tony Crocker]

justify carrying skis half way around the world and up to 16,355

On Kilimanjaro porters can be hired for $1 per day according to Richard.

I do recall seeing the segment from Mt. Kenya in that Warren Miller feature.

 

[otisdelarosa]

Great images! You surely had a great time