Getting High: Mt. Whitney Madness Part I: Technical Details (Guys’ Version)

OK, so I had posted on an “interactive” travel/adventure segment that I was going to attempt hiking Mt. Whitney in one day and much to my glee and utter surprise, I DID it!  Thank you all those who shared tips and encouragement; you were merciful!  Not a one of you ordered me to video myself belly dancing on the summit! (I did zagareet, though. That’s the trill us Tribal girls do)

“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” ~ Sir Edmund Hillary

I have so much I’d like to share and I started realizing that there are technical aspects to tackling a goal like this, and then philosophical ones.  To get it all straight for myself, and to perhaps divide the deets into what’s palatable to different readers (ahem: men vs women), I am posting this grand experience for me in two parts. For the guys, “Just the facts, ma’am”, stats are listed here.  Ladies, and those men who have come to tolerate my sentimental drivel, please read Part II!

I’m more than happy to discuss further details with anyone who is considering the same climb, or a similar one.  Feel free to leave a comment here, or hunt me down on Twitter!

• Elevation: 14,505 feet
• Starting Elevation: 8,360 feet
• Elevation Gain: 6,145 feet
• Route: Mount Whitney Trail
• Total Miles Round Trip: 22 miles

By the light of headlamps, prepping for the early AM hike, Mt. Whitney

• Two nights before – camp at Horseshoe Meadows, elevation 10,000 feet, to acclimate as best as possible.
• Day before – obtain 1-day Whitney hike permits after sending up a prayer to the hiking Gods. Most reserved permits are doled out in a lottery early in the year, leaving many to arrive in the area and cross fingers for a chance to suffer miserably…I mean, to experience an adventure of a lifetime! heehee
• Day before – move to Whitney Portal campsite; 8300′ elevation. Squeeze in a mild hike to reach higher altitude and “warm up”
• Night Before: Prep food, water bottles and backpack “bladder”, headlamp, camera & extra batteries, hat, buff, hat, beanie, first aid kit, energy chews, knee braces (yes! plural) sunscreen, chapstick, iPod, headphones, permit, wag bag (can we not explain this, please?), windbreaker, rain poncho, whistle, compass, kitchen sink…
• 9:30PM – go to sleep (a miracle in itself for me!)
• 2AM – wake up – woot! (start drinking water already)
• After dressing in a cramped van and brewing 2 pots of critical coffee (we had to make some for the guys – sheesh!) guzzling more water, and wolfing down two hard-boiled eggs, we drive and park as close to the trailhead as we possibly can. I weigh my pack on the hook scale provided at the base:
• 18 pounds. Egads! I had aimed for a ‘light’ pack, and this was not including the snacks and items crammed into my pockets. (I later discovered I brought WAY, I mean WEIGH too much water)
• 3:55AM – commence hiking!
  

  Isn't it a requisite that your friends tell you that you have white sunblock goop on your nose? Mt. Whitney trailhead portal

• 6AM – we stop to enjoy the lightening sky and peel off a layer. I munch down half of a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich I had made two days earlier. If I say “yum”, will you be able to detect my sarcasm?
• 8AM – at about the 5 1/2 mile mark the terrain has been more challenging and the sun is warming us. We need another “remove layer” stop but Matt and I encourage us to reach the lake at Trail Camp, at 12,093′ as I know it’s soon. This was my stopping point when I made a feeble attempt two years ago.
• 8:30AM / 6 miles up – we reach Trail Camp! Phew!  More than half way up, but only 1/3 of effort yet required.  Rest, remove, reflect, relieve and replenish. We spend 45 minutes here, and it makes a world of difference. I eat some apple slices, a handful of nuts, a 1/2 ham and cheese sandwich, guzzle Gatorade and water, and open a packet of ‘energy beans’ – glorified and pricey high-sugar snacks which stay in my pocket and help propel me up the infamous 97 (yes ninety-seven!) switchbacks to come.
• 9:15AM start up the switchbacks which we had been warned to dread. iPod goes on 1/3 of the way up and I’m at a good cruising speed.
  

  On the switchbacks - my coveted permit visible on my pack, Mt. Whitney

• 11:45AM reach the ridge: 13,600
• 2PM – Summit! – take pictures, sign the book, celebrate, eat a bit, soak it in for an hour (apply knee brace)
  

  Exhilirated and exhausted at the summit. It's now 14,505', Mt. Whitney

• 3PM – head down behind a long line of hikers
• 6PM – reach the lake at Trail Camp again. Wow – 1/3 the time we took going UP from here. Rest, rehydrate, re-layer for 30 mins
• 7PM – drop camera in stream. Cuss. Dry all parts, attempt rescucitation. Turn on headlamps
• 8PM – my trekking pole collapses, helping me to jolt all my weight on my left ankle while stepping on an angled rock. Ooops. Cuss. Sit down, pull out other knee brace, wrap it around ankle, tighten %*@$& pole, pop an aspirin and continue the remaining 2 miles – on tiptoe! lol
• 9PM – ford the last big stream. I walk straight through it as my ankle prevents any hopping from rock to rock. Kathy stops a complete fall in but badly scrapes her shin. Matching war wounds – woot!
• 10PM – down! Pat selves on back. Pat each other on back. Hug! (oh wait, that part should be for the girl’s version) Drive to hotel – celebrate!
  

  Summit Marker. My gear: Nike Airs. Yup. Trained in them and they worked the best for me! Mt. Whitney

My total food intake: 2 hard-boiled eggs, 1 cup of coffee with cream and sugar, 1/2 apple, 1 peanut butter and jelly sandwich, 1 ham and cheese sandwich, handfuls of mixed raw nuts, 2 packets of energy chews/jelly beans, some organic beef and turkey jerky, 1 piece of halvah (yummy middle-eastern sesame dessert), 1 trail mix cookie

*We all popped aspirin along the way to alleviate high altitude symptoms, and I suspect it did help as I never felt any ill effects other than exaggerated fatigue

Total water carried: 5 litres. What.was.I.THINKING?!?!?!?! (and I had purification tablets.) Do not do as I did! lol

Total water remaining: 2 litres

Total time: I don’t care so long as it was in one day 😉 Remember, the ‘team’ goes the pace of the slowest person at any given point and for whatever reason. I was the slow one for the last 2 miles, that’s for certes! But we summited together and it felt great!

Mt Whitney is the flat peak on the right

I, of course, was full of feelings, thoughts, ponderings, observations, etc on this hike, and if you’re interested, I will be jotting some of them down in Part II – oh yes, and I hope to post some video I took while deliriously reaching the summit :-} I’d love to hear about your hiking or other outdoor adventures. Let’s share the ‘high’

All Photos by Gina Stark unless OF me

See also: Getting High: Mt. Whitney Madness Part II: Impressions (Emo Girly Version)