I live very near Sequoia National Park, so I plan to get up there to do some training hikes before October rolls around. I will be on Mt. Shasta for the first week of September so that should give me a good idea of how I do at altitude. However, I will have more time on Shasta to acclimate.
I will be running short of vacation days and time on Mt. Whitney. I only have three days time to get it done. Hopefully I will be able to acclimate in that time frame. If I had more time I would surely use it.
Would it help to take Diamox before the trip, even if I am not at altitude?
I'm not big on Diamox unless you have experienced AMS. It is a drug that does have some, let's say, interesting side effects. Also, it takes a while to get a dosing regiment that works for you. For me, it was a process that I figured out in 3 or 4 years of using the drug 3 or 4 times a year, since I am only affected by AMS on day hikes like Whitney and multi-day trips over 10,000'.
Time is an issue for most of us who spend time in the Sierra, mine is usually Friday night up, Saturday out and Sunday home. This limits the trips I can do. I don't have time to acclimatize properly. So, I put up with the AMS symptoms and the Diamox side effects. I usually feel great as I am walking out of the forest.
