Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Prior MT. Whitney acclimation itinerary

Newbie here.

I signed on to do an American Hiking Society Volunteer Vacation for the Mt. Whitney Trail (6-27 to 7-2). Our base will be at Trail Camp and trail work will be around there and below. Our first night we'll car-camp at Whitney Portal so we can get a real early start the next day. Our final day is set aside for a summit attempt.

I've done these particular strenuous backpacking volunteer vacations before and have had a fantastic time. Unfortunately I've encountered a few volunteers that after a couple of days of hard work were rendered useless. Don't want to seem callous but it is what it is.

I never want to be that type of person so here's my plan to acclimate prior to meeting up with the group. I'm going to stay 3-nights at Rock Creek Lodge (9,373 ft). My first full day, I'm looking at hiking the Mosquito Flat Trailhead which starts at 10,300 ft. I figured good trail to start out on. The next day considering going to Mammoth Mountain, riding the gondola to the top (11,053 ft), hang-out, have lunch and then take the Mammoth Mountain Trail back down. Right now have no plans for my third full day except for maybe eating pancakes in the morning.

Haven't been to this area of California before so my itinerary is based on my research. I'll be taking Diamox to get a feel for it because I'll be taking it again in September during my Mt. Kilimanjaro trek. My overall hiking endurance level right now is excellent but altitude is the great equalizer.

Any opinions or alternative ideas on ways to acclimate prior or what else to do with my time are very welcomed!