Mt Whitney Zone Forums Trip Reports Trip Report 7-19- 7-21, MWMT

Brent, I'm actually more confused than ever about AMS symptoms. As I told you in my PM, I felt great going up and camping at Consultation Lake, but woke up the next morning with a headache and nausea. I didn't feel like eating anything and there was barely anything in my container that sounded like it would taste even okay. I told myself that I was not going to be able to even make Trail Crest, but decided to go as far as I could. About 1/3 of the way up the switchbacks, I decided to eat some crackers and I started to feel better. By the time I hit Trail Crest I was fine. On to the summit......but then I got a bit overconfident and quickened my pace a bit while helping a newbie to the summit. Headache started to come back a bit. I slowed down and felt fine by the summit. I stayed on the summit about 30 minutes or so and was concerned as I had a headache the year before when I thought I was on the summit too long. As I headed down, I felt okay and even jogged a bit on the sandier parts of the trail. I felt great on the switchbacks, but when I stopped for a water break at about switchback 40, I was overwhelmed by nausea. Yes, I had gone down 2000 feet and felt worse than I felt at 14,500 feet. Though I felt a little better a few minutes later, I didn't get over a light nausea until I laid down in my tent at Consultation lake. Next morning, I felt perfect.

This all leads me to the conversation on what to bring to eat on Whitney. I am now in the opinion that what you will feel like eating changes every hike. Snickers and sweets nauseated me this summit, while last year, I loved them. Carbs from crackers and peanut butter helped me this year, while I didn't even think of enjoying them last year. Even Vitalyte was disgusting this year and water tasted better than ever. So, you really need to bring a variety of food. I know Bulldog's gonna chime in with how much crap I brought in the bear canister, but I was just bringing what I liked last year.....and that was a mistake.