My hiking group made our initial decision to hike Mt Whitney during one of our weekly hikes last summer. Since then we did much research, preparation, and training. We are from Reno/Sparks NV and our group leader Dave submitted our permit application last February for our original group the "Whitney 11". We felt lucky that we were able to get our first choice of dates for our hike. Several alternate dates we submitted were earlier in July and I think the snow was a bigger factor at that time. A few of the original group dropped out for various reasons and we recruited some outstanding replacements.
Spring in Reno arrived later this year because of the huge snow pack and this delayed our opportunity to hit the trails. My training consisted of 9 trips to a very nearby Galena Park and 4 climbs up nearby Mt. Rose (elevation 10,776 ft). Those switchbacks in Galena Park are excellent training. One day after reaching the top of the switchbacks, we went down and climbed them again. I know out group had and advantage because Reno elevation is 4500 ft and my house is over 5000 ft. Also I started dieting in early June and lost 15 pounds - less weight to carry up Mt Whitney.
I started carb loading a few days before our hike and at the advice of my doctor I loaded up with Ibuprofen starting two days before my hike. I had ask him for some Diamox but he said the altitude would be no problem but my biggest problem would be my aching knees and hips ( My wife and I are both 60). So he refused to prescribe the Dioxin and he was right.
After spending the night anxiously trying to sleep in our motel in Lone Pine we met at the trailhead at 3 PM.While waiting for some of our group we were entertained by a bear at the trailhead not 30 ft from us. He was not aggressive and finally wandered off when someone shooed him away. We were finally underway at 3:20 AM. Three members of our group were still enroute from their motel in Bishop about an hour away. We didn't wait for them 1.because they're always late (Scott) and 2. because they are the fastest strongest of our group.
As we progressed up the trail my wife and I quickly fell behind the rest of the group.Twice we caught up as they rested and waited. I remarked "I thought our Whitney pace was going to be slower than our regular pace" but I was wrong. So my wife Bea and I often reminded each other to keep our own pace to conserve our energy. We had lots of snacks - MM's, mini Snickers bars, the small Cliff bars, and several packets of GU energy gel. As advised we hydrated and fueled our bodies regularly. We each also carried two sandwiches each. Bea carried 3 1/2 liters of Gatorade and I carried 3 3/4. We did refill on the way up at Trailside Meadows where we finally caught Dave as he was filtering water. Scott, Michelle, and Kyle passed us a little after sunrise and they made the summit in a little over 6 hours.
I found the stretch between Trailside Meadows and Trail Camp especially difficult. A relentless climb. I had been looking forward to the 97 switchbacks and was not disappointed. We crossed the running spring water around switchback 23 and were at the cables sooner than I expected. As we neared the top of the switch backs I could see people up at Trail Crest and was elated when we arrived there. As we passed the John Muir Trail junction we noticed that many hikers had left their back packs at this junction. Soon after that Bea decided to leave her pack and continue with her bottle of water and side pack of snacks. After that she increased her pace and I had to ask her to slow down she was wearing me out.
We summited at about 12:50 for a 9 1/2 hr ascent. We had hoped for 8 hrs up and 6 hrs down. All but one of our group was on the summit so we all celebrated and soon Dave also arrived - all 11 of us had made it. I had a sandwich and some snacks. The altitude did not seem to affect me at all. In fact I felt great at the summit. I know I often felt more exhausted after some local hikes. All our training had paid off. We soon left and Dave, Bea, and I were together for the entire descent. We refilled our water bottles at the springs on the switchbacks. We did not bother filtering and the water was ice cold and taste great. I felt good most of the way but about half way down I started feeling the fatigue and those last 2 miles from Lone Pine Lake seemed to never end. Around 8 we had to put our headlamps on again and we arrived back at the trail head around 8:30 - 7 1/2 hrs to come down.
Our group had name tags that I had made and many people asked "What's with the name tags" Some even called Dave by name. All the water crossings were easy no need to get wet and the snow was not much of a factor. No snow on the trail on any of the switch backs. Only a fairly short snow field close to the summit where there was a narrow path about 3 ft deep.
