Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Whitney 2007

Yes I remember well what I brought that I shouldn't.
Let me preface what I say about bringing too much is dictated by the weather conditions at the time of my Whitney trip.
First of all I had way too much food. I brought up a full garcia bear conatainer with about 8 pounds of food.I consumed only 2 pounds.
I had perfect warm weather yet I brought too much clothing including unnecessary gortex pants and jacket,fleece jacket and a down jacket,extra pair of pants and shirt.I had 2 pairs of gloves which I never used either and 2 beanies. I brought a water filter,water purifying tablets, and a steri-pen,talk about redundancy. I had a small pocket knife yet I threw in a folding buck knife and a weatherman all purpose tool, none of which I ever used.I had a headlamp,2 small led lights and for good measure threw in a small penlight mag flashlight and a never need to recharge flashlight.I brought a stove just to make hot coffee and boil water for soup.I have since abandoned a stove for a quick overnight trip up to Whitney. I had a light weight one person tent that I really didn't need since the weather was so warm and dry. I also had a thicker and heavier tarp than necessary.
The main lesson I learned was to bring everything you might need clothing wise and to constantly moniter the weather and adjust according to the current conditions once there. I also learned plan food consumption needs much more realisticaly to energy requirements.It really sucks to carry something up the mountain and have to carry it back down un-used.
As I stated I got my 53 lbs pack down to 26 lbs without sacrificing safety or too much comfort.
The things I purchased that were diffence makers were a smaller and lighter back pack. I replaced the tent with a 11 oz.Tarp Tent that doubles as a poncho.I bought a lighter carbon composite bear cannister that saved several pounds.No stove, very thin plastic sheet for a tarp and no filter only the steri-pen to use "if" required.No fleece or gore-tex,no extra pants or shirts.Only enough food for the trip with a few extra meals just in case.