This was posted on the wpsmb today. INCREDIBLE story. In my non-medical opinion, it is a case of hyponatremia on the Main Mt Whitney Trail.

Posted here: Trying to understand what happened to me by dharma at 09-26-2012 04:32 PM

Please forgive the extremely long post, but I had a frightening experience this past Monday, and trying to understand what happened. Any insight is greatly appreciated.

My original plan, was to sleep at the Portal on Sunday night, and take it very slowly, sleeping at Outpost Camp on Monday, Trail Camp on Tuesday, and then hopefully summit on Wednesday.

I had a permit for 2 people, and I think the first mistake was not canceling my trip when my partner bailed at the last minute. I have hiked by myself quite a bit, so I wasn't concerned, but I should have been. I got to the Portal as planned on Sunday. Had a great time just soaking up the atmosphere, eating, hydrating etc. and attempted to go to sleep around 9pm. Problem was, I couldn't sleep at all. Not a wink. I normally have problems sleeping before a big hike, so this didn't bother me. I continued to try to sleep until 4am, at which time a good many day hikers were heading up, and even with ear plugs I could hear them, so I then gave up and made myself some coffee. After picking up my permit and having an awesome breakfast at the Portal, (and I ate almost all of it), I started on the trail.

I have had issues with dehydration and loss of appetite in the past, so I paid special attention to these. I was eating snacks every hour, and drinking large amounts of fluid, (I had 3 liters of water and 1 liter of cytomax by the time I reached Outpost Camp). I don't feel I was dehydrated, because I drank all my water and Cytomax, and my urine was clear.

Despite not a wink of sleep, I felt surprisingly fantastic. Great appetite and energy level. I took things slow, as I have a chronic knee issue, but still did well. When I got to Outpost Camp, I remember feeling wonderful, and because I arrived earlier than expected, I wanted to take some photos of the meadow. I set up camp, filtered and drank more water, ate a full meal, (I was ravenous) and did my dishes. Out of the clear blue sky, I was suddenly overwhelmed by a fatigued feeling that I've never experienced before. The exhaustion hit me like a brick wall, but I chalked it up to not sleeping the night before. Luckily, everything was prepped for the morning, so even tho it was before 5pm, I decided to go to sleep.

I only slept for 1/2 hour, when I was awoken by a severe headache, the likes of which I have never experienced. I have migraines sometimes, and this was worse. I got out of the sleeping bag to get some Ibuprofen from the bear canister, and when I got back to my camp, there was a woman sitting there in shorts and a tank top, with no daypack visible. I thought it was kinda strange since I had all my clothes and a jacket on, and I was a bit chilled. The woman looked at me and said, "You're not feeling well…you better head back down. Don't worry, I'll walk with you". For some reason, (which is very unlike me) I just said, OK, and started packing up. I didn't even fold anything neatly, I just shoved stuff into my pack and started walking down ahead of her, without even thinking that it was starting to get late. I could hear her walking behind me, but because of the headache, I wasn't talking.

Less than a quarter mile down, I started to throw up. I turned around to talk to the lady who was walking with me to apologize for holding her up, but she wasn't there. At first, I was upset that she said she was going to walk with me, and then left me. It was further down the trail that I came to the frightening realization that she never existed in the first place.

My head was getting much worse, and with a kind of weird detachment, I noticed that I was unsteady, dizzy and stumbling around quite a bit. I remember being puzzled and thinking that since the elevation was decreasing, that I should start to feel better. Unfortunately, I started to feel much worse. When I reached Lone Pine Lake, I stopped to try to drink something, and when I looked up at the ridge, I had the most terrifying experience of my life. I saw corpses hanging from ropes attached to the mountain. There were tons of them, all in orange sleeping bags, with nooses around their necks, hanging from the mountain. It was at this point, that I knew I was in serious trouble, and am not ashamed to say I started to cry. It was now starting to get dark, and I knew I had to get down, so I got my headlamp out, and continued down.

The log crossing was incredibly difficult, as I was so unsteady and dizzy, and I thought I was going to fall. Shortly after that, I did fall several times, (and have the bruised knees to remind me) but I knew I was in big trouble, and just kept telling myself, "get down - keep going - keep going". I was becoming more disoriented and started seeing weird lights and animals crossing the trail, (animals that didn't make sense, like buffalo). All this time walking down, I was completely alone, and didn't see anyone, and I was terrified, particularly when I started having visual disturbances. I am quite sure this is just in my mind, but it looked like there was a dense fog, which made seeing the trail very difficult.

About halfway down, I had an overwhelming feeling to just lay down in the middle of the trail. It was very dark by now, and I was looking for headlamps of other people, but couldn't see any, and never did run into anyone. I didn't know how I was making it in the dark, stumbling around, but I would have these strange amounts of time that I didn't remember at all...coupled with certain times where I seemed to be a bit more lucid and aware. I decided to start counting steps out loud to try and keep focus. This caused me to realize that I wasn't speaking properly. so I knew I had to get down fast. I made it out to the Portal, still disoriented, nauseous and with an excruciating headache, and had trouble finding my car, even though it was close to the trailhead. When I finally found my car, I looked back up on the mountain and saw about 30 sets of headlamps, so I have no idea why I never ran across anyone else. I immediately started driving down, desperate to get off the mountain, completely forgetting that I had additional supplies in a bear box at the campground (I'm so sorry I forgot those).

When I got to Lone Pine, I stopped at a gas station to get something to drink and gas up the car. I was shocked that I wasn't doing any better, and I should have been, since I was no longer at altitude. My head was still feeling like it was going to explode, and although I took 8 more Ibuprofen in addition to the 8 I took up high, they did nothing. I was still disoriented, but at least I wasn't hallucinating anymore. I tried to call my husband, but got voicemail, and left him a crazy, sobbing, incoherent message. Clearly, I should not have been driving, but I wasn't in my right state of mind. About 30 miles outside of Lone Pine, I stopped at a truck stop to try and get some sleep. I could only sleep for about 30 minutes, and the headache was not getting better, so I kept driving. I was just desperate to get home.

I finally arrived home 4 hours after I left the Portal, and my husband was shocked at how bad I looked. He said I was stumbling like I was drunk, and couldn't stand up straight. He also told me that the voicemail I left him didn't even sound like me, and I was babbling and he actually thought it was a crank call at first. He also said he tried to call me back multiple times, but I don't remember the phone ringing once. I have no idea how I drove. I immediately went to sleep, but only slept about 5 hours, still with a headache which persisted into the next day. I couldn't do much of anything yesterday, and the headache, coordination problems and nausea persisted till evening, when I all of a sudden started feeling better.

I was absolutely amazed at how quickly I deteriorated, and the fact that I didn't get better even at sea level. The scariest part by far, were the hallucinations. That was horrifying. Although I feel really tired, all the symptoms are gone now, and I'm just trying to understand what happened. I am familiar with altitude symptoms, but don't understand how I went from perfectly fine, to exhausted, then headache, and a progression of symptoms that sound too severe for the altitude I was at, (and I've been over 10,000 feet many times, including frequent visits to the summit of Mt. Baldy) and the short time period that they occurred. It just seems that the symptoms were so severe, that altitude alone doesn't make sense to me. I am also puzzled as to why I didn't get better after descending, even once home at sea level, until late the next day. Does this make sense to anyone else?

I know that not sleeping the night before was probably an issue, and I should have tried to get a permit for the next day, but I am really trying to figure out what else I did wrong, so I never have to experience that frightening night again. Any input is appreciated, (feel free to be brutally honest) and I do appreciate your taking the time to read this.