Just got back from a fun trip to Mt. Whitney! Some background: I'm a 47 year old male, and this was my first time hiking Mt. Whitney. Some friends did a Mt. Whitney overnight last week; I was out of town and could not join them, so I got a day hike permit for Tuesday, July 8th and went solo. Here's a brief sketch of the trip, which was actually a 3-day trip including camping at Onion Valley:

Sunday, July 6, 2014 Drove from L.A. to the Eastern Sierra Interagency Visitor Center to pick up my permit and wag bag. Had lunch in Lone Pine, then drove to Onion Valley campground (~9200 feet elevation). Arrived at Onion Valley about 2:00 p.m., got settled, and did an easy hike up the Kearsage Pass trail to Heart Lake (~11,000 feet elevation), about 6 miles round trip. Started at 3:00, spent some time snacking at (actually above) Heart Lake. then back to the campground by 6:00. Light rain on the descent. Had some dinner then went to sleep around 7:30, with the help of a sleep mask, ear plugs and a little Benadryl. Slept great.

Monday, July 7, 2014 Lounged around at Onion Valley, read a book all day, ate, and drank about 6 liters of water. Weather was cloudy, cool, with intermittent light rain. Tried to go to sleep at about 7:00 (no Benadryl) with minimal success; finally got a couple hours of decent sleep before my 2:00 a.m. wake up time.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014 Woke up at 2:00 a.m., made some breakfast and coffee, packed up my gear, and left for Whitney Portal about 2:45 a.m. The sky was clear with lots of stars...looked like a good window of opportunity (with thunderstorms forecasted I was ok with not summiting Mt. Whitney if conditions were not favorable).

Arrived at Whitney Portal little more than an hour later, after slowly negotiating the hairpin turns out of Onion Valley. Found the trailhead and hikers' parking lot, put my food and scented items in a bear box, used the restroom and started the hike at 4:00 a.m.

Temps were mild; I wore shorts and a tee to Trail Camp (I arrived there at 6:30), where it was cold and a little windy. I refilled the two 1 liter water bottles I had been drinking out of (an overnight camper offered up some of his supply he did not need), and I partially filled a 2 liter Platypus bladder to about 1.5 liters at the stream feeding the Trail Camp lake/pond.

I spent longer than I expected filtering water (using a Sawyer mini filter for the first time) and lost body heat; my hands in the cold water did not help. By the time I was ready to continue, my teeth were chattering and my body was shaking; I needed to get some warmer clothes on and start moving. I spent additional time pulling my wind pants and insulated wind shirt out of my pack and changing, then it was on to the switchbacks. In total I spent about a half hour at Trail Camp. I should have had some insulation ready to wear when I arrived, and I should have done a trial run with my water filter ahead of time.

Somewhere on the switchbacks I changed back into my shorts and tee...I can't remember exactly where, I just know that in one pic on the switchbacks (that a hiker offered to take) I'm wearing my wind pants and shirt, then in the next pic at the Trail Crest (which another hiker offered to take) I'm in my shorts and tee! If seeing me in my underwear on the switchbacks offended anyone, I'm sorry haha. The picture takers were super nice, as were the other hikers I met on the trail.

The weather was great the rest of the way to the summit. I wore shorts, tee, and an uninsulated windshirt from Trail Crest on. The views on the west side of the mountain were other-wordly. I reached the summit at 9:45 a.m. and hung out for about a half hour, snacking, drinking water, and replenishing electrolytes (I used Nuun Active Hydration lemon-line tabs which I really liked).

The weather got interesting on the descent. Some benign looking clouds developed, then they turned dark and the sun disappeared, and after I had finished refilling my water bottles on the switchback water source (I had used all 3.5 liters before I hit the switchbacks)), the top of the mountain was enveloped in dark clouds and it started raining. There was intermittent thunder and lightning, and I was glad I left the summit when I did.

I wore my windshirt until it almost wetted out (waiting to see if the rain would let up which it didn't haha) and then put on my Gore-Tex jacket at Trail Camp. It rained steadily from Trail Camp to Outspost Camp. When I planned for rain, I was thinking more about keeping myself dry than about how the rain would affect the trail and how I should pace myself. I was also unsure about how the trail runners I was wearing would handle wet, slippery granite. Everything turned out ok and that was another learning experience for me. For a while I followed a group that was going at a reasonable pace. Later, after that group stopped for a rest, another solo hiker was following me; I offered to let him pass but he declined...having someone following made me hyper-aware of keeping on the trail and not making any missteps.

In the last mile or so of the trail, there were quite a few areas of significant runoff/debris/erosion that had not been there in the morning. I made it back to the trailhead about 3:20 p.m., had a burger and fries at the portal store, hit the road a little after 4:00, and made it home by 7:45.

Likes Onion Valley campground, the 97 switchbacks (I loved these, both going up and down), the views from Trail Crest and beyond.

Dislikes The trail/switchbacks right after Mirror Lake on the ascent, the last mile or so before the summit, the last mile or so before the trailhead!

Next time Although I felt well-prepared physically on this hike, next time I will do some training hikes that have some uphill on the descent. I was done with going uphill by the time I hit Trail Camp on the way down/up haha. Also, I will test all gear ahead of time; I intended to do that with the water filter, and not doing so had a ripple effect. Finally, I would consider camping somewhere at the portal the night before the hike; the 2 a.m. wake-up and hour plus drive to the trailhead were brutal!

Anyways, that the not so brief report! Big thanks to my wife and kids for supporting my little solo adventure.

Last edited by eje67; 07/09/14 11:54 AM.