All,
First I'd like to thank you for helping me out with every single bit of information I needed for my Whitney day hike. Also, would like to mention that this TR is going to be "longish" - I just want to tell it all.
The idea came of day hiking Whitney came to me when I was thinking about "the one symbol" that could epitomize the changes I made since last year. Last year I was diagnosed as diabetic, 40 lb overweight, completely out of shape, and at the bottom of my fitness. I bet with myself that before the end of 2014, I'll be at the top of my fitness and health. So what's at the top that I could achieve - Whitney.
Since 2013 April, I lost around 40 lbs, worked out every day (ran/hiked/swam/did weights), and now have reached a stage where I don't have to take any medication for diabetes (only controlling through diet and exercise). In February I applied for a day hike permit for 6 in late July. One by one all members of my group backed out but I decided to make this trip no matter what. I did practice for endurance (hiking upto 26 miles in Tennessee mountains/hills) but altitude was an unknown factor.
I read up a lot of information on AMS, other potential issues on Whitney day hikes and tried to be prepared. Since, I was coming from Tennessee, I didn't have a luxury of making several trips just in case anything went wrong. So I planned and hoped for the best.
20th July - Traveled from TN to Las Vegas. Drove through Death Valley on my way to Lone Pine. The views were great in Death valley and it was hot in the afternoon - 120 degrees.
I was glad that I had a car with working A/C. As I came near Lone Pine, I could see Whitney and other peaks on the horizon. It was a great view and that time I was understanding the magnitude of my task. I booked a room in Best Western (couldn't get in DOW Villa for those days - may be next time). The room was ok but not cheap- no complaints though. Since I'm not a camping person, I've to pay the cost of the hotel and there are not that many choices. Immediately after checking in, I hit the portal and went for a warm up hike. I had a couple of hours before dark and wanted to scope the trail out. I went about 2 miles up and was back around 8:15 at night. I didn't feel any AMS symptoms then.
21st July - Went ahead and picked up my permit at 8am. After breakfast drove to Horseshoe Meadows camping and did a 7.58 mile warm up hike to cottonwood pass. This was my first experience at more than 10K elevation and I still did not feel any altitude sickness. Had lunch at the pass, read about 100 pages of a book and headed back down to lone pine.
22nd July - In the morning, I again drove to Horseshoe meadows campground. My plan was to sit there and acclimatize myself at elevation but got bored after 2 hours of reading. I decided to go to portal and sit there and chat with some people. When I reached portal there was not a single place to park. There were runners from "badwater ultra cup" race on the road and the portal atmosphere was a like a carnival one. So I decided to head back down to Lone Pine. On my way back, I gave ride to a nice Dutch couple (Rob and Marla from Holland) who spent about 5 weeks in Sierras hiking. They wished me luck - and boy i really needed that.
I Thought that if I get some sleep/rest in the afternoon, it will be easy to start early in the night. However, I was wired up and couldn't rest or sleep. Finally, at 6pm I got ready and headed for the portal. The plan was to go to portal, park, talk with some people, sleep in the car for a while and start hiking between 12:30am- 1:00 am. From this forum I found another hiker buddy who also was planning to do a solo hike on the same day. Him and I decided to meet at the scale at 12:30ish and hike together. At the portal, I met with Mike who told me not to worry and pace myself. Mike also mentioned that he did this hike every year. I tried to sleep in the car but couldn't do it for more than half an hour. Reasons - noise, anxiety, time of the day, comfort level of car seat. At around 11:55pm I decided to get ready.
23rd July - The day of the hike - I met Joseph (Ponzy on the forum) around 12:45 and we left right at 1:00 am. Ponzy shares a similar story like mine and I thought we'd hike perfectly together. Turned out that we did great as a team. We weighed out day packs (mine was 17 lb, his was 18 lb). Don't know why we were carrying so much.
I carried about 2 liters of water knowing that there were plenty of water sources while Ponzy had a lot more water. The night hiking was a new experience ( i walked my dog in the dark using the headlamp as practice. I planned to do a hike in the dark but cancelled that plan when I encountered 2 rattlesnakes and a cottonmouth on a day hike in Tennessee). We saw a deer but later heard that around 3 am a hiker was attacked by a bear and snatched his backpack. For us, the hike till outpost camp was uneventful.
After outpost camp, the nasty stretch began switchbacks after switchbacks near mirror lake and then the half mile of the trail just before the trail camp was not fun. I had heard the switchbacks were nasty but this was energy sapping too. Just before the trail camp though, we saw a spectacular sunrise and shades of oranges in the sky and on the mountains. It cannot be described in the words and had the power to make us forget that we were getting tired.
We took a breather at the trail camp. At that point we were anxious knowing switchbacks were next. Also, this is where Ponzy started feeling the effect of AMS. He didn't exhibit any other symptoms but headache. I gave him ibuprofen to make it go away for a while.
Switchbacks were "BRUTAL". No other word for them. Endless, energy sapping. Also, Ponzy's headache was getting worse. So we slowed down quite a bit. I was telling myself that it's not a race. It was a clear day and no rain or thunderstorms were forecast. So I was not worried if we made the summit half an hour later than planned. Our speed became around 1.4mph and that was ok with me. Views from switchbacks are amazing. Every switchback you are going up and see things differently. There was no ice at the cables and going through that is not difficult at all.
At the trail crest we were ecstatic that we made up to 13,600 feet. I was not feeling any AMS symptoms but Ponzy's headache was worse. He had another ibuprofen but it was not proving effective. Also, did I say that it was windy. Well..it was..about 25 mph gusts and the temperature was in 40s. For a guy who's originally from India and whose hometown winter low is 60 degrees, this was too much. Fortunately, I had a jacket and a good cap. But I believe cold played a part in Ponzy's headache.
If switchbacks were brutal, then the next section after Trail Crest was "brutaler" in my opinion. Narrow, steep, rocky, non uniform, hard to spot trail, drop offs on both sides (windows), it had it all. But we were determined, cautious, and steady. Good hiking boots and trekking poles helped tremendously.
But by then, we could see the hut at the summit and if we could see it we could reach it. Just about half a mile from summit, we met a father/son duo on their way to the top. The son was sick/vomiting. I gave some of my ibuprofen, electrolyte tabs, gu chomps, gu gels and water to make him feel better. I was surprised to learn that between those two, they had only one 1 liter of water bottle. So much for the preparation.
Finally, at 11:10 am we made the summit. It took us 10:10 hours but was well worth it.
The views from the top were spectacular.
However, it was cold and windy. Ponzy was still having a bad headache and he took a brief nap. We signed the register, took obligatory photographs. I saw the father/son making the summit while we were about to leave. I felt some satisfaction that I could help him out in some way.
Finally we left the summit after half an hour. I thought it's going to be easy and downhill..but not so fast. I forgot the portion before trail crest. It was still "brutaler". But once we reached trailcrest, rest was very easy. Good trekking poles and sure footing is all you need. We took only a couple of breaks on our way down after trail crest. I saw several wag bags littered off the trail - some people. For the whole hike I did not have to use the wag bag (and I was afraid that I might need more than one..then what would I do?).
It took us 6:00 hours to get down to portal. Ponzy was still having headache but mild. So we skipped the beer at the portal but had the burger. I was very tired but happy. It was well worth the effort and no AMS. Yay..
I thank again to all the experts on this forum who made my hike easier with their valuable advice.
All the photos during my trip are uploaded here.
https://plus.google.com/photos/100340339718576103183/albums/6040812648724739793Thanks.
Abhijit
