Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Lone Hiker on Whitney Next Week

Put bears completely out of your mind, other than keeping a close eye on your pack in the dark hours at the Whitney Portal. As has been described, they are generally opportunistic thieves but not aggressive. Bears are normally a major PITA around the Portal in summer, absconding with food/packs and damaging vehicles, but so far this season they've been carousing much lower in the Alabama Hills. Deer seem to have taken over the bears' stomping grounds around the Portal this year, so expect to see a few. Any bear seen much higher than the Portal or Lone Pine Lake is a rare sight indeed.

Leave the bear spray at home - not needed in California. Save it for a hike in Yellowstone or Glacier.

And by the way, Diamox (acetazolamide) is prescription only. Definitely worth a trip to the doc if you've never been to the elevation you're going and won't have time to properly acclimate. "Proper" acclimation for most people is sleeping at least one night at elevation, preferably two, before attempting to go above 12,000 feet. AMS turns more people around on Whitney than any other cause (except, obviously, weather), and that 400-pound gorilla is usually lurking between 12K' and 13K'.