Trip Report - Labor Day 2011 from an Elevation-Challenged First-Timer
First, I'd like to thank everyone that gave me advice before we attempted Whitney -- including Akichow, Steve C, Bulldog Ken, TDTZ, Versatile Fred, Bob R, Bulldog34 -- excellent advice. Here's my trip report as promised.
Thursday, September 2, 2011 - Onion Valley Campground, elev. 9200. Lovely campground near Independence. We had a walk-in site and no parking space, so we had to haul our stuff uphill. I woke at night with a headache and staggered outside and found out I couldn't open the bear bin. So I staggered down the hill to the car where I downed half a Diamox tablet and some Advil, pulled out the 20 degree down bag from the trunk and read in the car.
Friday, September 3, 2011 - Still in the car when Sherpa woke me up with a thermos of coffee. My Sherpa said I've never shown any aptitude for elevation. But he was going to stick with me, and if I couldn't do the summit, he was going to turn around with me. We'd do it together, or not at all. I'd now reached the depths of despair and depression.
Shepa felt great, loved Onion Valley, but we decided to move to Whitney Portal Campground at elev. 8200 ft. I loved Whitney Portal. We had campsite 39 -- a lovely campsite next to a waterfall. Portal Store has everything a Whitney hiker could want including food, live music and hot showers!
Dinner in Lone Pine at the Merry-Go-Round included delicious wonton soup that hit the spot. McDonald's in Lone Pine has free Wi-Fi so we parked outside, and I pulled up link from Akichow's post (on my questions from a First Timer), to check the weather at Outpost and Trail. Outpost camp, Labor Day: 36 degrees at night, 30 percent chance rain or snow. Trail Camp: 31 degrees at night a 30 percent change of snow or rain rain starting around 11 am.
Saturday, September 4, 2011 - Breakfast at the Portal store -- a gigantic pancake (you HAVE to try this!), eggs, sausages, coffee. We loaded our backpacks. The main buckle on Sherpa's backpack broke! Portal store sold us the exact buckle he needed for two bucks. Doug Sr. told three of us ladies some stories, and I weighed my pack. Me: 17 pounds. Sherpa: 34.
Outpost, was sunny, and beautiful. We decided to go to one of the campsites described in Elizabeth Wenk's book, Mt. Whitney, a little above Trailside Meadow. But at Trailside Meadow, with the chance of rain on Labor Day, we decided to go on to Outpost.
On the way to Outpost, a hiker told us there were good campsites next to a small stream, right before you get to Trail Camp that were sheltered from the wind. We found one that was exceptionally protected right before Trail Camp.
We had Mountain House Chicken a la King - which was really good for freeze dried food - with a package of chicken added, and snickers.
That night was cold and very, very windy. The Big Agnes tent was terrific, but the vestibule flapped and kept Sherpa awake. I was warm and toasty in my 20 degree bag; he had a down sweater that kept his torso warm but his toes turned into popsicles. He didn't sleep a wink. I was to learn much later that he had an altitude headache that night.
Monday, September 5, 2011, Labor Day - Sherpa and I had been carrying only 1 L each. At Trail Camp, we filled up our camelbaks and bottles so we each had 3.5 L. Excellent, delicious water on the switchbacks. We steripenned everything.
At the top of the switchbacks, Sherpa said he was gasping for air, and his chest felt tight. When we stopped, he felt okay. We decided to go to Trail Crest and make a decision. A hiker came down and said that there was going to be rain at 11 am today, and we had better hurry up. As soon as he left, Sherpa said we needed to turn around.
We made it to Trail Crest, 13,600 feet. We decided that Sherpa would turn around. He was still strong and felt okay if he rested a lot but was worried if he continued, he might have trouble getting down. I felt great. We decided I would keep going but keep an eye on the clouds and turn around if anything didn't look good.
I took a lot of pictures, and met a lot of kind people along the way that helped me to take pictures to show Sherpa when I got back. On the way up, I met two rangers. One ranger, a man, told me that there was a chance of storms, but today was okay -- it would not be until tomorrow. The weather was glorious, alpine sunshine with blue skies and flowers.
Near the top, I met Judy, and gave her a peppermint. Hard candies are great to have! We hiked together until she met another ranger, and a friend of hers, and she stopped a while to talk.
The summit, 14,505, was glorious. The sun was out, there was a light breeze, and the views are impossible to describe. There was only one other person there, a young man sunning himself and eating a sandwich. I asked him to take my picture, and he showed me some of the best spots to shoot. A cute marmot came out to watch.
I didn't want to spend much time on the summit so I signed the register and hoofed it back, taking time to fill up my camelbak with great water. Btw, there was snow near the summit and the young man pointed out small stream to me.
Sherpa was waiting for me at the bottom, with Judy! Sherpa went back to camp for a bit, and then went back to the trail and waited there for 3.5 hours, worried the whole time. Judy saw him, and recognized him from my description. Sherpa said that luckily folks, including both the rangers remembered seeing me and told him I was up there taking a lot of pictures.
Sherpa says sleeping at Trail Camp is where he started getting a headache. He chatted with one of the rangers who told him that 12K is too high (for some) to camp overnight at. (They really need a campground at 11K.) Sherpa said everyone told him that the winds were terrible at Trail Camp, and no one slept.
That night Trail Camp was much warmer, maybe 36 degrees, with no wind and some cloud cover. The next day we had a lovely, sunny hike back down to Portal. Poor Sherpa now calls himself an "elevation-challenged Sherpa." But once he saw the video of me dancing around at the summit, he said, we'll do Whitney next year!!
