This is a long one, so proceed with caution and I appreciate your understanding, for those that choose to slog through my stream of conscious recollection of our trip up the Mt. Whitney Trail on August 5-6, 2013.
I’ll start by saying that I’ve had Mt. Whitney on my life goals list since I was a teenager. However, living in NC always seemed to keep this particular challenge on the back burner for years. Fortunately, I had a friend remind me last year that, at 48, I’m not getting any younger. So, in October 2012, we decided that 2013 was the year, assuming we could get permits.
The permit process was interesting, but ultimately successful. The three of us on our team each submitted a permit lottery application. We all picked different entry dates ranging from mid-July to mid-August. We were hoping for early August, but would take anything, weekend or weekday, during our target window, as long as it was an overnight permit. We didn’t think we were up for a day hike.
We were very saddened to each get an e-mail saying that we didn’t make it in the lottery. However, looking at the on-line tool, it appeared there was availability on some of our favorite dates. So, we held out some hope that we could score a permit when they became available to everyone. When the day came for general availability, I was on-line exactly at the appointed time and snapped up the three we needed for an August 5th entry, overnight permit. Game on!!
This being our first attempt coupled with the fact that it isn’t an easy prospect to do this trip/hike on short notice from North Carolina meant we needed to take our training seriously. While we did this to the best of our ability for middle aged professionals who travel a lot for work, I would say our overall experience would have been easier, if we would have done even more. Two of the three of us did make the summit, but we were all worn out at the end of the day when we reached the portal to end the hike.
So, my first bit of advice is something we all read over and over in these reports….prepare and condition at as high a level as you can possibly manage. Specifically, do your best to simulate the ascent and descent required for such a challenge. The two of us who made the summit at least had the ability to tackle rugged climbs in the North Carolina Mountains including ascents of 3,600+ feet in a single hike. Our friend who didn’t quite make it to the top, didn’t have this easy option where he lives and this proved to be a critical factor for him. Climb, climb, climb, even if you can’t replicate the altitude differences.
Speaking of altitude, this is an area where I think we did something right. We ultimately decided to fly out to California on the Thursday before we entered the Whitney Zone on Monday. We were lucky enough to have the resources and time to rent a condo above 9,000 feet at Mammoth Mountain for three nights leading up to the hike. This allowed us to sleep at good elevation each night and then hike every day up to the summit of the mountain at 11,000 feet. We would hang out up there for a few hours each day reading, etc. Consequently, none of us had any issues at all with the altitude on Mt. Whitney, not even our friend who didn’t make it. His only issue was time…he simply had to turn before he could make it to the top or risk not getting out in time Tuesday evening.
On Sunday, August 4th, the night before the big day, we all packed, double-checked our gear, and got to bed early to get as much rest as possible. We left the Mammoth condo at 5am, stopped for a good breakfast en route, and were on the trail by 8:30am.
Another thing I would change slightly about our trip is how closely we monitored our pace on the hike up to Trail Camp. Don’t get me wrong, we had a GREAT hike up on Monday. However, we got a little caught up in the beauty and spent more time hanging out at lovely stops, taking pictures, eating snacks, etc. We ultimately didn’t arrive at Trail Camp until nearly 5pm. While actually hiking, we were keeping a pace of slightly more than 2 mph, so we literally were stopped more than we were hiking. We got a lot of great pictures this way, but we ended up feeling a bit rushed for time as the sun was going down at camp. It is easy to underestimate how much time it will take to setup camp, gather all the water needed for cooking, cook dinner, gather more water and treat it for the summit day, etc. By the time we did all this and actually could pause and eat our dinner, it was getting late in the day and pretty chilly. I personally would have enjoyed more time to relax in the sun.
But, in the end, it worked out fine and we got to bed not long after dark. I slept fine generally, though I think the altitude caused me a few extra potty breaks during the night. If not the altitude, I guess I really stayed well hydrated on the hike up, because nature called at least 3-4 times overnight. The good news, though, is that during the first such interruption to my sleep, I was nearly floored by the magnitude of the star field in the sky. I felt I could reach out and scoop up handfuls of the Milky Way, it was that mind-numbingly clear across the inky blackness of the chill, Sierra night. After that, I didn’t mind the other trips out of the tent overnight. We just simply don’t see stars like that here on the East Coast, at least not since I was a little kid in the early 70’s. What an amazing treat.
Each of us was up and on the trail ranging from 4:45am to 5:30am. This proved fine for two of us, but our other buddy would have benefited from an even earlier start. Having read and prepared extensively for this trip, we all agreed on personal “turn times” based on our own assessment of our individual fitness, pace, etc. These were different for each of us, so we agreed to proceed at our own pace for summit day with a couple of agreed check points for the group to gauge how we were feeling. Our check points were the cable section on the switchbacks, Trail Crest, and the JMT junction. Anyone still good for the summit and ahead of their “turn time” schedule would proceed together from the JMT junction to the summit.
Even though our buddy left at least 30-45 minutes before us, we caught up with him around switchback 25. At that point, we could tell he was already concerned about meeting his turn time. To be completely safe, he felt his turn time from the summit was around 9:30am. He just wasn’t feeling it at this point and informed us that we shouldn’t wait for him at the cables. This ultimately proved to be the right call on his part, though I hate it for him personally. He could have made it if we had planned to camp one more night.
My other partner and I journeyed on at a decent pace for a couple of old guys, hit Trail Crest within 5-10 minutes of one another and took a quick break there. At this point, we felt really good about how we were handling the altitude, which gave me a big shot of confidence. So, we took off and were on the summit by 10:15am. Words fail to describe the feeling up there. It was just a crystal clear day. We soaked it in, took plenty of pictures and some HD video, signed the log and had a light lunch. I went ahead and started the journey back down at 11am sharp, my calculated turn time. My friend, the fastest of us all, stuck around up there until 11:30am or so.
I made great time back down to camp, for me. I was extra cautious from the windows all the way to the JMT, where there are some sketchy areas. Being alone on this stretch caused me to be a little more conscious of the risk for some reason. However, I really made up some time on the switchbacks, where I averaged close to 3 mph on the way down. This was good in some respects, but I think I paid for it later in the evening.
I was back at Trail Camp by a little after 2pm. Our other friend had broken camp and already left, much as we expected. I hoped to pack up quickly and ultimately catch him on the way down, but didn’t really have a feel for when he actually left Trail Camp. One lesson learned is that as well as we planned for the possibility of separating, we could still have included more communication points along the way. Just a simple note from our buddy letting us know when he left Trail Camp would have been great, but it all worked out in the end.
Upon arriving at Trail Camp, my mind said “Break down the camp and get on the trail again by 3pm.” My body couldn’t make that happen. It is easy to forget that after summiting from Trail Camp and returning, you’ve already hiked over 10 miles in strenuous conditions. At this point, I started feeling the exertion and the pace on the switchbacks started taking a toll on my feet. My summit partner got back to Trail Camp about 10 minutes after me and, he too, was moving pretty slowly at this point.
We methodically worked through the process of packing up, but it was really a chore. This is where I started wishing again that we planned for another night at camp. However, with our other friend already making his way out to the portal, we really didn’t have a choice. So, over 2 hours later, we were back in business, though my attitude was not a very good one.
The stretch from Trail Camp back down to Outpost Camp was the biggest challenge for me the entire trip. My feet were really sore (no blisters, just the pounding from the rocks all day) and the added weight of having to carry the full pack (30 lbs) versus the fifteen lbs we took to the summit made that stretch both a mental and physical challenge that I had never quite faced in my years of hiking, competitive running, basketball, or any other endeavor.
But, thanks to the encouragement of my friend, we powered through it and things really started to turn after Outpost Camp. I didn’t stop for any sort of break from Outpost Camp all the way out to the portal and made a good pace from there as well. I had read how welcome the sandier trail in the lower sections of the trail can be. It literally made all the difference for me. It was almost 8:30pm before I made it all the way back, but make it we did.
Ultimately, we grabbed a hotel in Lone Pine and found ourselves seated together at the local McDonald’s around 10pm with silly grins on all our faces while having a burger and a Coke. The portal store was closed for me, so no luck trying one of their fine burgers. Maybe next time.
Very, very happy and fulfilled to have made it to the top. I owe a ton to the many folks who post tips and reports on this site, to the friends who came on the trip, and to my wife and kids who never complained as dad spent most of the summer working out on the treadmill, hiking in the NC mountains, and flying out to California to hike to the top of Whitney.
John Muir once said “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” The “rest of the world” includes all of you and my family and friends back here at home.
Thank you.
