Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Is there an experienced hiker to accompany someone?

If someone is experience in hiking to Mt. Whitney
and would like to go again Mt. Whitney.

Please let me know asap.

Thank you,

Kurt Wedberg is an experienced Whitney guide. His website is http://sierramountaineering.com/mt-whitney/

Not sure if he is allowed to formally guide on the Main Trail...thought only the more technical routes?

It's not really a big deal to hike Whitney alone for the first time. There are so many books and trip reports available that, by the time you actually hike it, it seems like you have done it before. During the prime hiking hours of, say, 3AM to sunset, you are never alone on the trail. In the pre-dawn hours you will see headlamps ahead and behind. During daylight the trail can actually seem crowded in places. Both camping areas, Outpost and Trail Camps, will have plenty of people. Take a map, tick off the landmarks, and enjoy.

Hi Richard,

This is very helpful. However, I am not sure of the altitude sickness. Is there any way to find out if I may have altitude sickness, if yes, what precautions can be taken to avoid it on the trail?

Thank you very much

Thank you

I will contact Kurt.

Thank you

If you don't live near high mountains for training hikes, then it is likely that you will suffer from altitude sickness with loss of appetite, nausea and headaches. Here are some steps that you can take to minimize the chance of illness.

1. Take the herbal supplement ginkgo biloba for about a week before your hike. You can find it in the vitamin section of any grocery or drugstore. Follow the directions on the label. Several clinical studies show it helps with altitude sickness.

2. Arrive in Lone Pine a few days early and spend time at altitude. You can hike the trail as far as Lone Pine Lake without a permit. A paved road leads to nearby Horseshoe Meadow at 10,000 feet. A good dirt road leads to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest at 11,000 feet. These places are worth seeing in their own right.

3. Take aspirin (not Tylenol, Advil or Aleve) when you start the hike as a preventative. Take more during the hike.

4. Drink a lot of water during the hike. Do not wait until you are thirsty. You will already be dehydrated. Drink on a schedule. In addition to water, carry powdered Gatorade or another sports drink to add to the water you collect along the trail.

5. Take food that you enjoy eating to help overcome any loss of appetite. Favor carbs over the harder to digest proteins.

Good luck!

The above is all good, but on #1, there are also studies that show ginkgo biloba does not have any effect. I use the more often recommended Diamox (acetazolamide), which is a prescription drug. 62.5 or 125 mg twice a day, starting at least 24 hours before you go to altitude is recommended for hikers. Do NOT take the higher dosage sometimes prescribed for glaucoma.

I like to sleep overnight at Horseshoe meadows -- walk-in spots are easy to find. Last time I did that, then spent a day relaxing at the walk-in sites at Whitney Portal near the trail head.

I would disagree on the preamble as well. Training at altitude except immediately prior to you hike has no effect on acclimation. It may indicate whether you are susceptible to AMS, but its just flat wrong to say that if you don't do it, you will get sick, or if you do train at altitude, you won't. Wifh it were that simple, but its not.

Also not to hot on 2-4. #2 will only help if yoou sleep up there as well. Just hiking it will not help if you are staying dwon below. Besides #1 and 2, None of that will prevent AMS: it can only not make it worse.

5 is right on, but again, just for general well-being, not AMS

Thank you RichardK

Thank you SteveC

Thank you SaltyDog

We have lived in Florida at 55' above sea level for the last 16 months. Steps 1 to 5 got us to Ruby Lake and the Morgan Pass at 11,000' with no altitude illness. We did sleep at Tom's Place (7000'). A trip report with details and pictures is here:

http://sangabrielmnts.myfreeforum.org/about7133.html

Also, the plan worked for our 5 summits of Whitney when we could spend every Saturday on Mt. Baldy for two months before.

Yes, spending one day a week at 10K does not produce true acclimitizing, but the body sure gets a heads up on what is coming. It makes a difference.

#3 has been what has helped me. I get AMS symptoms starting somewhere around 9500' to 10K'. But I take ibuprofen (which is what is in Advil and Motrin), and not aspirin. Aspirin and ibuprofen (and naproxen, aka Aleve) are NSAIDs so should work in a similar fashion. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is NOT an NSAID.

To point "zero", what altitude you live at is no predictor for whether you will or won't get AMS. You could live in Denver and get AMS at 8000' or you could live in Los Angeles (as my buddy has for all of his life) and not get any AMS even on the Whitney summit. In fact, they still haven't found any sort of reliable predictor, but they have found that older people tend to get it less, and that's probably because they don't ascend as quickly.

For #4, you can have too much water (mild hyponatremia has been discussed on this site before). Certainly make sure you're getting enough salt while you hydrate. I will start with about a liter or more of water in the early morning for the first several miles on a long day hike while it's still cool, then drink a liter or two of Gatorade, or water with Gu or Skratch in it, while trying to regularly eat food (#5) that is mostly carbs (sugar is absorbed much earlier in your digestive system for energy, and protein requires more water for digestion). Proper hydration actually starts 24-48 hours before, so if you are well hydrated in that period of time, you can save time drinking while on the trail. If your urine is essentially clear, you are over-hydrated.

Here is a report from some Canadians who just summitted Whitney and their altitude preparation.

http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=101438#Post101438