Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion steepness

Hi -

I am from Bay Area, CA and will be hiking whitney on September 3rd 2017. We got permit for the day hike. Currently as part of my training, I am able to do hikes as long as 18miles with a speed of 2mph to 2.5 miles/hr depending on the steepness on an elevation of 3500ft gain. I wanted to know how steep is whitney and wonder if it will be possible for me to maintain a speed of 2mph on an average?

we are planning to start hiking at 3am and is that a good time to start or is it good to start early?

Any input on these is appreciated.

Well, you know how steep Mount Whitney is. The trail gains a little over 6000 feet in 11 miles. Just for round numbers, think of that as 550 feet per mile.

The distance is one factor, and the elevation gain is another factor. The third factor surprises some people. That is that this 6000 feet of elevation gain _starts_ above 8000 feet. By the time you get above 14,000 feet, the air is getting pretty thin. If you are not adapted to it, it can really knock a hole in your pace.

I won't claim to be a speed demon, but I went up one time in 4 hours 15 minutes... and I was the slow guy.

You are best off if you start at a pace that you can maintain without major stops. There will be water obstacles that will slow you down from there.

By the time that I got a few years past my prime speed, I started earlier and earlier, so 3 a.m. is not out of the question. Some people start at 12:01 a.m. while the air is cool.

I'm one of those that likes to start at 12:01. In some cases, we've even started earlier and just made sure not to cross the Wilderness boundary until midnight.

I like to hike the low part of the trail in the cool (or cold) and take a short nap at TC before heading up the switchbacks if I'm tired.

Exactly.

Even in the darkness, it can get warm on the bottom few miles of trail. Plus, if you can get up to the summit by 9-11 a.m. and then return downhill, you can finish those bottom few miles of downhill while it is cool.

It all depends on your level of conditioning and how well you are acclimated. If you've never hiked at that altitude before then I wouldn't worry about setting a speed goal but rather just getting up and down safely.

I like to start around 1:30 to 2:00 am. I'm from the Bay Area as well and getting down earlier allows me to drive home the same day (although it's not an easy drive of course).

I would do a practice hike in Yosemite like Clouds Rest, or perhaps Granite Pass in Kings Canyon. Both of those hikes mimic the elevation gain and distance and will give you some practice at training at altitude (although at a lower altitude).

Also I would recommend spending a night at Mammoth Mountain Inn along the way. It only 10 minutes off of 395 and AFAIK it's the highest full service hotel in California at 9000 feet. Then in the morning it's a 2 hour drive to Lone Pine to pick up your permit and spend the day acclimating further at the Portal campground. It makes a huge difference to acclimate a full extra day.

Okay. We are planning to visit Yosemite in august and hike Mt Dana which is is at an elevation of 10,000ft. Also on the day before whitney hike, we are planning to do some acclimatizing hikes in Lone Pine area. I hope this helps.

My worry is a combination of how sunny it will be + the steepness. When these two are at a peak then i am very slow, I become the slowest person in our group. But as I see from many people's comments, may be starting to hike as early as possible could solve at least the weather part so that i gotta handle only the steepness.

Most of the trail is very well graded, I wouldn't worry about steepness. There's a few patches between Trail Crest and the summit which are a little steep but they are of short duration. Anyway up there the weather will be cool but will be thin, so really the only thing to be concerned about (other than bad weather) in September is the altitude.

Thanks Bruce.

Where in the Lone Pine area? Most of Lone Pine is well below 4000 feet, so you aren't going to get any positive effect there.

One good place is right at Whitney Portal on the day before your hike. You briskly hike up to the first stream crossing and check it out in broad daylight. That gives you half a chance of getting across it during the middle of the night and still have dry boots.

After years of refining my technique, I found the best place for acclimatizing is in the White Mountains. I would hike up and down White Mountain Peak. Then from my time on that, I could project how I would be doing a few days later on Whitney.

I am also of the start early crowd. One word about the steepness, the steepest part of the trail is between Mirror Lake and Trail Camp. The grade gets up to about 1000 feet per mile at one point over rocky steps and angled rock from the trail being blasted out of the granite. If you take it just a bit slower on this section then the 99's won't feel so bad.

-Dan

If it's the Mt. Dana at the north end of Yosemite out near Lee Vining, that trail STARTS at about 10,000ft. The summit is just over 13,000ft.

Your usual pace is similar to mine, and last year my average pace on the ascent was about 33 minutes per mile. Slowest pace was on the 99 switchbacks. Went too hard on my least favorite part of the trail (the switchbacks after Mirror Lake and the trail to trail camp), that is one of the steeper parts of the trail and it is a grind.

3:00 is a good start time but I prefer earlier.

2+ mph is doable if your'e in excellent condition.
even my marathon conditioned friend took in 12 hrs round trip with breaks (1.75mph).

if you're in decent condition and can handle high elevation, a good time would be 15-18hrs.

its not unusual to see people finishing at night clocking in 20-22hrs. speed is really dependent how well you can handle the elevation.

im from the bay area too, and if you want to just clock in miles, try Stinson Beach to top of Mt Tam then back to Stinson beach. ~20 miles

if you want to do some sheer elevation quad blasting in yosemite, try hiking yosemite valley to clouds rest to tenaya lake, ~18miles, 7100ft elevation gain.

some suggest going to white peak, its one of the most accessible 14ers.

If you want to sleep in high elevation before you start but dont have a campsite, when you drive from the bay area, though yosemite, towards 395, stay a night at mammoth lakes, its at 8k feet. good sleep and good food will make your hike more enjoyable.
you can also try pressure breathing while hiking in elevation to increase oxygen saturation for your blood.

That would be White Mountain Peak.

There is a jeep road all the way from the gate to the summit. On a nice summer day, it can be bright and breezy. Otherwise, it is blowing sleet.