Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Recovery Tips

Hi, my friend and I summited Whitney 8/17, hiking for 18.5 hours on a day permit. It was grueling and we were both wondering to ourselves why people would ever want to do this hike as we were crawling our way down.

Now, my body is very sore and bruised from a bad fall I had coming down from Trailside Meadows to Mirror Lake. I was just wondering if anyone has good advice on how to recover from this hike especially a long strenuous day hike. What did you find most effective for your body?

It was a wonderful and memorable adventure. I just wish I wasn't so sore and bruised.

I've wondered that every time I've done it:-)

Sorry, I have little advice for your condition. Advil, stretching, and time will solve your problem. The "true" solution is better preparation. Like you, I've done in, and then suffered. But for me I have found that if I can meet these two conditions I will have no problems (either the day of the hike, or afterwards):
1. For my training program I must work up to 24 miles/week (minimum) You can do in one day what you normally do in 1 week of regular training.
2. On the longest day during the week I need to go 12 miles (minimum) You can do in one day double your biggest day of regular training.

I do as much climbing as possible, but that is normally only ~ 5K'/week, and only 2.5K' on my biggest day. I have not found that to be insufficient. More would naturally be better.

By the way: Congratulations on achieving your goal. It is not a simple task.

Welcome to the club of the exhausted victorious!

I have often felt the way you do after a big outdoor adventure, asking myself over and over, why am I doing this? My answer is because I love the mountains and its challenges.

For recovery I like to take the advice of St. Thomas Aquinas: "A good meal, a glass of wine, and a good night's sleep."

I’ll begin with the advice you don’t want to hear: If it took you 18½ hours and you were crawling at the end, you didn’t do enough preparation. How many peaks over 13,000’ or even 12,000’ did you climb in preparation for Whitney? It shouldn’t take 18½ hours, and your mind and body should both be functional when you finish. Otherwise, you’re asking to get your name on the evening news. Yes, I know that lots of people do exactly what you did. But you need to do more homework first. OK. Lecture over.

The best way to minimize soreness after a monster day is to do SOMETHING the day after. Take an EASY run, hike, walk, bike ride, swim, or whatever you like. Force yourself to get your legs moving and the blood flowing. Otherwise, the second day you take off will be the one when you can’t move.

Everybody knows we need food, water, and sleep. Be sure to catch up on all three if you’ve abused yourself. I don’t know how much it helps, but I always down 24 ounces of Hammer Recoverite when I get back to the car. 24 ounces of almost anything should help, and Recoverite supposedly has all the right stuff to help you recover. I’m sure there are other products worth considering. Take your pick.

Exertional rhabdomyolysis , AKA “march rhabdo” occurs in athletic “adventures” or in recruits ( hence the reference to marching”.

Eccentric muscle contraction , which you do on long downhills, overexertion, inadequate conditioning, heat, dehydration and more are factors. In most mild or moderate cases like on Whitney, Bob’s suggestions and time work well. I had it there on one occasion but not the others. But if severe, there are very serious medical complications . For more info, see Rhabdo