this is a continuation of a prior post.

The first part of the climb up the switchbacks was ok. We stopped often to catch our breath and let a few hikers pass. We noticed that these hikers camped out at trail camp or outpost camp. About half way up, one of my buddies started to not feel well, headaches, lack of desire and an overall struggle to keep going. We stopped and gave him some aspirin. Right about this time, the sun disappeared and some big black clouds came flowing over the ridge. Within 3 minutes, it was snowing and the wind was blowing. We quickly put on our ponchos and warm clothes. By the time I had all my cold weather gear on, there was at least 1-2 inches of snow in all my pockets and exposed areas. We hunkered down to weather the storm and a few thunder claps rang out loudly in the valley. We say a few hikers running down the trail to safety and yelling for everyone else to do the same. In less than 10 minutes, the sun was shinning and we took off our ponchos. My buddy, after resting for 10 minutes was feeling much better and was able to continue the hike.

We reached trail crest ( 13,600 feet ) around 11:00 am. A cold strong breeze was waiting for us at the top. We stopped to congratulate ourselves but quickly moved on after prompting from a fellow hiker ( returning from the summit ) to get to a less exposed, warmer, less windy place. We took a break at the junction of the John Muir trail on the backside of the Whitney ridge. Here we met a pair of female hikers we saw on the trip. They were sitting at the trail merge enjoying a fabulous looking sandwich. I had sandwich envy as my trail mix was getting old. This pair passed us on the switchbacks but was worried about the weather and contemplating weather or not to continue. After seeing us older men starting off, they quickly packed up and passed us again.

We too started to think about the weather and time issues. It was noon at this time and there where a few dark clouds heading our way. The clouds where small cells that looked smaller than the event we had on the switchbacks. We did a few calculations and realized we would not reach the summit until around 1 and not be back between 7-8 pm a night. We where not looking forward to a decent with headlights and tired beyond belief. The decision was to continue on but would turn back because of weather.

The trail from trail crest to the summit is scary in some parts. The trail is cut out of rock and pretty steep in places. Some parts required climbing stairs made of jagged rock. Hiking poles where useless and required strategic placement of hands. We had a few hikers pass us on the way down and indicated they where turned back because of the storm we encountered while on the switchbacks. This was the hardest part of the trail for me. I was feeling pretty dizzy and not entirely with all my mental faculties because of the altitude. The trail was harder than what we thought and took about 2 hours.

My other hiking buddy hit the wall at around 14k feet. We stopped for about 10 minutes while my friend laid down to rest. After some confidence building, he was able to continue and we finally reached the summit at 1:00 pm. We where a bit worried that there would be no one left on the summit to take our picture. There where 4 people milling around taking pictures. We stayed for about ½ hour talking and taking pictures. Right before we left, a pair of real men appeared over the ledge. They had climbed up the face of Mount Whitney, about a 2,000 feet climb.

We stared down at a furious pace determined to make it down before headlamps where required. The trail down was just as difficult in some parts as the way up. Each step jarred my joints and rattled my teeth. Hiking up on rocks is hard. Hiking down on nothing but rock is even harder on my body. We where all pretty fatigued at this point and acting goofy in the altitude. We finally made it back to trail crest around 3:30 and started down the switchbacks.

I counted about 9 hikers that we passed on the way down that where still headed up to the summit. This was a nice feeling in knowing were where not the last ones. The hike down the switchbacks was relentless. The view was not quite as spectacular as the way up for some reason. My buddies also stopped eating as much and where we were all on autopilot. When we reached trail camp at 12,000 feet at 4:30 or so, we where all exhausted. We found a flat rock and sat down for a bit.

One of my hiking companions ran out of gas at this point. If he could, he would have stayed. But we had to keep going. The reason I believe is they where not eating and their bodies had no fuel. During the hike down, I managed to snap a bunch of pictures during our decent. We reached the Mirror lake and finally Lone Pine Lake at 7:00 pm. I finally forced my buddy to eat something and within 10 minutes was feeling much better. We put the headlamps back on and almost ran down the rest of the trail in the dark. We arrived back at the trail head at 8:30 at night full of a sense of accomplishment. We had reached our goal.

Here are some interesting observations during and after the hike.

• The beer I had back at the hotel was probably the best I ever had.
• We really smelled bad. There was no way we would be allowed in a restaurant without taking a shower.
• My feet hurt but there where no blisters.
• I ate almost all my food. I drank 5 liters of liquids. 4 liters of water and 1 liter of Gatorade.
• The ratio of men to women on the trail was about 3 to 1. Most of the women where traveling with their significant other.
• All of the people we met on the trail where really nice.
• I counted at least 10 people that did not make it to the top. One person said they did but we know they did not.
• Most of the 100 or so people with permits stayed on the mountain the night before.
• I asked my buddies, what one item they would bring the next time. The answer was (1) long, water and windproof pants, (2) a variety of foods ( he just had sandwich and way to much trail mix ) and for myself (3) a pair of gloves to keep my hands warm.
• I saw a Marmot, a Pika, many chipmunks, birds and what I think are ptarmigans along with many new plants that I did not expect to see between 12 and 14,000 feet. There where purple finches on the summit.
• I am not the fasted hiker around.
• My body is not what it used to be.

Mount Whitney Hike – September 4, 2009

Note that this entry is broken into two entries.

Here is the trip report for our hike up to the Whitney summit on September 4, 2009. We (Jim and George ) arrived at Lone Pine around 10:30 in the morning after leaving Orange County at 6:00 am. We finally figured out that we needed to pick up the trail permits at the visitor center located at the 136 intersection just before town. We collected our WAG bags, dropped off our coolers and anything else with food at the Dow Hotel where we were staying.

Eager to start the day, we drove to Whitney portal for an acclimation hike to Lone Pine Lake. We arrived around noon and started our hike. This part of the trail does not need a permit. Permits are required about ¼ mile above the lake. We hiked the 2.8 miles and stayed at the lake for 2 hours. I brought my fly rod and caught about a dozen small, very hungry rainbows. My two hiking buddies took a nap on some rocks and talked to a few fellow hikers. Yosemite man was an interesting character. He had been on the trail for 18 days. This was his last night and he decided to stay and sleep at the lake before going down the next day… I would have certainly walked the 1 ½ hours down the trail and have a burger in town.

A few notables for the acclimation hike was a marmot sighting. I have never seen one so it was a nice surprise to see these big, fat looking golden colored squirrels. He was sitting on a rock and looked very content. At the lake, there was a group of kids supervised by 2 moms. The kids where very loud and not very considerate for other hikers and campers. I commend the moms for making the hike but they needed to restrain the kids from their loud, almost yelling conversations. A small, very quite applause was barely discernable when they finally left.

We left around 5:00 pm and arrived back in town around 7:00. Had a pizza, a few beers and went to sleep eagerly anticipating the 3:45 am wake up call. My two buddies where up before the wake up call and waiting in the lobby for me to show up. It is usually the other way around. After a cup of coffee and a handful of trail mix at the hotel we started. We where very eager and could not stop talking about the days events. We arrived at the trail head just before 4:20 and had trouble finding a place to park. All the spots were taken but we did find one spot left in the overflow parking. We noticed most of the cars had not moved since the day before. We then thought of Yosemite Man and he had been there for 18 days. We took a few required pictures and headed up the trail with our headlamps.

The section to Lone Pine lake is a series of switchbacks and a very well maintained trail. We passed a few water crossings and arrived at Lone Pine lake around 6:30 am. We took the headlights off around 6:00 am or so and happy to have the little light available. The trail flattened out for a bit before ascending a small ridge that led to a gorgeous meadow at outpost camp. The trail in this area was flat, fast and nice to hike. We past outpost camp and headed up a small ridge the lead up to Mirror Lake. Another gorgeous alpine lake filled with fish.

We had about 12 hikers pass us from the start until this point. I was expecting about a 100 people on the trail based on the number of permits issued. I also expected to see all 100 starting around the same time we did. Where were all the other hikers? The weather at 7:30 this morning was in the 50’s with a light breeze. There where clouds already forming at the peaks and looking a bit ominous. The hike up to this point was very pretty as we passed pines and low shrubs on a well maintained dirt trail. We passed the last of the trees on our hike out of Mirror Lake and started hiking on mostly rock of all sorts and sizes. In some spots, it is more like climbing stairs. The trail was blasted out of the rocks in several places as it climbed up the valley to trail camp. This was the first time we started loosing breath and taking a few more breaks. We where passed by a few more hikers. We stopped and talked to a few. There were many people from out of state and a few from other countries. Most of the hikers where couples in their late 20’s or 30’s. There where several groups of mountain men ( guys that could stay out in the wilderness and build a log cabin with just their hands ).

The trail flattened thankfully for a bit just as it reached trail camp at 12k feet at 9:00 or so. We stopped for a bit, took a few pictures and downed another handful of trail mix. We were all in good spirits but starting to feel the altitude. We had shortness of breath and our steps a little shorter. Our moment of truth was upon us. This was the start of the dreaded 97 switchbacks up the side of a mountain. This is a grueling climb up to 13,600 where many hikers fall victim to altitude, too high expectations and in experience. We had no experience at this altitude but we did have our training to fall back on.