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.