Mt. Whitney

My father and I won the Mt. Whitney permit lottery!

We hike on Friday, August 31. Flights from Anchorage to Ontario, CA are suprisingly affordable.

As soon as some of this snow melts I can start training! Even though there is a TON of hiking available, I haven't ran across any high elevation hikes yet for acclimation. The mountains right next to Anchorage are only 4-6,000 feet I think. But that makes for some great elevation gain---from about sea level at the trailheads.

cant believe I forgot to apply . have fun

I don't even bother applying.

I give myself a flexible week, in case I don't get a permit the first day, and just show up at the Visitor Center at 11am. Two years in a row I had no trouble getting a next day permit on the first day I tried.

Good luck and enjoy yourself!

Read all you can about the mountain and trail. check out Whitney Portal Store Message Board and Mt Whitney Hikers Association and Whitney Zone Orientation Notes for Whitney first timers



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2012 01:08PM by qumqats.

Congrats on winning the lottery!

Instead of trying to get lucky with the lottery again, this year I decided to take the "scenic" route from Crescent Meadow via the High Sierra Trail

I'll second the Whitney Portal Store message board recommendation. They have great info about the mountain, trail, and conditions.

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edg
Instead of trying to get lucky with the lottery again, this year I decided to take the "scenic" route from Crescent Meadow via the High Sierra Trail

That's a wee bit longer.

Make sure you sleep at altitude several nights before the hike and HYDRATE. You may have no idea how important drinking is in a successful hike to Whitney.

The hydrate idea I have down from my marathon experience and understand its importance. The altitude acclimation is tougher. I will only have time for altitude at a couple nights. And unfortunately, even though there is big time elevation gain on hikes in Alaska for the most part they are not high elevation. Thanks for the encouragement.

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chicagocwright

The hydrate idea I have down from my marathon experience and understand its importance. The altitude acclimation is tougher. I will only have time for altitude at a couple nights.

If you don't mind car camping, there are a couple of nice first-come, first-served walk-in campgrounds (Cottonwood Lakes CG and Cottonwood Pass CG) south of Mt. Whitney off of Horseshoe Meadow Road. The elevation of these two campgrounds are 9,900' and 10,000' respectively. There are about 30 walk-in campsites among these two campgrounds. If you can find a spot in these two first-come, first-served campgrounds, they could be a good place to help you get acclimated to the high elevation before you attempt Whitney.

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plawrence

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chicagocwright

The hydrate idea I have down from my marathon experience and understand its importance. The altitude acclimation is tougher. I will only have time for altitude at a couple nights.

If you don't mind car camping, there are a couple of nice first-come, first-served walk-in campgrounds (Cottonwood Lakes CG and Cottonwood Pass CG) south of Mt. Whitney off of Horseshoe Meadow Road. The elevation of these two campgrounds are 9,900' and 10,000' respectively. There are about 30 walk-in campsites among these two campgrounds. If you can find a spot in these two first-come, first-served campgrounds, they could be a good place to help you get acclimated to the high elevation before you attempt Whitney.

^^ This.

Well, this, and the fact that Horseshoes Meadows is over 10,000 ft and one can just drive up to it and find a plethora of really rewarding day hikes.

Second choice for high alt. acclimatization: Onion Valley, if you can find space, which is outside of (and waaaay above Independence)

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plawrence

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chicagocwright

The hydrate idea I have down from my marathon experience and understand its importance. The altitude acclimation is tougher. I will only have time for altitude at a couple nights.

If you don't mind car camping, there are a couple of nice first-come, first-served walk-in campgrounds (Cottonwood Lakes CG and Cottonwood Pass CG) south of Mt. Whitney off of Horseshoe Meadow Road. The elevation of these two campgrounds are 9,900' and 10,000' respectively. There are about 30 walk-in campsites among these two campgrounds. If you can find a spot in these two first-come, first-served campgrounds, they could be a good place to help you get acclimated to the high elevation before you attempt Whitney.

In addition, the Cottonwood Lakes contain Golden Trout - (California's state fish) - If you lf you like to fish and acclimate at the same time, the lakes are only a few miles from the trailhead - Cottonwood Lakes 1-4 are catch and release - Lakes 5 and 6 are a 5 fish limit - They are pretty fish!

Chicago, hydration is even more important hiking Whitney than a marathon. I can't emphasize this enough. When running marathons, I'll usually drink 15-18 ounces of water an hour. Over 4 hours that isn't that much. But Whitney will take you 8 hours+ and drinking 24 ounces an hour will help your performance and your recovery. It's good you're coming from a running background and won't resist drinking.

When I have posted on other Whitney forums that newbies need to drink LOTS of fluids, I am usually scoffed at. But it you want a fast and effective performance, drink lots.

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Ulysses61
Chicago, hydration is even more important hiking Whitney than a marathon. I can't emphasize this enough. When running marathons, I'll usually drink 15-18 ounces of water an hour. Over 4 hours that isn't that much. But Whitney will take you 8 hours+ and drinking 24 ounces an hour will help your performance and your recovery. It's good you're coming from a running background and won't resist drinking.

When I have posted on other Whitney forums that newbies need to drink LOTS of fluids, I am usually scoffed at. But it you want a fast and effective performance, drink lots.

Great advice. Thanks.

My father has run into a group (in Fresno) that insists water filtration is not necessary for hiking Mt. Whitney. Thoughts? I already have a very nice filter so I can't see any reason not to take it.

I think we are staying at Mammoth. We don't camp since it is so hard to travel with everything and I haven't ever bought stuff (that might change soon!). In your opinion will the acclimation at Mammoth be helpful?

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chicagocwright
My father has run into a group (in Fresno) that insists water filtration is not necessary for hiking Mt. Whitney. Thoughts?

How many people hike that trail and how many restrooms are there?

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eeek

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chicagocwright
My father has run into a group (in Fresno) that insists water filtration is not necessary for hiking Mt. Whitney. Thoughts?

How many people hike that trail and how many restrooms are there?

umm no restrooms...



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/2012 03:11PM by chicagocwright.

Well... All solid waste is supposed to be packed out. And liquid waste should be disposed of away from water sources. The liquid waste won't cause any problems if it is not disposed of properly, but the solid waste is a different story.

I filter water that I am SURE is fine. It just isn't that hard.

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Hitech
Well... All solid waste is supposed to be packed out. And liquid waste should be disposed of away from water sources.

Yeah, and that happens 100% of the time?

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eeek

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Hitech
Well... All solid waste is supposed to be packed out. And liquid waste should be disposed of away from water sources.

Yeah, and that happens 100% of the time?

Nope, I'm sure it does not. I would filter the water. I filter water I am sure of...

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chicagocwright


My father has run into a group (in Fresno) that insists water filtration is not necessary for hiking Mt. Whitney. Thoughts? I already have a very nice filter so I can't see any reason not to take it.

Rule of thumb: wherever there are day hiking permits necessary filter the water, absolutely, no question, no ifs ands or buts. If the giardia don't get you the e. coli will.

Also, where there are free roaming cattle, or lots of horse packers. IE the JMT, the PCT, and pretty much every major trail in the national parks.

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chicagocwright

My father has run into a group (in Fresno) that insists water filtration is not necessary for hiking Mt. Whitney. Thoughts? I already have a very nice filter so I can't see any reason not to take it.

I believe there was a study several years ago where the water at Trail Camp was tested and found to be fine in terms of Giardia--better than most tap water. This was back before the composting toilet was removed, and my experience has been that compliance with the wag bag system has not been universal, so maybe things have gotten worse... I would bring a filter "just in case", but wouldn't hesitate to drink the water untreated if the filter didn't work (on one trip the water was freezing in the filter tubing before it could be treated....)

There is also a reliable source of water past Trail Camp maybe 1/4 mile that should be free of all human and stock impacts.

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chicagocwright

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Ulysses61
Chicago, hydration is even more important hiking Whitney than a marathon. I can't emphasize this enough. When running marathons, I'll usually drink 15-18 ounces of water an hour. Over 4 hours that isn't that much. But Whitney will take you 8 hours+ and drinking 24 ounces an hour will help your performance and your recovery. It's good you're coming from a running background and won't resist drinking.

When I have posted on other Whitney forums that newbies need to drink LOTS of fluids, I am usually scoffed at. But it you want a fast and effective performance, drink lots.

Great advice. Thanks.

My father has run into a group (in Fresno) that insists water filtration is not necessary for hiking Mt. Whitney. Thoughts? I already have a very nice filter so I can't see any reason not to take it.

I think we are staying at Mammoth. We don't camp since it is so hard to travel with everything and I haven't ever bought stuff (that might change soon!). In your opinion will the acclimation at Mammoth be helpful?

While many locals don't filter the water from the running streams I tend to do it. There's been some research showing most of the high Sierra is ok but it's a personal choice.

---

"God has not called us to be successful but he has called us to be faithful"-Mother Teresa

Thats awesome news. Congratulations. I got a pct long distance permit when they opened and I made sure to pay the $15 to get the whitney permit in there as well. I'm shooting for a june 15th date plus or minus 3 days or so. good luck!