I'm a relatively fit, light (145lbs) 54 yo male. Looking to hike Whitney Portal to summit. Any suggestions as to time needed to summit. I do not intend to run, just hike (fast?). Thanks.
I'm a relatively fit, light (145lbs) 54 yo male. Looking to hike Whitney Portal to summit. Any suggestions as to time needed to summit. I do not intend to run, just hike (fast?). Thanks.
I have done it a few times.
If you start at dawn you should be back down to your car before dusk.
I have done that hike/run twice. With non-runners the first time. With a runner friend the second--only ran the last miles from Consultation Lake (~12,000 ft). Can easily be done in a day.
Don't be in a hurry. Start one hour before twilight. Twilight starts 20ish minutes before sunrise. One reason is to make sure you have enough time to get back before dark. Second reason is to get a head start on the trail hogging masses. Know what the trail markings look like and use a small flash light to keep you on rail.
Other advice. If your hands swell it means that the blood has accumulated in them from your running hiking arm motion. If that happens raise you hands and arms up to head level --no need to have them straight up, just up-- and let the blood circulate back to your torso. I helped people on each hike when they ran into that problem.
Carry one extra upper layer than you think you'll need, and a cap/visor. You will need the layer if you start feeling chilled. The cap is to keep your face dry if it starts to rain--happened on my second hike.
Finally, climb to the top if a storm is arriving. The top of Whitney is a lightning magnet.
Not sure what you mean. The top is a lightning magnet, it you're telling him to climb to the top in a storm??
I've done it once. 6 hours up, 4 hours down. Kept a good pace but wasn't racing. It's an awesome hike, enjoy!
DO NOT climb to the top is a storm is coming.
10 hours is about right. Under 12 should be the target. No reason to race it, especially once you get to the lake at 12,000 feet and above the tree line. The views and scenery are amazing.
Hikers Find Death, Terror at Summit of Mt. Whitney
As lightning lacerated the darkening sky over Mt. Whitney and thunderclaps started a deafening roll, the 13 hikers saw the old stone hut with its corrugated metal roof as a welcome refuge from the drenching downpour.
It nearly became their tomb.
"I was sitting on the floor, my back against one of the walls," said Edward (E.J.) Wueherer, a hiker from Tehachapi. "All of a sudden I saw this flash and I felt this jolt like on my funny bone, and my toe started burning.
"The next thing I knew I was helping to untangle bodies."
http://articles.latimes.com/1990-07-16/news/mn-100_1_whitney-portal
Have you been to altitude before? If not, you could be in for a nasty surprise. Susceptibility to altitude sickness is poorly correlated with fitness. You could run up past the lakes then fairly suddenly be incapable of the balance necessary to put one foot in front of the other.
Ask your doctor for a Diamox prescription before leaving on the trip.
gdm wrote:
Have you been to altitude before? If not, you could be in for a nasty surprise. Susceptibility to altitude sickness is poorly correlated with fitness. You could run up past the lakes then fairly suddenly be incapable of the balance necessary to put one foot in front of the other.
He is not running up. He said a fast hike. The recommendation to hike fast up, and down to the 12,000 foot level where the big lake is is good. If he feels good he can run the last five miles to the trailhead. He can do that in 10-11 hours.
Did it twice wrote:
DO NOT climb to the top is a storm is coming.
10 hours is about right. Under 12 should be the target. No reason to race it, especially once you get to the lake at 12,000 feet and above the tree line. The views and scenery are amazing.
This is correct. No one should be racing a storm to the top. The weather turns quickly if it does, so be prepared. I was there when it was 'partly cloudy' and I was glad to have layers.
If you don't have altitude experience before Whitney, get some. You need to experience some kind of rapid ascent/descent at higher altitudes. If a lower test does not go well, then Whitney will be very difficult. Get very familiar with your body and changing high altitudes.
The trail itself is quite fast as it is so well used. Be sure you have a permit well ahead of time and watch the weather ahead of your day. Hit it very early and take your trash out with you. All of it. Take a little extra trash out too.
pop_pop!_v2.2.1 wrote:
Be sure you have a permit well ahead of time....
You will be fined and forced to leave by the Park Rangers if you get caught. It's impossible not to get caught because you have to wear the large permit for the rangers to see, and other trail users will know if you don't have one.
Mt Whitney Permits info >
http://www.mount-whitney.com/mt_whitney_permits.phpYou must be joking. The elevation, 14.5K feet, isn't that high and the non technical hike is up and back. That's not difficult at all. There could still be problems if taking diamox during a quick hike to elevation and the solution is to hike back down. For short duration I doubt that diamox would be effective. If he were planning to camp at elevation then diamox would definitely be a good idea.
It's a great hike. Lottery for the permits is in either Feb or March, I forget. But you can often get one from someone who cancelled at the Visitors Center just south of Lone Pine. It's easier if your group is small (say, 1 or 2) and you have a couple days to try to get one.
You can acclimate some by camping at the Portal at 8300' for a couple days in advance, or over at Horseshoe Meadows at 10,000'. Either place, be sure to use the bear lockers. One night, a bear was sniffing around on the other side of the nylon tent in the middle of the night for us. The next morning some guys backpack was shredded because he left food in it.
The hike is not difficult at all. It's a gradual grade and never steep, which is why the trail is 11 miles. The air pressure is only about 55% of that of sea level at the top, so it is some thin air.
Altitude sickness is not a fitness issue. It's an air pressure issue (or the lack thereof) on the brain. It's kind of like the opposite of swimming to the deep end of the swimming pool.
Btw, don't leave your pack unattended at the top. The marmots will chew through it if you don't watch, to get food.
I don't remember how long it took me. I was only about a 3:15 marathoner at the time, and I think I was on top in about 5 hours or so. And about 3.5 or 4 hours down. And I never pushed it or ran.
Enjoy!
Flounder wrote:
You must be joking. The elevation, 14.5K feet, isn't that high and the non technical hike is up and back. That's not difficult at all. There could still be problems if taking diamox during a quick hike to elevation and the solution is to hike back down. For short duration I doubt that diamox would be effective. If he were planning to camp at elevation then diamox would definitely be a good idea.
Have you done it? Sure, loads of people make it up and down in a day, but it's no picnic. I did it two years ago when I was in very good running shape, but I really struggled on the trail. Started hiking at 2:30 AM, reached the summit at 10:45 AM. Started feeling awful on the way down and didn't make it back to the car until 6:15 PM, wallowing in misery. It was a 15+ hour hike. My hiking buddy puked on the trail near the summit. We saw plenty of other people who were also having trouble with the altitude.
I wrote a more detailed trip report here:
http://www.runworks.com/2014/07/mt-whitney-and-the-brazen-dirty-dozen/