TR: Mt Whitney Day Hike / Tuesday 8/14

[kristo5747]

Hello, this is my trip report for my Whitney ascent.

I arrived in Lone Pine on Saturday.

On Sunday, I drove up to Horseshoe meadow (http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.p ... &label=off) for a little acclimatization hike. Started at 6:30 and went up Mulkey pass, then Trail pass and finally Cottonwood. Weather started acting up so I headed down to my car. Made it back at Noon sharp.

On Monday, I drove up to HM again. Started at 5am and went up Cottonwood pass to Cirque. Pretty easy hike as long as you don't mind the scrambling part near the top. Was wearing my trail runners and rolled my ankle. Twice. Glad I brought my boots. Made it back to my car around 1pm.

Monday night went to bed at 6pm and woke up at 1am.

Tuesday. Started at 2am at the portal with 3 liters of water, one quart of Gatorade, a bag of salted almonds, poncho and wag bag.

Starry night and a moon sliver was beautiful. Uneventful climb until Trailside Meadow. Got there just in time for sunrise. Made the mistake of looking up...and saw the tiny dots heading up the 97 switchbacks. Yikes.

Made it to Trail Crest at 9am. The view was amazing. That part of the trail coming down was nasty. Silt and rain had made it slippery as heck. Breathing got really hard at that point but no headache or nausea. Met two idiots near the first needle, one sprawled across the trail puking and the other one egging him one to keep going. Told that guy if he cared about his buddy, they should head down now. They ignored me.

I pushed on past the 2nd and 3rd needle and made it to the top at 11:30am. Took a few pics, ate a snack and headed down at 11:45am.

Weather got bad quick. Neared Trail Crest in the clouds. Headed down the switchbacks with hail, wind, thunder and lightning. Trail became a river of mud. I seeked shelter behind a boulder but got cold quick so I decided to keep pushing til I reached the treeline.

By the time I got to Lone Pine lake, weather had cleared up. I kept going. I got back to my car at 5:10pm.

Ate a massive bacon cheeseburger at the Portal store. Felt darn good.

Water strategy: drank 3 sips from Camel back every 5 minutes. Worked for me.
Food strategy: ate little during the ascent. From Sunday to Monday, ate like pig. Chips, cookies, bread, beer, burgers, pasta, you name it.
Footwear: wear boots. You'll be glad you did.
Exercise plan: I run 5K three times a week.

There you have it.

[Hikin_Jim]

Nice. Sounds like a well planned hike.

I like that map link. The maps are out of date compared to the ones at http://mapper.acme.com, but the image quality is a lot better.

HJ

[Phil B]

Good job Kristo,

It sounds like you had to keep one eye on the weather but you still made good time. Looking at the weather reports it seems that showers and T/storms will be around for a while. I like the 2am start to beat those afternoon storms.

Cheers Phil

[kristo5747]

Good job Kristo,

It sounds like you had to keep one eye on the weather but you still made good time. Looking at the weather reports it seems that showers and T/storms will be around for a while. I like the 2am start to beat those afternoon storms.

Cheers Phil

Thanks Phil.

"The Freedom of the Hills " being (sorta) my bible, I was aware of the possible nastiness of weather at that elevation.

When I saw the puffy clouds rolling over the top, I got out of dodge as fast I could. Thing is that I was headed down, people were heading up...in spite of the visibility getting poorer, winds picking up etc...I told a party of two to get back down with me as I neared Trail Crest but they just looked at me like I was speaking some odd language

When I got down to the Portal store, I spoke to the manager (?) and he told me that afternoon storms are common occurence in the summer. For a day hike, 2am start is cutting it close. Best to start even sooner i.e midnight, he said.

[kristo5747]

Nice. Sounds like a well planned hike.

I like that map link. The maps are out of date compared to the ones at http://mapper.acme.com, but the image quality is a lot better.

HJ

Thanks for the link, Jim.

Bookmarked.

[Hikin_Jim]

Acme Mapper is worth knowing about if for no other reason than you can mark routes and create a custom link.

For example, this past weekend, I did a loop around Mt. Akawie with a quick trip to the summit.

HJ

[kristo5747]

Acme Mapper is worth knowing about if for no other reason than you can mark routes and create a custom link.
..........a loop around Mt. Akawie with a quick trip to the summit[/u].

HJ

Nice. Did you do it with your daughter (re: your previous TR) or by yourself?

I am asking because my 4 y/o is begging me to take her along and I am looking for suggestions...

[Hikin_Jim]

Did you do it with your daughter (re: your previous TR) or by yourself?

I am asking because my 4 y/o is begging me to take her along and I am looking for suggestions...

I took my daughter along.


Lots of fun when I bring my daughter, and my wife likes having a little time for herself.

As for trips, there are different styles:
-Through hike (start at one trailhead, end at another)
-Loops (start and finish at the same trailhead but use a different route to return to said trailhead)
-"Out and backs" (Go out from and return to the same trailhead by the same route)
-Basecamp (hike in, set up a camp, and then do side trips from there)

The first backpack I took was a basecamp type. Take a look at this map link. We went in to Little Jimmy Trail Camp from Angeles Crest Highway (point "A") on a Friday after work. We were at camp (point "D") in less than half an hour. We set up our camp before dark. We then went out on a day hike to Mt. Islip, leaving our heavy overnight gear in camp. There's a good but steep use trail from point "A" on Angeles Crest Highway that runs direct to Windy Gap (point "B"). From Windy Gap, it's about 5 minutes to Little Jimmy Spring ("C") and then about 7 minutes to Little Jimmy Trail Camp ("D") from the spring. You can also get to Little Jimmy Trail Camp via the service road ("E"), the PCT trailhead at Islip Saddle ("F"), or from the Crystal Lake area ("G"). Heading in from "E" is probably the easiest route, but we wanted to set up before dark, so we used the short cut.

The second backpack I took was a loop type (with a side trip to Mt. Akawie). The loop was much more difficult in that I had to haul along all our gear the entire route. I also carried about 6 liters of water because I was uncertain of water sources. As it turns out, the water sources I was fearing might be dry were all running. Water was available at points "B," "C," "D," "E," "H," and "M." I thought "H" would be dry and was pleased by discovering a good spring at "M" (see photo below). There were also several seeps if one were desperate.


My recommendation might be more toward the basecamp style of trip since you don't have to carry all the gear the entire trip, but if you're in good shape, then it maybe the loop trip would be fine.

HJ

[kristo5747]

These are great suggestions but I've got to ask.

Do you get a lot of "carry me, Daddy" pleads?

My kiddo is over eager and always willing to come along. A few times however, I found myself a mile or so from my car and having to carry her back.

My fault, really, but I should have known better. Have you experienced anything like this?

[Hikin_Jim]

Yes, every hike. I bring her along with the assumption that I will have to carry her for all or part of the hike. When she's "done," she is done. There's no argument or inducement that will get her to walk a step farther.

Often I find when I do put her in the child carrier, she falls asleep, so I know she's not just a malingerer.

Here she is en route to Mt. Akawie.


HJ