EISPIRATEN

Ah, the Sierra Nevadas. This was my first time in the area, and I was quite pleased.

I went on this hike organized by a friend who was going with like 15- 20 people, so I knew the chance in variability and lack of understanding of what was being undertaken was high. I mentioned to all the amount of time it would probably take them, but they decided to start the hike at 6 am and cut it close.

I knew 6 am would be fine for the little machine and I but not for them. Regardless, we resigned ourselves to the fact that would have to have trek up at our own pace since we couldn't say that the others would even make it. And we were definitely going to make it up!

I can definitively tell you now that AMS and I are friends. We camped overnight at the Lone Pine campground, where I felt a little lightheaded when going going up to 6000 ft. Nice. As a group, we drove up and started the trail at 6:30 am. I started and basically tried to maintain a leisurely pace that would keep my heartrate around 150 bpm. For shorter hikes that I can get to the summit in 3 hrs, I would push more, but I tried to learn to be steady and not intense.

I was very pleased with the scenery on the trail. Very green at lower elevations and lots of flowing water from the melting snow. I was not expecting so much water, and being used to the San Gabriels this came as a pleasant surprise.

We made it up to Trail Camp in about 2:45 I believe. As known this is generally the last point to fill up on water. I had already consumed 3-4 liters (being somewhat on the safe side). I had read BobR's writings on water quality in the Sierras, and I knew I wanted to taste some fresh, unfiltered water. I saw a stream flowing from the northwest part of Trail Camp, and proceeded to climb up and over snow to this isolated area to grab up another 3 liters. Fine tasting water!

After that little 30 min sideshow, we started up the switchbacks. Now at this point I was feeling the altitude more than ever before. I pushed San Gorgonio harder but at only 11,500 ft I got a pounded headache but no dizziness. After going up, and up, all those switchbacks, I was definitely feeling light headed. I could tell my control and coordination was a little off, as usually I am very confident in my foot placement and movement agility, but not so much now.

Getting to Trail Crest, we were struck with spectacular views.



Not knowing the fluctuation in the trail after this point, it only seemed like less than 1000 ft in 3 miles to go. But no one mentioned the ups and downs. HAHA VERY FUNNY. At this point I wasn't generally feeling good, dizzy, queasy, whatever. Not tired, as my conditioning is not a problem, but just longer than expected. These last 3 miles are so rocky, which isn't really enjoyable from a hiking trail standpoint but give very nice, clean views. At these points, we start passing more people up who had started out earlier. I noticed a lot of people pushing for some distances, then resting, so they would pass us back once or twice until slowing down again. Its much better to maintain one pace that doesn't burn out your glycogen storages, and you can actually go faster overall, and not slow things for others by passing them up temporarily.

Close to the top, I think this sequences sums up my transition:







We finally get to the top at 1:00. Not too shabby. We sat down. Not feeling great. I heard some weird sound but thought I was just being delusional, but then captured this little guy:



I then proceeded to lay down, and throw up about 3 liters of water of the side of the mountain. With the squirrel chirping. Nice times. I didn't really think there was much chance this was due to the unfiltered water, but to verify I drank all unfiltered on the way down and was fine.

Surprisingly I didn't want to stay at altitude for a long time, so we headed down after about 20 min. On the way back we met up with the larger part of our initial group, who were still 1.5 hrs from the top at 2.5 hrs behind us. Most of them decided to push on, and summited around 3:00. We took our time back down with lots of rests to enjoy the scenery. I noticed my sanity coming back once descending down to 12,000 ft at Trail Camp. After that was a pleasant, but seemingly long trek back to the portal which took us until a bit after 7 pm. Actual hiking time was about 11 hrs, so I was pleased with that.

At the bottom, I actually forced myself to eat. At that point, all I had eaten all day was a bagel at 5:30 am!

In summary:

Difficulty

Definitely a hard hike. I was not really tired nor sore the following day, so not the hardest. But the parts after Trail Crest, with the up and down action above 13,000 ft, were certainly a nuisance.

Also, my altimeter recorded a accumulated elevation gain of 7,600+ ft. Definitely different from the alleged 6,400+ ft.

Trail Condition

The trail is obviously well kept. There is a lot of flowing water from melting snow. There are several creek crossings you have to hop rocks, with one at the beginning definitely a bit challenging.

There are portions of the trail with snow left, however you can either get around most of these, or the easier choice is to follow the foot paths formed by previous hikers. Not a big deal.

The cables are funny to me. They are good to have, except at one point they bend way out, like some weight challenged person decided to lean on them. It would actually be more dangerous to hold onto them at this point.

And of course, hiking 22 miles will annoy your feet in the end. The last few miles down seemed to take forever! And I couldn't wait to take a dump. Ah that was pleasant.

Scenery

Excellent scenery.



And I was glad to see some marmots.



Even some of those cool nieve pentitentes left:









Alright!

J! Great TR!
I'm glad you made it!
Looks like it was a beautiful day up there.
I think those cable pipes are bent out because of the snow/ice just whales on them.
Sure is weird above Trail Crest huh? Did you exaggerate your inhaling at any point? Again when I went up I did that and had no headache or altitude sickness symptoms at all. I just pumped my lungs to death with as much oxygen as I could.
How did you find the Alabama Hills?
Way da go dude!

Very cool dude! Congrats!

Nice pics; glad it was a good experience. I like you didn't spend a lot of time at the top. The freakin' altitude headache really takes something out of it. I felt soo much better when I got back to Trail Camp. Congrats on what looks like a great hike in great wx.

HJ

PS You're right; the Sierra Nevada are a great well-watered change of pace after the somewhat dry San Gabs. Of course, just go hiking in the desert peaks between Joshua Tree and the CA state line some time to see what dry really is! Then you'll appreciate the San Gabs a whole lot more, but well watered, green places with lots of glacial lakes (like the Sierra) are so cool, aren't they?

Congrats on bagging Whitney 6.5 hours is pretty fast, so even with altitude sickness you were moving along at a good clip. The nausea and lack of appetite were probably all part of the altitude sickness - you were smart not to stay too long on the summit.

Up there above 12000' almost everyone struggles and it's always amazed me how quickly the symptoms of altitude sickness go away when going back down the mountain.

The California Sierra Nevada is beautiful - we're lucky to be so close to the range.

Little chipmunk thingy on the edge of a rock at the top of Whitney flapping his tail FTW!

KathyW wrote:Up there above 12000' almost everyone struggles and it's always amazed me how quickly the symptoms of altitude sickness go away when going back down the mountain.

Nice to know that in this respect I am normal.

I noticed that too. I had to turn around at around 13,800 feet (right where you turn next to Mt. Muir at the top of those switchbacks after the John Muir Trail.)(and you can see the summit and wonder why you can't hike up 700 feet in 1.7 miles :twisted:). When I got back to Trail Crest I started to feel normal and by the time I got to Trail Camp I was completely normal.

I messed up, but this was the squirrel I was talking about.



I did try taking deep breathes, but didn't notice any difference. Probably didn't do it long enough though.

I loved seeing the glacial lakes. The contrast of gray rock (with lots of odd formations), green trees, and blue water was majestic. Refreshing.

I'd love to do other hikes in the Sierras, but perhaps with a bit more backpacking to acclimate a bit. Not that I mind throwing up but would also like to push myself without feeling like my head is going to explode!

It's the exhale that helps.

Pressure Breathing: There's often a misconception that there is less oxygen at higher altitudes. In reality there's the same percentage at sea level as there is on top of Mt. Everest. The difference is in the oxygen pressure and because our lungs are a vacuum sealed chamber, we need pressure in order to do the O2/CO2 exchange in our lungs. this means that with less oxygen pressure, there comes a need for a technique to help with the O2/CO2 exchange in the lungs. This technique is called pressure breathing. Basically, you forcefully exhale every couple of breathes through pursed lips (conditioning and altitude will affect frequency).

Once you get above 10,000' it often helps to pressure breath every few steps - it's a long exhale through pursed lips until you've emptied out your lungs as much as you can.

Rest steps and pressure breathing keep me going, although very slowly, when I get up higher than 10,000'.

KathyW wrote:It's the exhale that helps.

Pressure Breathing: There's often a misconception that there is less oxygen at higher altitudes. In reality there's the same percentage at sea level as there is on top of Mt. Everest. The difference is in the oxygen pressure and because our lungs are a vacuum sealed chamber, we need pressure in order to do the O2/CO2 exchange in our lungs. this means that with less oxygen pressure, there comes a need for a technique to help with the O2/CO2 exchange in the lungs. This technique is called pressure breathing. Basically, you forcefully exhale every couple of breathes through pursed lips (conditioning and altitude will affect frequency).

Once you get above 10,000' it often helps to pressure breath every few steps - it's a long exhale through pursed lips until you've emptied out your lungs as much as you can.

Rest steps and pressure breathing keep me going, although very slowly, when I get up higher than 10,000'.

Very interesting. I think I got it. So by crushing the air in your lungs by making it hard to exhale delivers more oxygen molecules than inhaling deeply and a relaxed exhale? Pressurizing. Wonder if that could be measured somehow. Like how much pressure can be created by that method. And then you would know what altitude you would be simulating.

So those oxygen tanks those Everest hikers use is pressurized air. Hmm. What happens to the pressurized oxygen once it leaves those tanks? Seems like it would depressurize immediately. I kinda get it. So breath as deep as you can and make it hard to exhale. Wonder why they say to do that every so often and not every breath? I was thinking that if you expand your lungs more than you regularly do that you would be presenting oxygen to more areas of your lungs. If you take shallow inhales vs. very deep inhales. More surface area.
Pressurizing. Would be awesome to be able to breath through a device that converts outside air into sea level air. Hey I got an idea. What about a straw about 1" diameter that has a valve in it that closes slightly only on the exhale. or maybe just remember to purse your lips.

sometimes it is every breath - a rhythm with small methodical rest steps and pressure breathing.

KathyW wrote:sometimes it is every breath - a rhythm with small methodical rest steps and pressure breathing.

I am really excited to try it. Imagine if it really makes a difference! Hike almost anywhere w/o any symptoms.

Joe, great TR! Thanks for posting.

Your first altitude symptom was headache, and from what I've read, that's breathing-related, therefore KathyW's suggestion of pressure breathing should help the next time you go up. (You did not report fatigue as an impairing issue, so I guess that your blood corrected its O2/CO2 binding properties for the altitude wonderfully and did its transport job well. Did I get that right?)

Check this out.
http://www.extremescience.com/HighestElevation.htm

I found the following on that link.

Try to imagine what it feels like to climb up a mountain with very little oxygen in your body - you get dizzy, your nose, fingers and feet get numb and tingly, your heart thunders in your chest trying furiously to keep up with the muscles' demand for oxygen. You feel sleepy, confused, downright stupid as your brain struggles to function on limited oxygen. Every step you take is extremely slow and plodding, requiring every ounce of will you have. Hillary and Norgay had extra oxygen to help them make the trip, but there have been a few people who have made the trip since who did it without the aid of oxygen - taking one step about every five minutes! Approximately 6,000 climbers have attempted the summit of Everest, but only 2,249 have made it. Over 200 people have died trying and of those, at least 120 bodies are still missing on the mountain.

ONE STEP EVERY FIVE MINUTES!

Nice trip report! I definitely like the new Munaretto avatar.

Nice TR.
Congrats Joe!

He219 wrote:Keyword, acclimation.

Take an extra couple of days to camp out at lower altitude and allow your body to get settled in.
Exhale deeply to expel unused air and gain more fresh O2.
Pace yourself and take an Aspirin if you're feeling altitude at 11.5K, yet alone 14.5K ..

Good climbing JMunaretto!

KathyW wrote:sometimes it is every breath - a rhythm with small methodical rest steps and pressure breathing.

Well said Kathy ..