Mt. Whitney

Chris, Marian, Rob and Bob at trailhead			Me in my tent at Trail Camp. I was exhausted and passed out almost immediatly.
Second day early in the morning. At the lower portion of the switchbacks wtih a view of Mt. Whitney in the back.	Bob		Bob on the switchbacks.
		Rob on the bridge of one of the windows.	View through one of the windows
Bob and Rob on top.	View back down to trailhead and town beyond.		14500 foot high.
White Mountain	Marjan and Bob after White Mountain ride	Marjan, Rob and Bob driving home. Marjan is close to passing out. :)

Whitney Journal

July 2-5, 2003 

Wednesday July 2, 2003

Me, Bob Lao and Marjan S drove from Roseville to Lone Pine. It took about 6 hours plus a 1 hour break for lunch. We met Chris at the ranger station where we picked up our permits. We had to get a hiking permit and 2 camping permits. Bob suggested we drive around Lone Pine and find the cheapest, cheesiest looking place. So we settled on Ponderosa's Mexican Restaurant. It's named Ponderosa's because the show Ponderosa was filmed in the foothills between Lone Pine and Mt. Whitney.  My food tasted alright but the other guys didn't like theirs. Bob grumbled about it for a while. We then drove to the Whitney Portal Campground to stay for the night. I started not feeling well around 8pm but thought i was just tired. 

Thursday July 3, 2003

I woke up around 4am with Montezuma's Revenge. I had diarrhea 9 times from then to 7:20. Marjan gave me some diarrhea pills and the diarrhea stopped around the time I took those. But the damage was done. I was now dehydrated, didn't sleep well and couldn't eat breakfast and had little energy. Not a good way to start a hike. At 8am we drove from the campground up to the Whitney Portal Store so I could rent a bear can and bob needed to put his ice chest in a bear locker. We made final pack adjustments and we were ready. They serve food at the portal store and I saw a guy with a huge pancake meal. Didn't look good then but on our hike back down I was daydreaming about it. The store also had a scale. My pack weighted 47.5 pounds with 3 liters of water and without the bear can. I'm pretty sure the bear can weighed around 50 pounds by itself. :) And I could feel the weight immediately. They other guys packs were all from 48-55 lbs, Chris' being 55. The pack I used is 3900 cubic inches and I don't think it was designed to carry so much weight. So we hiked west along a valley. We crossed a small stream and then a larger stream with rocks placed to walk across. We then crossed and even larger stream with a series of logs laid down to walk across. The trail then goes up a series of switchbacks. You go through a small valley kind of . There were a couple of signs about entering the Mure Wilderness and needing a permit. Then there was a sign for a second trail leading to Lone Pine Lake. Skipped it. By this time we were getting tired. Actually, after 1/2 hour I was pretty tired. I was getting some blisters on my heals. My heal would raise up but the boot heal didn't want to so there was friction. I tried tightening it as much as possible. I was so tired and out of it. I didn't take hardly any pics and didn't pay much attention to my surroundings. I believe we left the portal at 9:00 a.m., we hit the streams around 10:00. Next we ran into a large green valley with 4 foot high green bushes. At the far end of this valley was the Outpost Camp. Where you could pitch a tent. Pretty sure this camping area is still outside the permit zone. I think this was roughly the 1/3 point from base to Trail Camp. By this point I was dragging behind. Chris and Marjan pushed ahead and Bob stayed behind so I wouldn't be alone. 

The next milestone was Mirror Lake. Chris and Marjan were already there with their boots off and eating lunch. About an hour prior we had stopped at a stream to fill up our water reservoirs with filtered water. Chris took his boots off and taped up some blisters and I did the same. At Mirror Lake we both changed the moleskins and this time put some medical tape on top too keep them in place. This helped a lot as I didn't change it again the whole trip. I don't remember much or didn't notice much of the next section from Mirror Lake to Trail Camp. The trail of this whole section is mainly steps. The trail builders took many stones, broke flat edges on them and made steps and lined walkways. Much of this area looked like a landscaped garden. There is lush vegetation, all along the path. The path also goes along some streams that have been lined with stones. It was very beautiful. there is a small waterfall into a pool and a bridge crossing it. There was also snow patches and a couple on the path. Bob stayed back with me most of the time. But I hiked most of this section by myself. I leaned up against a rock and took my pack off for yet another relief. I downed some water and just sat in the sun. I'd been there for about 5 minutes when a man and lady passed me on their way down. "Don't stop now you're virtually there.", The man said as he walked by. Oh geez, I certainly don't want to rest here if camp is a few mins away. And the guy was right. After a couple of minutes hike I saw the most glorious thing I'd seen so far. There were many beautiful sites along the trail so far like the towering mountains all around, the vegetation, the lakes, the streams and waterfalls. But the Trail Camp outhouse which is the first sign of the Trail Camp was the most beautiful of all.  That meant I could take the heavy pack off my back. And it wouldn't be back on til the hike back downhill.

I found Bob, Marjan and Chris and threw down my pack.  It was pretty hot when I arrived at 4:15 p.m.  There is a small lake just north of the camping area and a large one farther away to the south.  The ground is mostly small rocks and pebbles.  I somehow got my tent setup and threw my sleeping pad and bag into the tent and passed out.  I woke up around 6:30pm and got my dinner and cookware together.  Someone was using the stove so I walked down to the outhouse.  I recognized a girl we had passed a couple of times coming up the trail.  She had been with a group of four but was sitting alone at the restrooms.  I asked if she was waiting and she said, 'No I'm just sick'.  She said she thinks she has gala or some kind of sickness I'd never heard of.  She said her party was down at the lower lake camping and she couldn't make it back down as she's too sick.  I asked if she needed anything but she said she was fine.  So I checked out the restrooms and wandered back to Bob's camping area.  His was the coolest site because someone had sectioned off the area with rocks.  It was sunken into the earth a little so protected from winds and even had some natural seating on one of the stone walls.  I boiled my dehydrated spaghetti and tried to eat but could only get a few bites down.  It tasted fine but I wasn't hungry at all and still felt sick.  I made a half hearted attempt to clean my dishes, got my small backpack ready for tomorrow and then crashed.  From 8 pm to 9:30 pm I drifted in and out of sleep because of the noise in camp.  There were lots of people around and several large groups that were visiting.

The loudest guy was a father of a Boy Scout.  his son had been hiking with his troop for 8 days and he was going to meet them at the top of Whitney the next day with his second son.  The Boy Scout troop was coming up the Army Pass path, a different route.  That guy really annoyed Bob and Chris as he didn't bring any gear and kept borrowing equipment from us.  I was okay with it until he questioned why it took us so long to get up when he made it in 5 hours.  Of course we were all thinking, 'we carried up 50 lbs each so we'd have all the gear we'd need while your pack weighs 5 lbs'. 

As I was falling asleep I was still feeling very poor and was deciding what it would cost me if I backed out of tomorrows hike.  I slept hard til 2 am when I woke needing to urinate.  I stuck my head out the tent and decided I didn't want to go outside if possible.  Bob had offered some kind of pouches he had that turned urine into jel so you don't need to leave the tent.  Good idea.  I grabbed one of my spare one gallon zip lock bags and unloaded quickly after making sure I wasn't going to pee on anything.  I laughed for quite a while after laying back down.  I'm no gentleman but this seemed barbaric even to me. I fell into a deep sleep again until Bob woke me up at 4am. 

Friday July 4, 2003

Apparently the sound sleep and little food I got down the night before did the trick.  This morning I feel great.  I feel 200% as good as yesterday.  I slept so well and it was so chilly outside that I didn't want to get up.  But my renewed spirit made it easy.  I met at Bob's site for breakfast where I warmed some water for hot chocolate and oatmeal.  I downed the hot chocolate and forced down the oatmeal.  I still didn't have an appetite.  After sitting around til around 5am we all got our summit packs ready, making sure we had our permits on the packs, water, some food, poles, and sun glasses.  It was pretty cold so we had our jackets and warm clothes on.  We took off and you almost immediately start up the infamous 99 switchbacks.  Bob had to go back for his permit so Chris and Marjan left us behind again.  But the switchbacks were no big deal at all.  They were very east compared to the steps from the day before.  Guess having 35lbs less on my back had something to do with the change. About halfway up the switchbacks the sun came over the mountain to the east.  You can see the Trail Camp from most of the switchbacks and it was a great view at sunrise.  From higher up you can see the campground surrounded north and south by lakes.  To the north of the switchbacks is a long snow bank going from Trail Crest almost down to Trail Camp.  This was the snow that a guy died on last week when he tried to glissade down to avoid going down the switchbacks.  The trail is really very safe overall.  You just have to stay on the trail to stay safe. 

We reached Trail Crest a couple of hours after starting.  From the ridge you have great views of the trail up and also the whole mountain side and other mountains to the west for many miles.  The drop-off on the west side is pretty steep but the trail is wide.  Bob and I climbed out on an outcropping for a photo opportunity.  It was a great view but the photo didn't do justice.  Most of my pics didn't come out well.  I had trouble with my camera most of the trip.  I think the heat was causing it to lock up.  I often couldn't get it to do anything.  I only took a few pics the first day as the camera was messed up most of the day.  Of course I'd not have been lucid enough to get any pics anyway.  From Trail Crest you travel along the west side of the range top to the north toward Whitney.  Mt. Muir is very close to the beginning of the ridge.  It wasn't very far up to the top of Muir from the trail, but there was no trail.  It was all very large boulders all the way up.  Bob and I looked for a way up but didn't see one.  This part of the trail is fairly easy as it's mostly level or a very slight grade.  There are a few snow patches you have to cross.  Along the rim you hit a few 'windows' that give views to the east again.  From Lone Pine or from the east you can see 5 or 6 small peaks all along the range.  It's between these peaks that you get the windows.  The two just to the south of Whitney look like wings.  We passed Chris and Marjan on their way down.  They said we were about 1/2 hour from the top.  Marjan said they needed to get down quick as he felt sick.  I wished they would have waited on top for us so we could have got a group pic and had lunch together.  Kind of funny that I didn't really see them much.  I'm just starting in this activity but my idea of backpacking is to enjoy the hike as opposed to trying to get to point B as fast as possible. 

We made it to the top at 9:45.  It was a pretty large fairly flat top.  Mostly gravel on the west side and huge rocks on the east at the actual peak.  Bob and I signed the guest book, took a few photos and then sat down for some lunch.  I rolled some tuna and mayo in a tortilla and drank some Gatorade.  I still wasn't hungry but I got it down anyway.  I talked to some others, explored a little and read the plaques.  The large group of Boy Scouts was on top.  They were loud and I think every one of them had a cell phone calling someone.  Most of the conversations were like, "Dude!  I'm on top!  You should check it out..."  There was a small group of four drinking some white wine and having lunch.  Wow, packing in style. 

We started back down at 11:00.  The walk down is so much easier.  It was fun telling all the people we were passing how much farther they had to go.  We stopped at Mt. Muir because Bob wanted to attempt it.  I kicked back as I wasn't interested in anything with a possibility of death.  Bob climbed up about 1/2 way and got stuck.  There didn't seem to be a path up.  He came back down and we were on our way again.  That took about 30 minutes or so.  By the time we hit the switchbacks Bob's knee was starting to get sore.  Going down hill wasn't hard on the knee.  But going down the steps was, especially steps that were around 15 inches or more high.  The sun was also blaring down on us and I ran out of water about 1/2 way down.  No biggie though. 

We reached Trail Camp at 2:30, hot and tired.  Mostly just tired from the heat though.  I crawled into my tent for a min but it was just too hot for a nap.  So I started packing up.  It took a long time as I was moving slow.  I think next time I'll pack up everything prior to leaving in the morning so it's all ready.  Marjan was still at camp as he said he still felt sick and needed some sleep.  So he had slept for 1/2 hr or so and was about ready to leave.  Chris had jammed down the hill.  I had rented a bear can from the Whitney portal store and we needed to return it by 6pm.  Since Marjan and I were both carrying bear cans he volunteered to switch bear cans (his wasn't rented) and try to get to the bottom by 6.  I still had a ton of food left.  That was some poor packing.  I probably lugged 4 pounds of food down the hill. 

We started off a little weary.  The sun just seemed so intense it zapped our energy.  Now that we had the heavy packs on our backs again the hike down was rough.  Mainly just because we had to take it easy going down steps to save our knees.  Bob's knee brace didn't seem to be helping and I had a knee now hurting.  I moved pretty slow most of the first 1/2 of this downhill section.  But after a few breaks Bob seemed to be more interested in just getting down than sparing the knees.  So we increased our speed.  We both got some more water at the lower campground.  I saw this guy that looked to be about 60 with a huge backpack.  He was just standing resting.  He said his pack was 60 lbs.  Insane! 

We finally made it to the bottom at 8pm.  Marjan and Chris were waiting for us at trailhead.  Getting into that truck felt soooo good.  My back and knees and legs were through.  But I made it.  And that good feeling of accomplishment at least compensated for the sore body.  We drove to a bed and breakfast Marjan had reserved for us.  It was a German couple's house and they had a building in back with two bedrooms.  It was pretty tacky but the bed looked great.  There was a spa so we all got into it for a few mins. 

In the morning the host had made us a huge breakfast.  It was extremely good.  I guess Germans really do know how to cook well.  After breakfast Chris decided that his blisters were too bad to allow him to make the bike ride up White Mounting.  So we said goodbye and he headed home.  We packed up and headed for White Mountain.  I only had a couple of small blisters but I wasn't too enthusiastic for this mountain.  It took about 1/2 hour to get to the trailhead of White Mountain.  We geared up and started off.  The first climb was a little steep.  Not too bad but I was tired from Whitney.  Marjan took off and left us behind again.  There is a science area a couple of miles up where we found Marjan resting.  We stopped with him and kicked back for a few mins.  The next section wasn't as steep but the trail was all shale, those broken 3" diameter rocks.  This made it very difficult to get traction and I gave up.  Bob was within site and I waved him on.  I rode back down to the facility and kicked back for a few hours.  There was an old large telescope that I spent time inspecting.  I ended up riding back to the bottom and falling asleep in the van.   Bob returned about an hour before sunset and Marjan about 1/2 hour later.  Marjan had made it to the top but Bob had to turn around just 1/2 hour or so from the summit.  He was a bit bummed but I thought it was pretty cool to have made it so far up.  Our plan was to setup camp at the trailhead that night adn leave in the morning.  We tried to get a hotel in Bishop but there were no empty hotels.  Bob and I switched off for a few hours and I eventually parked in a rest stop and fell asleep.  We woke an hour or so later and Bob drove the rest of the way home were we arrived at about 7am on Sunday.  I think that drive home was maybe more difficult than hiking up Whitney. :)  But, we made it home and we had accomplished our major goal to summit Whitney.  It was a very good trip. 

Actual Whitney Schedule:

Thursday
09:00 Start hiking from Whitney Portal. 
16:15 Arrived at Trail Camp.  Took a 45min lunch at Mirror Lake.  So First day leg was 7:15.

Friday
05:15 Started second day.
09:45 Arrived at top of Whitney.  So this leg took 4:15.
11:00 Started down.
14:30 Arrived at Trail Camp.  Took 1:15 to rest and pack up.
15:45 Started from Trail Camp towards the Whitney Portal.
20:00 Arrived at Whitney Portal.  Leg took 4:45.