Mount Whitney
Making a dayhike to the top of the ‘Lower 48’
can leave you gasping
By Gary Fallesen
MOUNT WHITNEY, Calif. – The trek is barely one-fifth complete when two grim looking men pass you on the trail. They are heading down, seemingly whipped.
‘‘Going to the top?’’ one asks.
‘‘Going to try,’’ you say, your voice still full of energy.
‘‘Wooo,’’ the man exhales. ‘‘It’ll be a rough day.’’
He says it in a way that makes you wish you’d packed a fifth of something. It isn’t exactly a pep talk.
We are making a dayhike on Mount Whitney, a walk that — should you reach the top of the tallest peak in the contiguous United States — measures 22 miles roundtrip. Not only are you traveling almost the length of a marathon over rocky trails, boulders, snow and ice, but you ascend from a trailhead (or portal) that is 8,360 feet above sea level to a summit that is 14,496 feet up.
“At 14,000 feet, the human body is capable of performing at only about 60 percent of its sea level capacity,’’ the Mount Whitney Guide reads. ‘‘And that’s under the best of conditions.’’
More encouragement.
Now take that human body and make it hike more than 10 miles horizontally and one mile vertically to get to 14,000 feet. You are not acclimated. You are — to say the least — short of breath.
Never mind all the running you’ve done in preparation for this ascent.
The book on Whitney is: ‘‘Acclimated individuals in good condition can easily hike to the summit and back to the Portal in one long day. For backpackers, a minimum of two days is required: the first to hike to Trail Camp (at 12,039 feet), the second to reach the summit and then return to the trailhead. But if more time is available, a trip of at least three days is recommended.’’
Acclimatization, for climbing purposes, is the gradual adaptation of the human body to increased altitude — a key on climbs above 8,000 feet. The unacclimatized can suffer acute mountain sickness (AMS), the symptoms of which include headache, loss of appetite, nausea, lethargy, depression and disorientation.
It isn’t pretty. It can suck the life from your appreciation for those breathtaking views around you.
Having gone the AMS route on another 14,000-foot peak, we decide to down the prescription drug acetazolamide (or Diamox) with our eggs at the 24-hour diner in nearby Lone Pine. Diamox is a respiratory stimulant that reduces altitude symptoms between 12,000 and 14,000 feet.
Gary Cooper (Adventures of Marco Polo, 1938), Cary Grant (Gunga Din, 1939), Humphrey Bogart (High Sierra, 1941), Gregory Peck (How the West Was Won, 1962), Clint Eastwood (Joe Kidd, 1972) and Mel Gibson (Maverick, 1994) probably didn’t need Diamox to make some of the hundreds of movies shot on location around Lone Pine. But we’ll never be confused with John Wayne so we swallow our hard pill.
Whitney is a granite mountain located in the southeast end of the Sierra Nevada range about 200 miles from Los Angeles. It is surreal in appearance, making you wonder why we bothered sending a probe all the way to Mars for the same sort of pictures you can take after a 10-hour walk not far from so-called civilization.
If you set out around 4 a.m., you can be three miles into the trek when the sun rises. This will give you a chance to appreciate Lone Pine Lake, some frisky mule deer enjoying breakfast on the trail, and a few minutes off your feet at Outpost Camp (elevation: 10,360 feet).
After that, you pass Mirror Lake, those two weary looking hikers in descent, and Last Tree. You are above treeline from here on up. With the exception of a few high-altitude bees, some wildflowers and a few dozen other hikers, there isn’t much life visible to the eye at this height.
Life as you know it is about to end.
The crux of the hike comes after Trail Camp.
‘‘Most make an overnight stay here,’’ the Mount Whitney Guide reads, ‘‘for beyond is the infamous climb to Trail Crest, which lies 1,738 feet above. There’s a grueling series of 96 switchbacks to be overcome, and it’s best to tackle this ordeal when well rested.’’
This is not exactly inspiration for you if you have just hiked 6.3 miles. As one woman said after ascending the previous day from Trail Camp and spending another night there after descent from the summit: ‘‘You’ll dream about those switchbacks.’’
It’s called a nightmare.
‘‘Drudgery’’ is the word she chose to describe the 2.2-mile hike that puts you at 13,777 feet.
We think ‘‘Switchbacks from Hell’’ is more accurate. And on the way up, we don’t do all 96.
From early October through June, the trail is likely to be covered with snow and ice. It tends to disappear on you, which explains why we find ourselves scrambling over rock and then, after strapping crampons to our boots, descend a near-vertical snow band. This puts us on a ridge that we follow parallel to the trail, finally rejoining it shortly before it merges with the John Muir Trail.
At this fork in the road, a sign reads: ‘‘Mt. Whitney Summit 1.9.’’
It feels more like 19 miles.
As the Mount Whitney Guide says, ‘‘There’s still 1,015 feet to be gained in the next two miles, but the trail climbs gradually, and the most difficult hiking is over. Most hikers, however, will be feeling the effects of the altitude, and the last two miles may prove to be the most challenging.’’
It is here that you begin to doubt whether you will stand atop the Lower 48.
The ‘‘windows’’ you pass, which offer views of Owens Valley about 10,000 feet below, become a blur. You focus almost entirely on walking and breathing.
More than 10 hours after you started, you are head and mountain above everyone in this country (outside of Alaska). You rest maybe 10 minutes before starting down.
Your rough day is only half finished.
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