I am very proud of my wife Pam. She along with her two co-workers reached the top of Mt. Whitney. It was the first time for her and Sandra. It was a second summit for Wes in more than 35 years. They had to do it without me. I ran out of gas at Trail Camp. The altitude got the best of me.
3:20 a.m.: Start hike at the old stock trail
3:42 a.m.: Reach Mt. Whitney Trail
4:52 a.m.: The Whitney Zone
5:31 a.m.: Outpost Camp
6:44 a.m.: Trailside Meadows
7:55 a.m.: Trail Camp
12:09 p.m.: Summit
3:35 p.m.: Trail Camp
6:26 p.m.: Finish hike
15 hours and 6 minutes. What a day for all of us.
After training concluded on Friday, my drive to the holy city of Lone Pine began. I stopped at Carl's Jr. in Mojave to get a dinner consisting of a chicken sandwich, two large fries, and a drink. After scarfing that down on Highway 14 it was time to focus on my driving in darkness through familiar territory but under other conditions. I have never driven to Lone Pine in the evening. I stopped in Pearsonville, the "Hubcap Capital of the World," to get rid of the Carl's Jr. trash and refuel for the final 45 miles to Lone Pine.
I got to Lone Pine around 8:40 p.m. and made that left-hand turn to Whitney Portal. I stopped at Movie Road just to get out of the car and look towards the heavens. The Milky Way is a sight to behold.
When I arrived at cabin #12 a little after 9:05, there are 38 steps up to the cabin. My heart was thumping in my chest when I got to the front door. I knocked on the door and walked in and introduced myself to Steve, the owner of the cabin. I dropped my pack in the living room and went upstairs where my wife awaited me. The stairway is narrow. You have to literally climb up to the top floor. On the way down, you have to descend sideways. One false step and you go crashing down.
As I am lying down next to my wife, my heart is still pumping hard due to the altitude at 8,000 feet. I think I finally dozed off around 10:30.
Pam and I awoke around 1:50 a.m. I got my permit placard from Pam and secured it to my pack. Pam toasted half a bagel for me for breakfast but only had two nibbles. My appetite wasn't there. We put duct tape on our feet for blister prevention and made final preparations.
We leave the cabin around 3:00 a.m. for the one-mile ride to the parking area. We were so fortunate enough to park directly in front of the main trailhead. Keep in mind this is a weekend and one is lucky to find a spot like this during any day of the week.
We don our gear and make our way to the old stock trail. Somehow someway I "missed" our point. Pam was quick to alert me that we went too far. As we made our way up the three-quarter mile stock trail, my heart really started to pound. This is not a good sign.
We made it to the Whitney Zone without incident before our push towards Outpost Camp and beyond.
Once past Outpost Camp it was on to Trailside Meadows. On the way up just past Mirror Lake, I tweaked my back. The pain shot through me, but it was bearable enough to continue.
Just before Trailside Meadows, I could feel the altitude starting to take it's toll on me. I start getting a headache. Every so often I would have to stop and take my mountaineering breaths to rid my headache. Then I become dizzy and nauseous. Acute mountain sickness. This is not a good sign.
We stop at Trailside Meadows to rest before pushing on to Trail Camp. Again, every 100 steps or so, I stop to rest to catch my breath. At this point of the hike everyone else is doing well. I apologize to everyone about my slow pace.
We reach Trail Camp. It was there I decided enough was enough. With my troubles with altitude plus the twinge in my back, I told everyone this is where I stop and I thought it best to let the others go without me and not become a search-and-rescue project. I saw the look on Pam's face when I made the announcement. I don't know what she was thinking, but I knew that staying with me while the others continued WAS NOT an option. I told Pam it was okay and that I will wait for all of them here at Trail Camp. I kissed her and said, "To the summit and safe return."
As they made their way up the switchbacks, I tried to find a comfortable place to lie down. Temperatures were in the high 40s with a windchill hovering arund freezing. I tried to make the best of a bad situation since there is not much of a windbreak at 12,300 feet. I put on my fleeced vest, my Marmot DriClime jacket and my Marmot PreCip jacket just to keep warm and to shield me from the wind gusts. I still have a small lingering headache.
I find this ideal spot to lie down the middle of Trail Camp. It offered comfort and shelter from the Sierra wind. I laid my pack down and took a nap.
As I awoke from my slumber, a group of hikers came by looking for a place to set up camp. I told them that it was okay for them to set up camp where I was laying. After all, I am not the overnighter, but they were.
The group (two married couples) hailed from the San Francisco area. This was their first visit to Whitney. They had climbed Mt. Shasta earlier in the year. They asked me all types of questions and I was able to supply them with all the answers. Questions like which one is Mt. Whitney? How much water do we take? How much gear to take? How long will it take to reach the top? I answered all questions for them.
As they left for their hike, I asked them if they saw my wife (I provided them a description of her and Sandra and Wes), that they tell her I am wearing my orange jacket.
I finally saw Wes, Pam and Sandra around 3:30. They had made it. I kissed and hugged my wife and told her how proud I was of her. I high-fived Sandra and shook Wes' hand. Job well done.
All that was left was that 6.3 miles to the trailhead. On the way down there was some issues with knee pain and headaches, but nothing severe enough to worry. Wes finished well ahead of us. He took the Mt. Whitney Trail all the way down to the trailhead. Pam, Sandra and I took the old stock trail down.
Sore shoulder muscles due to ill-fitting packs and some minor blisters were post-hike issues. After dining on lasagna and salad, we all retired for the night for a well-deserved rest.
The last two months, Pam was worried about not making it to the top. WORRY NO MORE, PAM! You did it! My wife is a Whitney Summiteer!
Pam and I are planning for a hike next year up Mt. Fuji-san in Japan. Altitude shouldn't be a problem, just trying to get to the top while pushing and passing people will be strenuous enough.
After-thoughts:
The months of non-hiking caught up with me. The stairwells and gym were not enough to sustain my strength and stamina. Had I continued with training hikes in the Southern California mountains I would have fared better. A day of acclimatization would have helped, too, but that is not an excuse. The group arrived at the cabins on Thursday and did some acclimatization at Horseshoe Meadow on Friday. In my opinion, the successful summit of the group was attributed to their training regimen of running and going to the gym. You also have to factor in a lot of postitive mental attitude (PMA). They had it. I did not.
