Planning to hike to the top of Mt. Whitney this upcoming September with some friends. We plan to do it as a long day hike. Anyone done this?

Any suggestions on where to stay/eat and other things to do in the area, etc?

On the lottery coming up, we have 6-7 guys putting in for it and we'll target a Tues/Wed. One question I had doing this with a group, is there an advantage to putting in for different days as primary rather than selecting others as alternate/rollover options? Wondering if we choose Tues as primary and Wed as secondary...if we all lose out on Tues would we automatically be behind everyone who puts in Wed as a primary? Should we split our group up to pick different days as primary?

Any training thoughts? We're all relatively in-shape mid 40s guys but not experienced with high altitude climbs. We've done Grand Canyon rim to beyond river (supposed to be R2R2R but snow stopped us), marathons/ultras/Spartans, and such but still wondering if we're up for this. We're in Houston for the most part so tough to train for the conditions. Our plan, which we did for GC, is a lot of rucking stairs/ramps in 7 story parking garages along with long ruck hikes. We're part of a workout group (F3), so we're also routinely doing body weight workouts throughout the week as part of our normal lives.

Any thoughts on altitude acclimation and what's involved or even possible to do effectively in the area? We probably don't have more than a few days (and would like things to during that time).

Appreciate any input!

Is this your first 14er?

What elevation do you live at?

How are you acclimatizing?

Whitney on the portal trail is a re deal. 20+ miles, 6000 feet up. People everywhere... but hard to rescue some Texan who lives at sea level and thinks he can just walk up.

Maybe you should start with quandary or bierstadt.

I re read your post and see that you are living in Houston and plan on training by walking stairs.

I can no longer post here as one of you is almost guaranteed serious trouble. This is not how you do it. Do bierstadt. It is hard enough.

14000 is no joke brother

I do appreciate the warning.

But I mean is out of the question for a novice to take it on? We picked it due to it not requiring mountaineering skills. From what I've read, there at least seem to be discussions out there of which is harder...R2R or Whitney. Whitney seems to usually win, but its at least a conversation as the elevation changes are similar and you're battling elements in both. How is doing another 14k mountain better if altitude is the main concern? If you're not in it all the time, won't the altitude effect still suck the 2nd time?

Note we aren't taking it lightly. Hiking garages sounds lame (appreciate any other training ideas in Texas), but we're talking about doing it for months for 3-6hr hour stretches carrying significant weight and doing overnight 15-20mi+ rucks. I plan to also run another 50 mi ultra as part of training as well.

One of us is a doctor as well. Helpful to get altitude meds and save us on the mountain if needed, lol.

I'll post more later, but yes, I did it in 2022 with the wife, her sister, and sister's husband. We started at 1a and finished about 6p if I remember correctly. Wife and I probably would have done it faster, but we waited on her sister quite a number of times.

It's incredible, and you should absolutely do it. I'll post more later but working on dinner. I did post a thread on h&f with some pics if you can find it.

It is certainly do-able, but you'll want to make sure you are in good shape.

Day hiking is commonly done, but it is tough. 22 miles with 6,000+ feet of elevation is a very long taxing day.

I did Elbert in Colorado back when I was 25ish. Was coming from Midland, so no acclamation. Looking back, I didn't prep my body much either. Decided I wanted to backpack it, so had a full pack on. Midland is below 3,000', so my body was definitely shocked. Had done some weekend camping and hikes, but nothing with elevation change, since I lived in West Texas. I remember somewhere along the trail, I decided the full pack was a dumb idea and cached my gear in some rocks. I made the summit in a snow storm, but don't be that guy. Get lots of time in hiking, bleachers and parking garages with weight.

I have a friend of mine who brough canned air on a hiking trip that was between 8,000 and 12,000. That hike was close to Whitney, it was Raes Lake Loop in Kings Canyon. He was coming from Austin. Picked it up at REI. Would take hits from it every so often. Said it kept the headaches away.

That same trip, I had the headaches, but found that water and ibuprofen helped.

I think hydration is probably an extremely important thing in fighting altitude. Pound that water early and often.

I asked a buddy of mine who coaches soccer about what he did for his team when they went to Colorado. He said that they didn't have time to adjust so usually waited until the last minute to arrive and hoped they played the game before the body noticed. Don't think that works for Whitney. He said they also did beet juice, which probably is good.

For warm up while out there, look at Mt San Jacinto. You can take an air tram up to 8,500 then hike to the peak.
Depending on where you are flying in, that might be out of the way, but I like that you can quickly get to elevation and hike to test yourself out prior to going to Whitney.

Most important though, make an agreement with each other that healthy trumps summit. If someone is feeling bad, stop! Someone dragging themselves up while fighting altitude sickness because they don't want to affect the rest of the group is deadly.

Can't help on the lottery part.

But if you end up with an extra spot, I can be at the mountain in 5 hours!

Doing an easier 14er beforehand would just be a benchmark test and offer reference for what it feels like to exert yourself in an environment with around 40% less oxygen than you're used to.

SJEAg said:

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Planning to hike to the top of Mt. Whitney this upcoming September with some friends. We plan to do it as a long day hike. Anyone done this?

Any suggestions on where to stay/eat and other things to do in the area, etc?

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We also did our ascent in September. As for places to stay/eat, there's not a whole lot in Lone Pine. I'd been out there a couple times in the past crewing for Badwater. The pizza place in town is pretty decent, and there will be plenty of people in there who have done or are doing whitney or are doing longer routes. Alabama Hills Bakery is decent for breakfast.

As for staying somewhere, we got a small 2 bedroom AirBnB in town that was perfect for us. it was on the edge of town, and about a block off the portal road. There's limited hotel/motel options in town and the Airbnb allowed for us to all comfortably hang out and plan. The day before the hike, we hiked around the Alabama Hills area to the Mobius Arch. I'd highly recommend that as well. Its a cool arch with great views of whitney and the sierra, but also helps stretch the legs out a bit after travel.

There are several outfitters in town if anyone forgets anything. I like Elevation Sierra. Its a tiny place, but the guys there are super knowledgeable. They helped us check last-minute weather conditions and made a recommendation to start earlier, which ended up being the correct decision. The guy helping us has summited Whitney at least a dozen times.

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On the lottery coming up, we have 6-7 guys putting in for it and we'll target a Tues/Wed. One question I had doing this with a group, is there an advantage to putting in for different days as primary rather than selecting others as alternate/rollover options? Wondering if we choose Tues as primary and Wed as secondary...if we all lose out on Tues would we automatically be behind everyone who puts in Wed as a primary? Should we split our group up to pick different days as primary?

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Definitely smart going for a Tues/Wed. The weekdays are easier to get permits. Unless they have changed the way it works, your dates for primary, secondary don't matter. Have every person in your group submit a lottery application. If more than one person gets drawn, you can decline the unneeded permits. The more dates you submit, the better your odds. Don't pick a couple dates and hope. Use all 15 options. I got selected two years in a row. We had to pass the first year due to some conflicts that came up.

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Any training thoughts? We're all relatively in-shape mid 40s guys but not experienced with high altitude climbs. We've done Grand Canyon rim to beyond river (supposed to be R2R2R but snow stopped us), marathons/ultras/Spartans, and such but still wondering if we're up for this. We're in Houston for the most part so tough to train for the conditions. Our plan, which we did for GC, is a lot of rucking stairs/ramps in 7 story parking garages along with long ruck hikes. We're part of a workout group (F3), so we're also routinely doing body weight workouts throughout the week as part of our normal lives.

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Wife and I were both training for ultra races, so we didn't do any specific training. Good thing is, its hot all summer in texas so running/exercising outside in the heat will mimic similar effects as altitude training. Obviously its not the same, but it should help. I've run R2R2R twice, as well as trans-zion. I don't think either are comparable to Whitney. Both of those runs end on huge climbs, whereas Whitney is hard going up, then just a LONG slog back down. You aren't pushing yourself hard on the descent, but its hard on the knees and you are tired AF. Plus, the grand canyon doesn't have the elevation factor. Whitney was absolutely the most difficult hike I've done by a long shot, and I've done a number of hikes in the same realm from a mileage standpoint. I'd definitely do a lot of lunges/squats, etc. Even if they are body weight. I'd also figure out what your are going to have in your pack on the day of the hike and spend a lot of time with that pack on your back.

My sister- and brother-in-law live in Prescott, AZ, so in addition to running, they did a lot of hiking. They aren't ultra runners, so we are talking runs for 5 or 6 miles a few times a week, plus hiking peaks in/around Prescott. They did go up Mt Humphrey a couple times in prep, which is 12K+.

While getting out to a 12-14K peak in training would be highly beneficial, i don't think its Mandatory if you are doing all the other training.

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Any thoughts on altitude acclimation and what's involved or even possible to do effectively in the area? We probably don't have more than a few days (and would like things to during that time).

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There's very little you can do for acclimation, short of showing up weeks ahead. My brother-in-law, who was with us is an ER doc, so he had meds with us, but we all followed the ibuprofen regimen to help prevent AMS. Look it up, there's a lot of science backing it.

here's my thread from h&f

https://texags.com/forums/48/topics/3320933

Thanks for the great info!!

Ibuprofen preferred over acetazolamide/diamox for altitude sickness? Seems to be conflicting info from what I am reading.

edit - saw that you probably had it on-hand if it was needed.

yes, we had diamox on hand.

Lots of great info, I've had the pleasure of doing Whitney twice both from the PCT side and one of those times ended by walking out through the portal. I also have close friends who just did the portal to summit in a day.

Have a good plan for water. You can't carry enough for the whole trip so be ready to refill and purify. As others stated, keep your body hydrated. You are going from a relative humidity of near 80% in Houston to probably single digit's at the portal in September. Your body will be dehydrating just by standing still and breathing.

As was mentioned you can't acclimatize in that short period of time but you can do a day hike the day before so you feel the impact and it's not a surprise on summit day. My advise would be to get in a day ahead of time and go to the chicken spring lake trailhead and climb cottonwood pass. It starts just shy of 10,000 and the pass is at 12,000. Amazing views and a you will feel the impact of the altitude and get an idea if anybody is going to have serious repercussions from the altitude. It's rare, but some people bodies just don't function well above 10,000. Even super in shape marathon/ultra runners.

Start as early as you can, many start at midnight or 1 AM. Sunrise from the ridgeline or even the summit will be amazing and get the worst of the hiking out of the way in the relative cool of the night.

I have had good experience using Excedrin for altitude sickness. Excedrin is Acetaminophen, Aspirin and Caffeine and there is something about the synergy that really knocks out the headaches and fatigue and allows them to keep climbing. I would personally take Ibuprofen for the decent because your knees will feel it.

Remember the mountain isn't going anywhere, if someone is feeling bad just turn around and come back another day. Don't be afraid to rack out at trail camp on the way back down as well. Rest your legs a bit, get some food in you and recover for the final slog out.

Well, lottery results this morning - one by one the rejection email reports came in. But our 7th and final chance reported acceptance! So, it's real now.

Doing a 50 miler in a few weeks. Just been just running and rucking a lot to get a good base before we started the real training as a group. Training through the entire duration of a Houston summer is gonna suck lol.

I've done five 14ers including Whitney. For every one of them, I really did no preparation other than my normal working out which frankly did not include enough aerobic back then. We typically do a smaller hike the day before to at least acclimatize a little bit.

We camped overnight at the base camp by the pond/lake for Whitney though. Did not do it all in one day. So, we were carrying 35 lb packs with tents, food, and other gear. I doubt I could have accomplished that one in one day. It's a primitive camp so remember you have to pack your own waste out. ****ting into a bag in front of people is a good time. The porta potties were no longer active when we were there. Maybe that has changed since then.

My buddies were all in better shape than me, so I started my hike alone on day 2 to the peak. I did end up hiking with another guy more my speed and luckily for him I had an extra pair of shoes in my pack because he blew the soles out of his boots on the way up and was walking on his socks. I gave him my shoes and he ended up mailing them back to me several weeks later.

SJEAg said:

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Well, lottery results this morning - one by one the rejection email reports came in. But our 7th and final chance reported acceptance! So, it's real now.

Doing a 50 miler in a few weeks. Just been just running and rucking a lot to get a good base before we started the real training as a group. Training through the entire duration of a Houston summer is gonna suck lol.

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knoxtom says rest in piece.

That's awesome! Post some pics!

how'd the 99 switchbacks go for you? everyone built it up, but I didn't think they were actually that bad...but maybe it was because I was expecting them to be literal hell.

Yeah, I didn't think they were that bad. It basically reminded me of the Grand Canyon experience and those consistent type of inclines which were basically what I trained for in parking garages. I think some people have a rough time because that's where the altitude may start to kick in.

After the switchbacks at Trail Crest was tougher in my opinion. The worst was getting back to Trail Crest from the summit - pretty exhausted at that point, rough terrain, highest altitudes, and still dealing with inclines even though you're supposed to be going down at that point lol.

Awesome pics! The Sierra are just simply amazing. I am too fat and out of shape to do that hike. But I do enjoy lower elevation hikes.

Can't wait to go back there.

Thanks for sharing!

Great pictures, and congrats! I went to Leadville last year at age 51 with my senior D1 track athlete and my HS XC runner. I have run 7 marathons. Day 1 we ran 5 miles on the loop at 10,000 feet or so. Day 2 we ran the full 12 mile loop. Day 3 we hiked Mount Elbert, about 10 miles. Day 4, 6 miles easy hiking. Day 5, we did Mount Massive. Just good hard days, mostly. Nothing really special about 14,500 feet. Better than Houston any day. But every body is DIFFERENT. Give me altitude over heat 8 days a week.

I really want to do Whitney. I have business in Merced sometimes. I need to make this happen.

AggieOO said:

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congrats! Glad you proved knoxtom wrong and didn't die up there!

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Guy in Taos tried to scare me out of hiking Wheeler Peak. If you're in shape, you're in shape. Just respect the altitude, don't fear it.