Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board The Triple Deeeelight!

Insanity, a near full moon and shrinking daylight hours...At 7:00 PM tonight we will be attempting the Triple.. The plan is to leave the portal on the dot at 7 and do the first rounds push through the night , we are hoping to be back at the portal around 3:00 AM. Change packs , grab food from bear canister and start back up, eating while walking, hopefully seeing the summit again around 8 :00 AM . Take a photo and head back down , our hope is to be back near 11 and repeat the journey. If all goes well and there are no real issues we should make it right around the 24 hr. mark!! If there is anybody out we know maybe an extra push will help, if i can't talk its because I am already hallucinating and delirious, and if we are lying down don't worry I'm just talking to the ants ....Thanks for all the support and enthusiasm up to now and we will let you know how it goes... Davey & Tracy

Wondered why I didn't see you this morning.
Good luck.

Git'r done!

GodSpeed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I sent a text message. Are you on the summit?

Richard...since our love affair with Whitney is well pretty much your fault...we would love it if you wanted to pace for a lap or two or three!!! Seriously. If there is anyone else who feels like being a pacer, find in the parking lot later, or at about 3am or at about 11 am ... or anywhere along the way!

Tempting, but have previous plans. Good luck on that quest!

At the Notch.
We will be on top in about 20.

Anxiously waiting for the report!

It feels so good that you are all so supportive...really! But today was not our day, (sorry Richard!) and we settled for the Double Deeeelight! No this was not the plan, in fact we had specifically avoided doing the Double because we were afraid it would psychologically damage us for the Triple!

I do want to point out that our experience today solidified our belief that the Triple CAN be accomplished on the MT. No question.

The problem today was quite simply our strategy. The notion of leaving at 7pm sounded all good in that we would get the nighttime summit out of the way while fresh and get to finish in daylight. This also seemed perhaps safer, as we knew we would be delirious on the final decent...however one big problem for us, we like a little sleep! We have grown very accustomed to going to bed very early and getting up at 1, 2 or 3am to leave on our jaunts. We may feel tired just before the sun comes up and dream of lying in bed snoring...but always get through that and feel mostly great all day. Skipping an entire night of sleep right out of the hole is an entirely different experience and totally ruined us energetically for the daytime...which was when we expected to get after it!

So, after a mere 45 minute nap trying to use Doug's suggested technique of getting 8 hours of sleep in a 15 minute nap (CLEARLY we need to perfect our technique!!!!)
we left the Portal at 7pm and had a great climb to the summit in 4:30 - felt good - and watched an amazing electrical storm all the while. 10 min at the top and then down to our aid station in the Portal for a round trip of 7:39. Spent 15 min there trying to not go to bed, and collect more food and water, back out at 8hrs which was right on schedule for the nighttime journey!

And then ya, the reality of that "skipped" night of sleep started creeping in! Both of us mentally SO tired. But found a groove and just kept moving. Once on the switchbacks above TC the pace was gradually falling off. The sun came up and I think we both expected that to wake us up, like it normally does, but instead I think the only thing keeping us from lying down in the trail to sleep was a cold wind! We still made our second summit in 4:50, again still on schedule, but both suffering WAY more than we should have for having one more summit to go, and pretty much having out-of-body experiences!!! I realize that this happens to people at altitude just not usually us! We hashed it out for a few minutes and then turned down the trail...with um no spring. We needed to make it down in 2:45 to get us out of the Portal with a solid 8 hours for the final lap. As we stopped repeatedly to let other hikers come by on their way up (mental note, next time we will go on a week day) it became totally apparent that neither of us had the mental drive to get after it....and finally agreed to accept our lesson, cruise down for the Double and plan for another attempt using a better strategy! Next time, midnight departure...

We are disappointed but now certainly driven to compete this crazy idea that someone planted into our obviously warped minds!

I applaud your effort, your drive, and your knowledge about yourself to realize that your mission for the day could not be completed safely.

I learned a LONG time ago, as long as you all come back and learn from the day, is much more valuable than pushing and have something go wrong.

P.S. We all think you can get it done!

Your times are amazing! Congratulations on the double.

Davey, seconding Todd's thoughts. Great effort and valuable lessons learned, while having the mental discipline to recognize the potential consequences and pull the plug on #3. You didn't hit your goal, which I'm sure rubs your competitive nature the wrong way, but you and Tracy have accomplished what very, very few people have managed. I have a ton of confidence the two of you, wiser now, will get that triple eventually.

Now go home and get some shut-eye!

Congrats to both of you, well done anyway....yea a weekday would be better,too many "go ahead you got the right of way" for the hikers comin up...

mark

Excellent! Great drive and motivation. Even though you did not make your triple, you still did something most of us can't even dream of. Not to mention your physical ability to accompish such goal. One thing about Whitney, it teaches all of us something about ourselves in our quest for that challenge. Great job.

The short power nap is what made the first day of South Lake to Reds so disastrous.

Congratulations on The Double. Like others say, we know The Triple is coming.

Ask about my Cheerleader and the UFO some time. (Sleep deprivation related.)

Don't be afraid to fail...be afraid not to try.




Having attempted is not failure...



You now know what it takes to "git'r done" and you will...

Wow good job, especially in this heat and humidity. I have a feeling youll keep trying for the triple...but a doubler is already impressive. Congratulations!