Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Pictures from Oct 28-29

I have posted pictures from this weekends hike on my website http://www.wallyx.com/gallery/mount_whitney .

This was our first time to do something like this and we ended up turning around at 11,000 feet because we felt that it would not be safe to finish it up. We left most of our gear at outpost camp and didn't want to get stuck without it and have night fall on us. We all had a great time and really feel the pain in our legs today :-)

I think I can speak on behalf of many who post on the WPSMB that you did the right thing by knowing when to say when, you had the experience of a lifetime, you are a little sore, and now you know what it takes to do it again next year...and you will! Looking forward to hearing about that accomplishment!

Amen to that, Gary. Much better to hear about a great first-time adventure, the wise/safe choice made to go no further and look at some nice photos than to read accounts of a harrowing SAR effort trying to get hikers back down safely, or worse, another unfortunate injury or tragic ending as has too often been the case in the recent past. Good move, Ronnie...
Brickie

I know the feeling. My buds and I turned around at the 12000ft level. One had a hadache and the other had knee problems. Sad part is there much younger than me. So it can just go to show you age means nothing on Whitney.

Making the decision to turn around instead of putting yourself in danger is a good habit to get into.I did notice a couple of things you might want to consider.In photo #26 the way you packed that ice axe seems a little dangerous to me.If you were to trip and tumble, that axe seems to be in a position to damage your neck.I would mount that axe on the back of your pack with the pick facing down and the handle facing up.This would keep it out of the way incase you tumble.Also I noticed some people wearing cotton clothes.Incase you are not aware, cotton clothes dont work well in that environment.Though they are comfortable and if you have some back up clothing,(nylon pants,etc.)and dont mind carrying the extra weight of the cotton then I say go for it.In general I would avoid cotton all together unless your in the desert.FYI cotton tends to retain moisture and loses its insulating value when wet.Hope this helps enhance your future enjoyment of the great outdoors.

"COTTON KILLS"
That's a phrase I've heard from outdoorsmen/hunters/mountaineers

It dries very slowly, retains water, and if it's cold out and you are wearing wet cotton, it could lead to discomfort all the way to hypothermia.

Rafael...

Guys, thanks for the tips and encouragement. They did have snow pants packed with them, they just didn't wear them all the time. As far as the ice axe goes, I never thought about that. I will pay attention to it next time and also advise my friends.

One problem I had was the humidity buildup in my tent. When I woke up in the morning, the ceiling was very wet. How do I prevent that? I have a North Face Spectrum 23.

Off topic, but I just returned from Banff if you would like to see more pictures :0) http://www.wallyx.com/gallery/banff/ .

I have never used the North Face Spectrum 23 before.It looks like you could leave the top part of the entry door unzipped, if so this should help reduce the moisture buildup.

Banff looks like a cool area.