Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Frequently asked questions by first timers

VersatileFred:

Thanks a lot. Got A LOT of information and advice from this topic.

What day(s) are you hiking?

I was at the summit 7/9 - maybe we saw you? Four of us in the group - I brewed some coffee at the top. Lots of great people along the trail, I wonder if we passed and said a few hello's?

(Post from 7/9 removed).

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Thank you for this really thorough and good information. Well written. Feel like I'm there again. Two years ago - once I got to Trail Crest - my vertigo kicked in and I *****ed at the drop offs; stayed up there 45 minutes trying to reverse my negative energy, but finally had to turn around. I felt so bad because my daughter could have easily made it, but she wouldn't leave me. Not a day goes by that I don't regret my decision and I'm daily mentally preparing to overcome this fear so we can summit together.

What I think would be helpful is to actually see photos of these "scary", severe drop off places AND the 4 windows sections. In all these postings, I can't seem to find these particular photos. Anyone have some to share?

Thanks again.

Carol,
Bob R adds links to his latest photos on clubphoto.com after just about every hike he makes. Here is a link to his photos from <A href="http://members12.clubphoto.com/robert634908/3417872/guest.phtml">July 2/3</A>. You can see some scary shots at the cables.

Thanks VF. I had seen these great shots before and good to see them again.

Carol, you might consider ordering Hike Along Pete's video of his hike up the entire Mt. Whitney Trail, from Portal to Summit, a couple years ago. He labels various places along the way, including occasional number of switchback he's on at the moment and the windows. It's a great way to mentally prepare yourself for the entire trail. The video, which is now on DVD, is under $25 and you can get it at HikeAlongVideo with the usual prefix and .com afterwards. Good luck!

LM - This sounds perfect. I'll do it! Thank you!

Carol,
Bob R also took pictures of the windows on his July 20/21 trip. Here is the link that he gave: <A href="http://members12.clubphoto.com/robert634908/3481703/guest.phtml">photos</A>.

What is the preferred hiking apparel - Polyester or Nylon?

Al,
Have you checked out the <A href="http://www.rei.com/shop/Mens_clothing.htm">REI web site</A>. They are having a Labor Day sale on clothing this weekend.

As for your question, I would suggest doing a search on this site for previous posts on "polypropylene" and related keywords. For summertime, I like polypropylene outerwear because of its good dynamic temperature range and its ability to wick away moisture. I still carry along a lightweight nylon jacket just in case something bad happens.

About the "severe dropoffs" -- Would a person who has a tendancy to vertigo weird out along that length of the trail or is there enough distance between your feet and death that it's like walkin' a sidewalk? Happy Hiking.

Related to Peggy's question - when one experiences altitude sickness - are you always aware of it? I know about headaches, etc., but it is possible for someone to lose a grasp of their faculties and become 'drunk' and not know it (along a steep slope such as Peggy asks about)?

Peggy, I'm a marginal "exposure" nut - meaning that I'm not into trails perched on the edge of nothingness. (G)

I did not find the Windows areas very difficult. You might have a bit of pause. It is pretty wide (at least sidewalk width) and the surface is pretty smooth so you don't get the feeling you might trip off. Exposure is a combination of things including the "open sweep" or apparent openness. So not all narrow sections have the same impact. I don't think I even realized that I was passing the Windows. But to be honest, there are a few sections where you might flinch a little. I know that I can also generally talk myself past such places but it can take some good internal conversations.

I think that I even was able to pause and take a photograph or two.

Also I will admit, that the cable area also made me a bit uncomfortable - but it also did not amount to much of anything.

Then, again, as much of an exposure freek (spelling to fool the censor) as I think I am, I have been able to steel myself a few times and do Half Dome's cables. Starting up is always worse and once I'm up, coming down has never been an issue. And since the discussion came up again recently, Angel's Landing is Zion is quite incredible and I Had the most cottonmouth of anything I've done, THERE!!!! Armpits were arrid after the hike (G)

Have a great hike up Whitney no matter when you do it.

But can adverse effects of altitude be asymptomatic to the sufferer?

In other words, if I'm up there with a child (or even alone) could I get into a position of impaired judgment / dizziness without knowing it? To my detriment or my kid's?

Another way of asking the question...has anyone seen a hiking partner show effects without knowing they were in danger?

Here is a link to <A href="http://a1.cpimg.com/image/83/98/50255491-4568-02000180-.jpg">Bob R's image of the first window</A>. To put things in perspective, his hiking pole is about 4 feet long. The area is like a wide sidewalk. It is nothing like the steep sides of Angel's Landing in Zion NP that kashcraft just took pictures of. Here is a link to his <A href="http://community.webshots.com/album/437422294rGFnUF/3">photo album</A>.

As for a person becoming delirious up at high altitude, that can happen if the person develops a circulatory problem. Someone in our group on my second hike up got off the trail on the long concave stretch before the summit and had to escorted back to Trail Camp. It was not vertigo but a heart problem.

Now that Labor Day weekend is over, it is time to stop propping up this topic on the message board. Hopefully it kept the number of repeated questions down over the summer. Have a nice autumn/winter.

(Since this topic has kind of diverged, I probably will open a new topic next year and start of with a table of hyperlinks. That way I can orgainze the information better).

I think it's time to pop this topic back to the top....

Just a comment: if you do rework the topic for the new year, add some info for the permit process like Kurt's post below.

Somehow, Doug should figure out how to lock this to the top, and prevent irrelevant posts to it. It's definitely a good piece of work.

Richard, until that happens here do you think it's worth a Sticky on your message board? Or perhaps just update the threads that are currently on the Sticky list?