Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Recommended training hikes in N. Sierra

looks like i'll be doing Whitney at the end of Sept. i've been spending most of my summer riding my road bike (i did the DeathRide in July), and the last month or so i've been getting back into trail running. i live in N. Tahoe so obviously i am used to 6k ft elevation. it has been a few years since i have been above 13k-14k feet. i've done things like ski mountaineered Shasta, and climbed the Grand Teton etc. in the past.

i am planning to run/speed hike a bunch of the mountains near me (Donner Summit, Castle Peak, Mt. Rose... etc.) for training. just curious for other peaks to hit that are within a 2-3 hour drive. maybe Leavitt Peak or Sonora Peak? i've never done anything off of Sonora Pass. i'd like to camp and go above 11k feet at least once before i head down to Whitney.

my biggest issue is that i have very limited weekends available so most of my training trips will be quick 1/2 day to full day trips, due to family stuff and my wife training for a triathlon. i prolly have 1 weekend where i can spend a night out at 9k feet and cruise up to 11k+ feet. anyone care to join me?

We did pyramid peak via horsetail falls as part or our training. I think that route was as hard as anything on Whitney Mountaineer's Route. It has two class 2/3 portions in the hike. The last section of the route is class 2/3 directly up the face. It's a good one to do.

We also did Mt. Tallac, Donner Summit and Mt Judah (w/ full packs).

My suggestion is to take a weekend and go down to Mammoth. There are many beautiful hikes and bike trails, some more challenging than others. Mammoth Mtn itself is quite a hike.

most important factor in acclimatization to altitude is sleeping altitude.

So if you are already living at 6,000 ft, you are well on your way, in fact far more acclimatized (doing nothing) than someone who comes up from the flatlands.

These comments pertain only to altitude acclimatization, not physical conditioning. Harvey

I'll be hiking Whitney next month. Before heading to the portal I'm going to hike up Telescope Peak and spend a night on the summit (11,000'). It's an easy walk-up (14 miles roundtrip) with spectactular views, and it's within a few hours drive of the portal.

There is no tent space at the summit. Another option is to camp on the saddle below the summit. You can pitch a tent there.

I would suggest going up Mt. Dana which is right at the entrance of Yosemite at Tioga Pass. It probably will take you about two hours to get to the trail head. Mt. Dana rigorous 3,000 foot class 2 climb. The later half is over rocks and scree.

Mt. Dana is the most northerly 13er in the Sierra. Which makes it interesting for another reason.

By the way, all mountains are interesting. This can be proven using set theory. Catch me on the trail sometime and I'll tell you about it.

Does it go something like this?

Consider the set of mountains that are not interesting. Suppose it is not empty. Then, among the elements of the set, there is one L that is lowest. But then L is interesting because it is the lowest of the uninteresting mountains, a contradiction! Therefore, the set of mountains that are not interesting is empty.

turang, you are one sharp dude!

thanks everyone for the input. i think i'll plan on hitting Mt. Dana, maybe early/mid Sept.

i've been wanting to check out that area for a while. this sounds like a good reason to go play, and i could make a quick day trip out of it.

Hi, one hot chili, Dana is good; I went up it last week and I was really slow 3 hours up which was an hour more than the last time. Another nice thing is the basin at the head of Saddlebag Lake. You can hike around it and then go to a variety of lakes and ridges with great views of Conness and other things. You can take a boat for $9 across the lake if you like, but an old mining road gives you a good trail going to the right side of the lake. Good luck. The lake is a bit over 10K and all the basin is higher.

Adrian

Wow...someone from my general area (I'm from Sparks myself). Within the Tahoe area itself, I've always been partial to Mt Rose just because of the steepness of the hike is fairly intense. And if you do the 6 mile course, it wouldn't be unlike the upper section of Whitney in a weird way. Its like you ascend 500 ft, descend 400, then ascend 1800 ft from there... oh, and that 400 you descended you have to climb on your way out.

I found that aspect helpful when coping with Whitney. Also I know this is way out of your way, but Yosemites Half Dome hike will prepare you well for this. How? Well the hike has alot of stair steps carved out of the granite and so does the whitney hike. I've found the practice hiking Half Dome made a world of difference.

Hope this helps
SeanB

hey ForceInfinity...

yeah, i like doing Mt. Rose. i haven't been there in a couple years. basically since my 2 daughters were born (they are 5 and 3 now), all my mountaineering/climbing took a back seat for awhile. but i am slowly getting back into things and feel pretty good about my fitness. i am planning on hitting Mt. Rose early Sunday morning this weekend. i plan on doing it at a similar pace i anticipate for my planned day hike of Whitney. we'll see what my car-2-car time will be. this past Sat i did Castle Peak car-2-car in just under 2 hours.

re: Half Dome. i did that a few years... starting from Tenaya Lake. that was fun.

I was on Mount Dana last Friday. There is still a wide (but narrow) snowfield about half way up the class 2 section at the top. Once you pass the rockpile on the final plateau, the trail starts to dissipate into several trails as you go up the face. (It was a little harder for me to go down than to go up).