Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Time estimate using trail comparison

I'm going to be going up Whitney in about a week, and I don't really have a very clear picture of how long the trail will take. Since I run alone, I usually leave a fairly accurate estimate at home, then I call when I'm done, so I'm trying to get a reasonable time estimate.

I do San Gorgonio, San Jacinto, or San Bernardino peaks most weekends, and I'm thinking San Gorgonio should give me about the best time estimate. I know the altitude will slow me a bit on Whitney, so I'm thinking maybe about an hour longer than San G.

Any trailrunners out there have experience with these two trails? I've seen some trail comparisons mentioned by hikers as well on this forum - any word from you hikers?

Thanks for any help.

z

Zip,

We hiked (not jogged)the main trail last Friday. 7 hrs up and 6 down. Would have been faster down, but my 56 year old knees were screaming at me for the last couple of hours, making it difficult to pick up the pace. We met a couple of guys from OC at the Dow Villa the night before who were running. We saw them at Trail Crest on our way up. They were coming down already. We also talked to them later that night back in LP. The fastest guy in their group finished just under 8 hours RT.

Zip, I have done a round trip on the main trail in just under 7 hours with good trail conditions. It was roughly 4 hours up and 3 down. I am not a runner but have very strong legs from mountain biking as was able to move up at a very good pace and ran all the way down.

I wore my hiking boots, small camel back with 70 OZ, and a few snacks. I only had to make water 2/3 the way down due to the heat, otherwise 70 OZ would have been enough. Bring a pump or tablets just in case.

The only thing I will do differently next time is to wear my shoes instead of boots.

The MMWT is much different the San Bernardino Peak Trail, I can tell you that from hiking both...the SBPT last Saturday. There is a big difference between moving moving those "lower" elevations and the higher one's found at Mt. Whitney. If this is your first time at these elevations I can guarantee you it will take longer than you think it will.

It's not my first time, but it's been a few years. I do remember slowing down above 12,000 feet.

By the way, you went last Saturday?! I was on the same trail - I started at first light, got down around a little after 10:00 that morning - did we meet each other on the trail? I passed a group of 3 guys, a big group of around 10 people, a couple of guys, and a person or two hiking solo. I was running back down when I met the various folks.

The trail I'm using for comparison was the South Fork to San Gorgonio trail. It's about 22 miles round trip, gains about 4500 feet. I figure Whitney is about the same length, but gains around 6000. The extra elevation ought to add at least an hour, but probably not too much more than that. When I do Cactus to Clouds, which is also about 11 miles but gains 8000, it takes me an hour and ten minutes longer than San Gorgonio.

By the way, have you tried out C2C? It's tough, but it's an amazing trail.

z

Zip,

There were two of us. I think we ran into you below Manzanita Flats. We saw that group of 10 and 13 others the whole day. I much prefer this trail and its destination to glamour and the crowds of San G.

Day hiking is a means to an end for me, that is, to set me up for backpacking at high elevation. This was my first day hike of this distance in about 4 years. I am not interested or find no joy in most of these death marches...I'd rather enjoy the scenery and spend the night with good friends, with a good meal and a bottle of wine at 10,000' +.

Zip,

Another thing to keep in mind as you try to estimate what your time will be here is the amount of up and down that this trail does, particularly at high elevation between Trail Crest and the Summit. When we did this hike a week ago Friday our altimeter clocked 6700 feet of climbing at the peak and just over 7500 feet when we got back to the Portal. I was a bit surprised by this but it certainly provides another reason why this can be a challenging hike.

The other thing to keep in mind is that ball game changes once you start to get above about 12000ft or so.

Apparently I dont hold a candle to other posters in here, but realistically for a first timer, I'd almost estimate 9 to 11 hours up and about 6 to 7 down hiking wise. Trail running, I'd probably would substract off about 25% for the uphill so about 6 to 7 on the up and about 3 to 5 down (depends alot on what shape you're in when you're doing this)

Now if you plan on running this, your time may vary, but some wildcards I've not seen in this discussion.

1) Altitude effects, above 12000 ft you are going to feel it, even if you're a runner

2) Footing. The footing gets treacherous past the JMT junction in places and will wrech havoc on your ankles.

3) Ice. Ice is starting to stay around on the trails now, so you'll need to exercise caution.

4) Terrain. While on paper this trail isn't that steep, there are ALOT of stairstep sections throughout the hike and as a runner myself I have difficulty running on them.

ForceInfinity,

I would add another factor, that is, AMS symptoms. If you have a splitting headache with an alien trying to exit your right eye you are going to slow down a lot. If you haven't been to the elevations extensively and have a history of low or no sensitivity this can be an issue.

I am a hiker not a runner. I've done whitney 4 times. I always hike San Jacinto as a gauge of my conditioning and time estimate for Whitney. I've found tha 8 hours round trip on SJ equates to 12 hours on Whitney. 9 hours on SJ is 14 on Whitney. SJ is the ame steepness (rise over run) as Whitney. It's 3/4 the distance and of course without the altitude.

Hope this helps

Wow, thanks for all the help.

Corazon, you mentioned the fastest guy in their group finished just under 8. That's probably a very good indicator for me. I'm not the fastest guy in my group, even though I'll be going alone! But seriously, it sounds like less than 8 hours would be unlikely.

That is, unless I can fly like Biker Boy. Nice job, BB, breaking 7 hours wearing boots. Well done - I'm a mountain biker myself, but I'm glad I'm not racing you!

wbtravis: A good bottle of wine and some good friends makes for a memorable experience. I just do that part back at camp in a motorhome with a heater, shower, refrigerator, and soft bed. Still, sounds like we'd do well if we ran into each other on the trail sometime.

RV - thanks for the note about elevation gain - that's a sneaky way that the elevation gets me sometimes - I usually cue off of the difference between trailhead and peak, and there can be quite a bit more hidden in the middle with all the ups and downs.

ForceInfinity, I do find that very rocky sections add quite a bit of time.

Pigdomer (where'd you get that name?)thanks for the direct comparison with San J. I just did it last week and it gives me a good tool if I use your ratios for estimating.

Again, thanks to all, this is a very helpful board.

z