Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board How Much Water

Having scored an overnight permit for late August, I'd like some advice about how much water to carry from Trail Camp to Summit to Trail Camp. Assume there is no water on the switchbacks and a 30 minute stay on top. I am a 5'9", 165lbs, 58 year old man in very good shape. I'm just looking for a rule of thumb here, so please keep it simple. Thanks.

Look at

Water 1 and Water 2

You said to keep it simple, so the second one is probably the one you want.

Take 4 liters.

Thanks to both Bob and Richard. Bob you are right; Water 2 is the more informative.

This message board is like all boards. It is so much easier to ask a question than to hunt through pages of messages. Also there are so many people willing to answer even oft-repeated questions that no one should really mind if they are repeated questions.

The stock answer is between 3 and 4 L of water, I will generally take 3.6 L. Everything is dependent on the ambient temperature. It could be done with two, if it is damn cold when you head up the mountain. The last two times I was up there in late August and mid-September the temperature was ~10* F on the summit at dawn. Needless to say, I did not go through a lot of water during the 10 miles between filling stations.

Yes, it can get that cold in August.

When i summit i would bring an empty 1gl milk jug up with me and at trail camp i would fill it. Then i would fill 2,1 liter bottles.Who ever i was summiting with would do the same with the 1 liter bottles.Then going up switch backs we would pass the milk jug around till it was empty.This way we are drinking water all the way to T.crest where i would stash the milk jug & pic up on the way back.This way we all have 2 liters with us at T.crest,works every time.AD

OK, here's a related question. I hope I don't offend the MBHPs (Message Board High Priests) if this is a repeat question but I swear I tried to research it (I'll say three Hail Marys and make a complete act of contrition if I anger anyone).

Some have mentioned caching water at Trail Crest for retrieval on the way down. Is this common? Is there a protocol? Place? Identification method?

Thanks (now bracing myself)

I am a 59 year old in good shape and have day hiked Mount Whitney a dozen or so times.

Take 4 liters and drop one off at trail crest on the way up.

Be sure to drink it. Good luck,

Thanks Whhs. I bet our messages crossed in the ether so you didn't see my post that nosed your's out. Tell me about caching the water. Any standards, protocols?

Hi Meckers , just a hint don't ask about the weather or if they have toilets on the trail or should you camp any place other than trail camp, avoid these and you should be OK on the board not sure though someone last week said they weren't taking a rope That was a mistake, I kinda looked at it the same as someone going to a gun fight taking a knife,or you watch someone taking a potty break and everyone else knows the wind is blowing the wrong way. Welcome to the board and hope to see you on the Mountain. Thanks Doug

Meckers, the standard protocol is to hide your water where no one else, at least most hikers, won't find it, and hide it where you can find it!

The Inyo National Forest Site:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/recreation/wild/sitespecific.shtml

includes the following in the list of activities prohibited in wilderness:

"Storing or leaving unattended equipment, personal properties or supplies for more than 24 hours"

So, there seems to be no prohibition of caches on day hikes by the Forest Service, unless they allow animals to get food. Labeling might prevent accidental use of other peoples water and a date could allow others to use your unclaimed water and clean up your litter should you fail to retrieve it yourself.

Does anyone know the National park regulations?

Dale B. Dalrymple
http://dbdimages.com

I have stored water at Trail Crest many times. I don't make an effort to hide it, although I sometimes put it behind a rock to shield it from the sun. Never had a problem. Same with clothing and gear I sometimes leave, knowing I won’t need it above.

Interestingly, I rarely notice water left by others. I think it is not common, although they may have simply hid it. I have mentioned to a few people I have met there "No sense in carrying all that to the summit and back," and the comment is usually "It’s good training." Sometimes it's just a shrug, and I have interpreted that to mean, "Someone might take it."

I have watched this board for quite a few years and have a pretty good memory: I don't recall this issue being addressed before.

DocRodneyDog, I see that you have only registered in Jan, so have not lived through a busy season on the board. I'd not be *quite* so quick to invite postings. It can be quite frustrating to post a somewhat involved response, only to find the exact same question posted again, twice, in the next day, with the threads adjacent to each other.

That is one of the reasons that Fred has done such a great job of organizing the threads which stay at the top....they address many of the common issues.

Also, a nice feature is the search function at the top right, which allows easy access.

Personally, I appreciate it when someone has tried looking, but hasn't found what they need, and then asks. Seems very reasonable to do that.

We are likely to have an extended summer season this year, so we likely will see traffic related to that.

Ken, it was pointed out that a search for "water" on this board returns 300 threads, so it is not surprising that newcomers give up and just ask the question again. Reading through dozens of threads trying to find that nugget of valuable information buried among the load of not-so-valuable comments can suck up hours of time.

And none of the new folks would know that entering Bob R's member number 13 on the search would return the most valuable list. (There are 38 threads in that search.

I think it is best that anyone noticing a duplicate just refer the poster to the other thread, or do like Bob R did above, and post a link to several of the better replies to the same question.

I left a bottle at Trail Crest on December 2, 2006 (?) and picked it up on February 2, 2007. People don't usually mess with your water up there.

Ah..it isn't the people ya' gotta worry about..



Chris

Sorry to be chatting... but I do love you creative types.

Classic!

LOL and ROTF. APMP. Getting back to the water thing... by sure you label your p-bottle well so you don't confuse it with your water if you're doing an overnight. One thing I do is to have a p-bottle that doesn't have the connector thing for the lid. All of my water bottles do so that I can attach it to a carabiner on my pack's shoulder strap.

Edit: BTW, pay attention to Bob's paper. You don't need to carry four liters of water unless it's very late in the season and the springs aren't running anymore.

I've seen water and Gatorade cached on the mountain. I remember as rookie neophyte hiking up the mountain seeing an unopened bottle of Gatorade in the snow while ascending and again on the way down. I thought long and hard about taking it thinking someone was just trying to lighten their load and me being whooped and not wanting to filter water.