Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Trail Running the Main Trail

This past weekend I got back from trail running the main trail which I had been longing to do and thought I'd give my 2 cents for anyone lurking the forum thinking about giving it a try.

I took off at 4:30 AM from the Portal after driving up the day before from San Diego. I didn't have a day permit, but I got there at 4:30 and still got not only a walk in permit but a camping spot at the family campground in the portal. I didn't acclimatize, but I usually do OK at altitude, and had been doing runs on the weekend at 5 to 8 thousand feet, so I didn't worry about it too much. I was in shorts, t-shirt, windbreaker vest and ball cap with a 2.5 liter camelback with a 1.5 ltr bottle of water instead of the bladder as well as 3 bags of Clif Bloks and 2 Solo Bars. Also had a fleece which I never used and ditched at trail camp to pick up on the way back down. Took everyone's advice about not filtering the water which saved me a ton of weight. Man did that water taste good and we'll see how I feel in a week! But thanks to all the great posts about filtering to give me the guts (no pun intended) to drink right from the streams. Of course, any illness will be my own . . .

The first section to Lone Pine Lake is very runnable. There is only one steep section prior to the semi-exposed switchbacks which I found too steep to run, but the trail is fairly smooth. The only problem is getting around the other hikers who are all starting at the same time. But I tried to be polite as I approached and asked to get by, and people were accomodating and most were friendly about it. It took me 45 min to get to Lone Pine Lake.

The next section from Lone PIne Lake to Mirror Lake was also a pleasure to run with one rocky section to negotiate from just past LPL to above Bighorn Park and then another small one from Outpost Camp to Mirror Lake, but both of these were still pretty naviagble and I reached Mirror Lake 20 minutes after Lone Pine Lake where I took a break. The section from Mirror Lake to Trail Camp was hard for me. There are not many smooth sections in this area, and I thought there were a lot of big steps up as well as uneven footing which slowed me down, as well as the fact that I really started to feel the run from the first part. It took me a good 50 minutes to get past this section which is only 2 miles, but for me, its where I started to get tired and could not get in a rhythm.

My favorite part to run was probably the switchbacks. Yes, they can be boring, but knowing this, I saved my walkman for this section (sorry, ipod - just revealed how old I am) and I thought that going up, it was very runnable and not too steep. While some of it was rough, going up it wasn't too bad. I stopped to fill up my bottle at the spring and headed up. There was a lot of standing water on the lower part of the trail for those in running shoes like myself so be warned. I was surprised that it was not that steep compared to the section from Mirror Lake to Trail Camp. I made it up in about 55 min as even though it was runnable, my legs were giving out and getting tired so I took some walking breaks. Took 10 min up at Trail Crest to catch my breath for the last section.

This was the section that I found the hardest. First, the trail is extremely rugged for the first 2 miles with lots of exposure in certain sections, meaning not that hikers should think they are going to fall or anything, but if you are running and have a lot of momentum and trip, it could be worrisome. Especially true for me as I was feeling the altitude and getting light headed at this point along with very tired legs. My other point would be that this section is a big mind screw and seems a lot longer than it could possible be. You almost swing all the way around the back before a steep final push for the top, which is finally smooth trail but very steep. It took me a good hour and 15 min. to cover this last part which put me at the top in almost exactly 4.5 hours.

Took 10 min at the top to take pictures, make a quick phone call to the wife so she knew I was still alive, and headed down after a quick chat with a nice couple, one of whom was wearing a homemade eyepatch because she had lost a contact. What a hardass.

The run down was the big surprise for me. I thought I could average 10 min miles on the way down figuring gravity would do the work for me and I would be down in 2 hours. WRONG! Given the nature of the trail, how tired your legs are, and the altitude, I could not go near as fast as I thought I could. What I found was that my legs were so tired that in the rugged sections of trail when I would land to push off, my ankle would turn over. I probably turned my ankle 5 or 6 times before I realized that I had to change my running style or I was going to hurt myself. that meant slowing down over the rugged sections which made for long trips from summit to trail crest and trail camp to Mirror lake. The rest was VERY fun to run, especially the switchbacks where you got to navigate the turns and count them off like miles in a race. Having said that, it took me 3 hours inclding a break to refill my bottle at the spring again to get down, which really shocked me, but its the nature of the two sections mentioned above that really slowed me down.

So about 7.5 hours round trip to run it for me. I only gave the times to give someone else a reference as to what they might expect, not because I think they are extraordinary or anything like that. I am a mid-pack marathoner and have done 2 ultras, finishing in the bottom third each time, so you can use that as a reference for your own run. I was ending a tough training week, so I think if I was fresh I might be able to get 7 hours. If you are thinking of doing it, go for it. I traveled light and had a blast. Beautiful trip and enjoyed every step of it.

On a self-congratulatory note, it was great to get to the top. This was my second attempt, my first being a hiking trip with my friend Jesse last year in October when we got hit with the first snow of the winter, which made for a beautiful trip but had to turn around about a mile from the summit when we thought storms were rolling in. Glad a could post a successful trip report this time.

Damm... way to go.

-lance

Great Job!!!

We ran into you twice... on the way up as you passed us on the switchbacks, then again near the summit on your way down

Nice job, and good write-up too. I was looking for a posting like this last September when I did it as a trail run, but didn't see any at the time.

I was surprised to find ample permits available as well. In fact, I got to Lone Pine at around 11:00 a.m., thinking I would go the next day, but since they had permits available, I hit the trail right at noon. That gave me a little incentive, as I wanted to be back down before dark.

Just like you said, the trail seems much longer from Trail Crest to the peak than the mileage would indicate. Ugh!

Hey, since you're a runner, didn't you find it really cool to run that long section of logs for crossing that wet area/stream? I found myself tempted to turn around and do it again just for fun!

I'll be going again in September - it'll probably be a yearly trek for me now, since it's such a great trail.

For any of you non-trailrunners out there, here's a great benefit to trailrunning: If you move fast and you're lucky, you never have to stop and visit Mr. Wagbag.

z

Nice account. I always enjoy reading trail running reports by other sea-level residents. Your rough spots are similar to other runners. My turn on the trail is on Aug-17 for my annual birthday (47 this year) round-trip run. I train in the SF Bay Area, mostly around sea level. Fortunately, we have many steep trails, though most top out at 4,000 ft or so. With adequate intensity, the trails offer a relatively effective means to prepare for the Whitney trail.--Adam

Adam, on August 17 I'll be joining a friend who's also celebrating his birthday with a Whitney climb. But he's 75, not 47. We'll probably be going slower than you.

Bob R, Terrific! Hope I can meet you and the 75 year-old. Let me know how to spot you. I will be wearing a white running hat, blue or black shorts, and ASICS shoes, am 5'11" and fairly thin. Typically I start from the portal at around 6:00am so I can return to Lone Pine in time to take my wife to a late (gets later every year) lunch.

BobR, make sure you do a write up of your trip. I am celebrating my 70th birthday on Sept 6 by doing Whitney with two friends. Have a great trip and enjoy everything.

Adam, earlier this month I did the Mt. Diablo trail race, which is in your area. In my opinion it is much harder than a dayhike of Mt. Whitney. You're overtraining!

I'm three years younger than my friend, if that gives you an idea. I'll be wearing a Tilley hat.*

I'm 6' tall and finally on the good side of 200#. Mustache. Hiking poles.

We'll be doing a two-day ascent. My friend's birthday is on the 17th, but I don't know if he wants to start up that day or summit that day. We'll be getting a walk-in permit.

-----

*Just reread this and wouldn't that be a sight! I will of course be wearing other clothing as well, but don't know what yet. Probably white T-shirt, Patagonia stand-up shorts, lightweight hiking boots.

I suppose the good side of 200 might be debatable... Ah, well - it would be an honor for me to hike with you no matter HOW skinny you get, Bob R....

I ran diablo on a whim the about a month ago and ran into 3 ultra hardcore trail runners and we did an ascent via Eagle Peak (?). They kicked my butt as much as the mountain. One of the guys was training for the JMT unsupported record. I bet he'll grab it from the way he was running.

The next day I did a run up Burma Road/Angel/Mothers. Man, both of those were WAY harder than the Whitney trail in terms of steepness and heat, but it didn't have the ruggedness or the altitude problems, so its largely a trade off.

For my money, there really isn't a section of Whitney that is so steep that you can't think of running it. I thought it was fairly reasonable. Its just the length, the nature of the trail, and the altitude that get you.

Always an interesting subject. Many long years ago, there used to be a running race up Whitney. I was in high school/college at the time and knew a couple guys doing it around 1960 -64. As I remember it, the winning times were around 4 hours round trip but I'm not sure. Maybe, Doug or someone else might remember. It was stopped in later years because of entering Sequoia National Park and the required permits. Doug has also posted the story of the guy who ran from the store up the mountaineers route and back in 2 hours and 10 minutes which is truely amazing. Benagator, your run was great. This isn't to take away from your accomplishment just to add some trail history to your piece.

Believe me, Ed, I'm not putting my time up there becuase I think I'm a roadrunner! Just to give some people an idea about how long it might take them to do the same thing as that was one of my big questions before I started - how fast am I going to be able to get this done - and I couldn't find any basis for comparison. My thought was maybe I could give other people an idea about what to expect and how fast they could do their run based on my general times and fitness level.

There was a thread last year on how fast people have gotten up the mountain and their accomplishments are truly amazing. I can merely tip my sweaty cap and ask those speedy guys to save me a beer and burger at the bottom . . .

hightinerary (and any other Bay Area folks), Yes, Diablo is good training for Whitney. For 4-5 months before my birthday, I run Diablo twice per weekend, one route is 13mi RT summit run and the other is 17mi up and all the way around the mid-section. I also mix in three RT runs on Mission Peak during the week on my way home from work. It is 3mi up at 700 ft/mi. The Diablo runs comprise about 4K and 5K of uphill respectively. I found the total elevation change of 30K per week over 4-5 months develops the necessary trail toughness. Lastly, I usually run during the warmest/windiest time of day to "enhance" the discomfort in preparation for the altitude.--Adam

Bengator - I think I saw you on Eagle Peak. I was the guy with the plastic grocery bag. It was 3 June.

hightinerary,

Unfortunately, wasn't me you saw that day. My runs were back in mid-May. The guy I hooked up with that day runs out there a few times a week and is a coast guard guy who is going for the jmt record, so I'm sure you ran into him and some of his friends. I just happenned to bump into him that day and he dragged my butt up and down that mountain. What a workout.

Great report Bengator! I have to agree that the section between Mirror Lake and Trail Camp is the hardest and the switchbacks are a relief after that section.