Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Main Trail Trip Report 06-21-2008

Ah, the Sierra Nevadas. This was my first time in the area, and I was quite pleased.

I went on this hike organized by a friend who was going with like 15- 20 people, so I knew the chance in variability and lack of understanding of what was being undertaken was high. I mentioned to all the amount of time it would probably take them, but they decided to start the hike at 6 am and cut it close.

I knew 6 am would be fine for the little machine and I but not for them. Regardless, we resigned ourselves to the fact that would have to have trek up at our own pace since we couldn't say that the others would even make it. And we were definitely going to make it up!

I can definitively tell you now that AMS and I are friends. We camped overnight at the Lone Pine campground, where I felt a little lightheaded when going going up to 6000 ft. Nice. As a group, we drove up and started the trail at 6:30 am. I started and basically tried to maintain a leisurely pace that would keep my heartrate around 150 bpm. For shorter hikes that I can get to the summit in 3 hrs, I would push more, but I tried to learn to be steady and not intense.

I was very pleased with the scenery on the trail. Very green at lower elevations and lots of flowing water from the melting snow. I was not expecting so much water, and being used to the San Gabriels this came as a pleasant surprise.

We made it up to Trail Camp in about 2:45 I believe. As known this is generally the last point to fill up on water. I had already consumed 3-4 liters (being somewhat on the safe side). I had read BobR's writings on water quality in the Sierras, and I knew I wanted to taste some fresh, unfiltered water. I saw a stream flowing from the northwest part of Trail Camp, and proceeded to climb up and over snow to this isolated area to grab up another 3 liters. Fine tasting water!

After that little 30 min sideshow, we started up the switchbacks. Now at this point I was feeling the altitude more than ever before. I pushed San Gorgonio harder but at only 11,500 ft I got a pounded headache but no dizziness. After going up, and up, all those switchbacks, I was definitely feeling light headed. I could tell my control and coordination was a little off, as usually I am very confident in my foot placement and movement agility, but not so much now.

Getting to Trail Crest, we were struck with spectacular views.



Not knowing the fluctuation in the trail after this point, it only seemed like less than 1000 ft in 3 miles to go. But no one mentioned the ups and downs. HAHA VERY FUNNY. At this point I wasn't generally feeling good, dizzy, queasy, whatever. Not tired, as my conditioning is not a problem, but just longer than expected. These last 3 miles are so rocky, which isn't really enjoyable from a hiking trail standpoint but give very nice, clean views. At these points, we start passing more people up who had started out earlier. I noticed a lot of people pushing for some distances, then resting, so they would pass us back once or twice until slowing down again. Its much better to maintain one pace that doesn't burn out your glycogen storages, and you can actually go faster overall, and not slow things for others by passing them up temporarily.

Close to the top, I think this sequences sums up my transition:







We finally get to the top at 1:00. Not too shabby. We sat down. Not feeling great. I heard some weird sound but thought I was just being delusional, but then captured this little guy:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jmunaretto/MtWhitney/photo#5214861060494770194

I then proceeded to lay down, and throw up about 3 liters of water of the side of the mountain. With the squirrel chirping. Nice times. I didn't really think there was much chance this was due to the unfiltered water, but to verify I drank all unfiltered on the way down and was fine.

Surprisingly I didn't want to stay at altitude for a long time, so we headed down after about 20 min. On the way back we met up with the larger part of our initial group, who were still 1.5 hrs from the top at 2.5 hrs behind us. Most of them decided to push on, and summited around 3:00. We took our time back down with lots of rests to enjoy the scenery. I noticed my sanity coming back once descending down to 12,000 ft at Trail Camp. After that was a pleasant, but seemingly long trek back to the portal which took us until a bit after 7 pm. Actual hiking time was about 11 hrs, so I was pleased with that.

At the bottom, I actually forced myself to eat. At that point, all I had eaten all day was a bagel at 5:30 am!

In summary:

Difficulty

Definitely a hard hike. I was not really tired nor sore the following day, so not the hardest. But the parts after Trail Crest, with the up and down action above 13,000 ft, were certainly a nuisance.

Also, my altimeter recorded a accumulated elevation gain of 7,600+ ft. Definitely different from the alleged 6,400+ ft.

Trail Condition

The trail is obviously well kept. There is a lot of flowing water from melting snow. There are several creek crossings you have to hop rocks, with one at the beginning definitely a bit challenging.

There are portions of the trail with snow left, however you can either get around most of these, or the easier choice is to follow the foot paths formed by previous hikers. Not a big deal.

The cables are funny to me. They are good to have, except at one point they bend way out, like some weight challenged person decided to lean on them. It would actually be more dangerous to hold onto them at this point.

And of course, hiking 22 miles will annoy your feet in the end. The last few miles down seemed to take forever! And I couldn't wait to take a dump. Ah that was pleasant.

Scenery

Excellent scenery.



And I was glad to see some marmots.



Even some of those cool nieve pentitentes left:









Alright!

[img]http://lh4.ggpht.com/jmunaretto/SF7o-ENp4MI/AAAAAAAABek/lW7YtwJ-SDQ/s400/IMG_2034.jpg[/img]

Loved the trip report. I especially enjoyed the transition sequence.

Thanks for posting your trip report. It's nice to read how a "recreational" hiker does on the MWT. Obviously, you haven't absorbed the information about feeding yourself and the huge calorie deficit one encounters. But you did an awesome job. You must be one mentally tuff guy to have gotten thru this with nothing to eat and in great shape. Congradulations !!!

I understand the assumptions being made, but actually, I am more than a recreational hiker and disagree with the generalized statements of needing to eat a ton of calories during the hike.

During my routine cardiovascular training bouts I expend ~ 1300 - 1500 kcals in about 80 min. Given the intensity level, a very high % of these calories are derived from stored glycogen. Therefore I am used to having such reserves available for exercise.

In addition, having a high fitness state means that when I perform more lower intensity aerobic exercise, I am able utilize a higher % of energy from fat and a lower % from carbohydrate (glycogen). So when I hike for 5 hrs at a heartrate of say 150 bpm, I may burn the same total # of calories from my glycogen reserves as during my 80 min bouts. The rest comes from fatty acids.

My light-headedness did not have to do with lack of energy - I was not fatigued. In addition, when descending back down to 12000 ft after summiting, I felt fine, even without consuming anything.

I have not yet read any substantiation for the claims of needing to eat high carb food when at high altitudes - I would guess this comes from the fact that as the oxygen partial pressure decreases, the body is likely to start using more aerobic carbohydrate metabolism than fat (more kcal per O2) and glycolysis (carbo metabolism w/o O2), and thus the need to have even more of a sufficient storage.

Now, when I try to summit San Jacinto Cactus 2 Clouds (11,000 ft gain) in less than 6-7 hrs, I will need to refuel.

Hi mountainboy11,

I understand you are just trying to help, so please excuse me if I sound snippy! I am prone to questioning and doubting until I see real evidence or rationale for certain suggestions.

I had previously experience at elevation with 3 days acclimatizing at 11,000 ft, then eventually getting up to ~13,800 ft (Inca Trail). The 3 days acclimatizing reduced my AMS symptoms to a slight headache, such as something I may normally experience at ~10,000 ft. I had more food intake and less expenditure, but still was slowed (obviously) by the lower oxygen pressure.

Hikes without acclimatizing to 10,000 and 11,500 ft showed a natural progression and worsening of AMS symptoms, namely headache and a little nausea. Thus I was not surprised to throw up on Whitney. None of this was due to food intake. Nor was I fatigued on any of these hikes. Of course, I couldn't go as fast at higher elevations but of course that is due to altitude.

My specific question and concern is, how does food intake affect AMS, and, how does high altitude affect fatigue?

For the first, research studies I've read have not mentioned any significant affect that food intake will have on AMS symptoms, and my personal experience matches this.

In terms of the second question, I do know my body well enough to know when it is fatigued (compared to limited by oxygen availability), and I was not fatigued on that hike. There was muscle glycogen storage left over. The fact that once I got back down to the portal and I felt like I could run a sub 6 min mile matches that feeling. The fact that I felt dizzy and nauseous above 13,500 ft seem to follow my symptoms and slight lower elevations.

It is possible that this dizziness is caused by lower blood sugar level. Maybe at higher elevations the body is more prone to drop the blood sugar level (different from dropping glycogen reserves) so I still have energy but feel light headed. I can simulate this by going hungry for hours then exercising intensely - I have the energy reserves but not the proper blood sugar. But if this is the case at altitude, does the blood sugar level somehow bounce back without any food intake? My personal experience showed the light-headedness to disappear after getting back to 12,000 ft.

Saying all of this, my experience does not indicate to me that I was fatigued, nor does information I have read really contradict this. I am, however, totally willing to believe that some food intake may have helped at higher elevations, but have not seen the research stating how!

I totally agree that AMS, and fitness level are not associated. I know that because I am in pretty darn good cardiovascular shape, but know I am really weak at adapting to altitude. In addition, being in shape actually is a negative at elevation because my conditioning wants me to push harder, and I can, but that will only lead to worse AMS. Thus hiking in the Sierras for me will not be much of a conditioning challenge as much as a "did I acclimatize sufficiently?" or "did I take my diomox?" question.

Oh and as for the dri fit stuff, I actually have more 'mountainy' clothes like one of those columbia breatheable longsleave shirts, but I...just...can't...help...wearing...tight...shirts!

Interesting subject - as a bike racer, fast "recreational hiker" and backpacker, I can see what both of you guys are saying.

Sounds like you're a sports physiology geek like me. Judging from my known power outputs while riding, and comparing it to my last Whitney summit, I estimate that the hike to the top took about 4,000 kcal above the base metabolic rate. I figure this should be more or less independent of pace. I'm guessing that the slower pace that you took due to the effects of altitude meant you were getting a high percentage of your energy from fat, but I would still doubt that you had much left in your glycemic reserves, and you probably exacerbated the symptoms by limiting the supply of more accessible energy. I would suggest just eating powerbars and sports drinks / gels, probably about 300 kc an hour. At higher exertion rates, this is all your stomach can process anyway. Overeating definitely would not help either...

About acclimatizing - in my experience, any exertion at altitude helps. It doesn't make sense to me that there's some magic barrier at 10k feet where all of a sudden you can acclimatize. The last time I hiked Whitney, I was going for speed,and I rode up to Horseshoe Meadows the day before to try and acclimatize, which I think barely tops 10,000 feet. But the heavy exertion at altitude (that road is ridiculous!) seemed to do wonders for me the next day, as I got up Whitney in 3 and a half hours with little to no altitude effects. I'm going to try and break 3 next weekend, and I think I'll use the same tactic - I only really can spend one day to acclimatize. Now of course time spent higher will be more valuable, but take what you can get.

Did you have an HRM on? Did your heart rate stay at 150 like you mentioned the whole time? I've found it's very tough for me to keep my heart rate under control in longer exertions at altitude. From lab studies I've participated in, I've learned that my blood oxygen saturation drops quickly with lower concentrations of oxygen in the air. I think this is actually more common in trained athletes, because when you push your oxygen delivery system to the boundaries of what it can do, where the limiting factor is rate of oxygen delivery, shortages in the oxygen supply will matter a lot more. Judging from what you said about not being sore, you probably didn't really stress your system too much in terms of building up lactic acid from overexertion - but lack of energy supplies may be a factor in this.

Anyways, altitude symptoms can definitely be very unpredictable, and it could be the next time you go up there, you hardly feel the effects at all.

I'd be interested in your results of how you perform with out spending time with acclimatization the day(s) prior.

I find that it takes energy to acclimatize. Energy that I could use the next day especially if its a day hike. And certainly, you are getting up and down before much if any AMS problems crop up. AND you don't seem to have a significant physiological reaction to altitude anyway.

At this relatively low altitude of 14,000', I'm a proponent of not 'wasting' MY time (if only hours) trying to catch up. I'd rather get it over with or make it a routine part of a more extended hike since its going to happen anyway. But that is how my body reacts and I manage it.

I don't see any measurable positive change due to minimum acclimatization (hours not days). I feel the altitude the same pretty much the second or third day as the first. Two weeks later, its a different story, but I am not going to spend that much adjustment time for so little relative gain at this altitude.

Now, if I get the chance to party and hang around for a week for another reason at, say, Leadville or Breckenridge before I go hiking, that is something different entirely. But then I could take a conference in Denver for a week, before that as well, before I hit the slopes. Just so long as its on somebody else's time but mine.

Everybody reacts differently up there. That is really the venue to "do your own thing".

Yeah I've done multiple caloric expenditure tests by directly measuring my oxygen consumption and I'd estimate a bit less 4000 kcal going up. Averaging ~ 1200 kcal an hour for over 3 hours would be really impressive! I think I can handle about 1000 / hour for such a duration. That's relative to a 5.4 L/min VO2 max.

Didn't strap on the heartrate monitor this time just did the ol' counting thing. But I agree its hard to maintain. But variances 140-160 bpm aren't that bad as its still lower than my anaerobic threshold.

I this all came up just because everyone is saying I should eat more. And of course it doesn't hurt (as long as not too much and easily digestion), but I still haven't seen proof that lack of food was the cause of my problems. Especially since the symptoms went away going downhill (still without food).

adam_up, you need to come hike in the San Gabriels, I can use you as a pacesetter for my training to bring me up a level!