I apologize in advance for the long post..
The Past:Back in the late 70’s when I was somewhere between 13 and 15 years old I was invited to climb Whitney with a friend of mine, his older brother and a friend of his and their father. I remember a trip to the Devil’s Punchbowl in the Antelope Valley and Telescope Peak in Death Valley as preparation hikes. When the trip actually came we headed up to the Portal and I remember my gear was a backpack I had bought at a garage sale, a sleeping bag from Kmart, an army style metal canteen (and we never filtered or treated the water!), Levis, and work boots. I remember the plan was to hike to Trail Camp stay the night and then attempt to summit and return to the Portal. The night was cold and my Kmart bag wasn’t doing the trick, also I had a terrible headache and back then I wasn’t aware of the altitude issues. Well the next day the trip ended for my friend and I as his father took us back to the portal to wait for the other two boys to summit and return. My Whitney trip was over….for now.
The Present:Back in 2006 both of my boys were finally in school and I decided I needed something to do while they were in school. As a firefighter I work 3 days on and 4 days off so I had plenty of time to take up a hobby. Remembering the Whitney trip I thought of the Devil’s Punchbowl hike and since I had moved back to the area I thought why not try to hike it. So in November 06 I did the 7 mile round trip to the Devils Chair. I thought I was going to die; I was not in any kind of hiking shape. I vowed t o keep hiking and I started on the treadmill at work religiously. After a couple of hikes my wife Linda said she wanted to come with me. I thought why not, this would be quality time together and it was good exercise. We started hiking in the Angeles Forest on some of the lower and closer trails. We were under a timeline because we would drop the kids off at school and run to the mountains, hike, and then get back in time to pick them up after school. This limited the hikes we could do but usually we got 6-8 miles in. This was also around the time I discovered this message board and I checked it daily for all the great information, photos, and Trip Reports. We hiked almost every week and even in the winter we went out and hiked in the snow on trails we could still access. In May 07 we got the nerve up to attempt the toughest climb to date, Mount Baden-Powell, it was 8 miles round trip with 3000’ of elevation gain and we had 4 ½ hours to do it. (Not counting drive time) We got to the top and again we were beat but had reached new heights. As we sat up near the monument (The Mountain is named after Lord Baden-Powell founder of the Boy Scouts) I saw a female hiker walking around taking pictures and then she pulled something out of her backpack and put it on her head. It was a hat with moose antlers, as stated earlier I had been checking out the message board and I remember seeing and reading about this Moosetracks gal. When she came over to where we were I asked her if she was Laura, aka Moosetracks from the WPMB. She said yes and we talked and took photos for each other, she also gave us some great hiking ideas in the area.
Keeping to a regular and consistent hiking routine the idea of Whitney kept crawling back into my mind, could I do it? Should I try again? It wouldn’t let me be.. In the summer of 07 we did a family day hike to Lone Pine Lake and that was what set it all in motion.
In early 2008 I thought I might as well submit an application for the Whitney lottery just in case. I picked three separate time periods and mailed it in. The good news was that I got my notification that I received a Day hike permit; the bad news was that it was my last choice and it was for the second week of school. This ruled out the possibility that Linda would be able to go. She gave me the ok to go without her so I made my preparation plan. We continued to hike whenever possible and even planned the family vacation around hiking. We went to Lake Almanor in northern Ca and rented a house for a week. This was about 30-40 minutes from Lassen Volcanic National Park and a bunch of hiking opportunities. During the week we visited the park 4 times climbing Mount Lassen on 7-9-08, Brokeoff Mountain on 7-11-08 and the other hikes like Bumpass Hell, Devils Kitchen, and King’s Falls etc. Our two boys are 10 and 7 and they enjoyed the hiking and we had a great vacation.
When we returned I continued my prep hikes doing Telescope Peak on 7-23-08, another family hike on 7-26-08 to Kearsarge Pass and Matlock Lake area for picnicking, swimming, and watching the wildlife. (A TR was submitted on this MB) Since my sister lives at Baldy Village Linda and I dropped the kids off with her and did the Mount Baldy Sierra Hut/Baldy notch loop hike on 8-7-08 and finally I did the White Mountain hike on 8-13-08, I know I missed the open gate day, I had to work. Now Whitney was a week away.
Pre-Whitney Hike:
Luck turned our way, Linda was able to get some time off from work and my Sister and Mom came up to watch the boys while we were gone. Whitney here we come!
We left Palmdale on Monday afternoon and drove to Mammoth were we stayed at the Mammoth Mountain Inn both Monday and Tuesday night. Tuesday we took the gondola to the top of Mammoth Mountain and spent about 4 ½ hours on top. We ate lunch, walked around the summit area taking pictures, watching the mountain bikers and reading. This was great for acclimatizing since the summit was a little over 11000 ft. Linda had not done Telescope or White and was concerned about this.
Wed. we got up and drove to Lone Pine and picked up the permit, and then we drove to the Portal to check things out. We got to visit with Doug Sr. for a few minutes and he was kind enough to give us the latest weather and some sound advice. We had reservations at the Hostel so we drove back down to Lone Pine and checked in. The Hostel was clean and comfortable and even renting the entire room it was still less expensive than the other Hotels in town. The plan was to hit the trail around 0230 and get an early start. We ate dinner got are packs ready and around 7:00 pm we tried to get some rest. We probably dozed on an off till about 1230 and I couldn’t sleep any more so I got up. We got ready and drove to the Portal and hit the trail at 0205. I know that’s early but I read on this boards that “If you can’t sleep you might as well start hiking”, so we did.
The Hike:8-21-08, 0205 a.m. we hit the trail, head lamps were on but it was about a ¾ moon and we had plenty of moonlight. The weather was cool but not cold and we could see the flickering lights up the trail from those that had started before us. Around Mirror Lake we put the headlamps away and arrived at Trail Camp to filter water and eat a snack. Looking up at the 97 switchbacks I knew it would be a long boring slog. The spring around #26 was a slow gurgle and the cables were clean and clear. What had became apparent so far in the hike was that Linda’s pace was quicker than mine and she had to keep stopping for me to catch up. (I will explain my theory on this later) This was interesting because I am usually leading and this time she would hike wait, hike wait, and on and on. This would become the theme during the day. She made it to Trail Crest 15 minutes before I did. What a view, it was also crowded, lots of folks going up from both sides and meeting at the intersection. Maybe a two-way stop light might help! What I had forgotten or failed to comprehend was that although you reach Trail Crest the rest is still a tough hike, especially the elevation loss that you have to regain coming back.
I reached the summit at 1250, yes I k now it was almost 11 hours but I knew I was going to make it and had no reason to rush. Linda was 30 minutes ahead of me and if it wasn’t for her stopping and looking back with a wave to make sure I was still coming she probably would have been at least an hour ahead of me. As I approached the Summit Hut I got a little emotional as the realization of actually finishing what I had started so long ago hit me. We stayed on top about 30 minutes and took all the necessary photos. We headed down and Linda stayed with me even though I knew she wanted to go faster. We hit the up part prior to Trail Crest and that was a bummer, great views again but I had had enough of up.
The switch backs were the same except now the spring around #26 was really flowing and it flowed down about 6 of the switch backs. No real problem but it made for some slick rocks.
We reached Trail camp and envied the folks who were taking off their boots and crawling into their tents. We filtered water, ate a little, and changed socks. Note to self: Once you sit down for a while it is really hard to get started again! We pressed on and outside Trail Camp I recognized “some guy” (Bob R.) coming up the trail. I introduced myself as a WPMB viewer and we spoke for a few minutes, he told us he was starting his 8 day trip, we wished him luck and pressed on. We finally reached the car a little after 8:00 pm. Again, I know 18 hours round trip, way too long. If Linda had her way it would have been 16 hours or less.
We were back in Palmdale by 1130; the worst part is we missed last call at the Portal Store.
Final Thoughts / Lessons Learned:I learned that all the treadmill action and hiking on well groomed trails does not compare to the 6000’ stair master called Mount Whitney.
We took way to much food, brought half of it back.
Acclimatizing at Mammoth and doing all the pre-hikes weeks prior worked perfectly, neither of us had any problem with the altitude.
My lack of speed on this trail was partially due to the fact that I have had two knee surgeries and I spent a lot of time concentrating and picking my foot placements during the uneven rocky portions of the trail. The terrain played a big part in my pace and most of the trail is rocky!
Most people on the trail that day with us were all supportive to one another and truly a pleasure to hike with.
Now that we’re done I would like to do it again but not as a day hike. We want to eventually take the boys but that most likely would be a multiday trip.
Linda would go again tomorrow if she could, strange how I did all the prep and she showed up and did great.
Thanks to the WPMB for all the great information and for the people that are willing to share it.
A big thanks to Laura, that chance meeting on top of Baden-Powell, the kind words, and great ideas kept us motivated to get us to where we are today. We continue to follow your journeys and envy the freedom you have to pursue your dreams. Keep up the photos and TR’s.
Last I would like to say that I am so glad Linda and I did this together, we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary last April and what an accomplishment to share with the one you love. It makes it that much better and I can say that I have finally finished what I started..
Again for those of you who actually read this entire report I apologize for the length, once I start typing a story I like to tell the whole story!
Happy and safe hiking!
Ron
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTbEWmZ2cuA
Wish I had said something.
) and I had most of the PCT section between Islip Saddle and B-P to myself save for a few thru-hikers. It was great to meet you and Linda up there and talk about where to go next. You set your sights high, and through really good, hard work and preparation, you achieved them. What a marvelous lesson for your kids! They are both extremely lucky to have you as parents.
