Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Main Trail Trip report - 6/19-21

Finally did it. Me and my wife reached the summit on 6/20 at about 4:30pm

Things we were glad we did:
- carried iodine tablets.
- carried insect repellants. don't hike without this !!!
- we camped the first night at outpost camp. left our luggage there and started hiking the next morn. on the way back, we camped at trail camp. we are slow hikers. so this worked out well for us.

Things we could have done better:
- carried less water. we started with plenty of water and it really slowed us. there's plenty of running water until/near the cables.
- overpacked on food.
- night at trail camp was verrry cold.
- absolutely no need to have carried yaktraxx. they were some icy spots but none requiring any technical equipment. crampons and stiffer boots definitely would have been an overkill.

good luck to all.

congrats, megabyte, we all overdo it on the food at some point. Just wait until you don't bring enough one time, the hunger is a tough one.

thanks for the equipment update, I'll be there in about two weeks.

Great job. Thanks for the trip report. June 20, 2007 was my summit date.

Thanks for this info. we're planing to summint this weekend (a day hike). may i ask how much water did you bring? what did you find the minimum water to carry? thanks

my buddies and i are making our first attempt at whitney this friday. what repellant do you find works best? we're carrying water in our camel backs, but do not want to carry extra and will get water from the streams. did this work for you?
thanks for your posting. this site has been so helpful to us "newbies"
popi

Me and my girlfriend summitted too on the 20th (Day Hike).

She was carrying a 50oz bladder, plus a litter bottle.
I was carrying a 70oz bladder, plus a litter bottle.

We each started with gatorade in the bottles and water in the bladders. On the way up we refilled one bottle near outpost camp and then both bottles at trail camp. On the way down we got 2 more liters above mirror lake. Total 10 liters of which I drank about 3 and my girlfriend 7.

This just goes to show you that everyones water consumption is different and your physical conditioning/abilities probably are the key factor in this. We hiked up in 7 hours 25 minutes, spent 45 minutes at the summit, and then returned in 5 1/2 hours.

I agree you don't need to carry much water below trail camp, but should have at least 2-3 liters carrying capacity for the switchbacks and above. Carrying less water at the lower elevations just means refilling more often. I would rather carry a little extra and stop to refill fewer times, but that is just me.

My group of 4 made the summit on Sunday 6/22. We had an awesome and exhausting time.

Some Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7124109@N07/

Things I'm glad we did:
- Camp at Trail Camp - we would not have made it without spending the night here. The altitude is not a joke.
- Layerd clothing - Cold and windy above 12K feet.
- Water Filter: The water from the fresh streams tasted amazing.

What I would change:
- Camp at the Portal: We spent the 1st night in a motel (Dow Villa - very nice) at Lone Pine. I think we would have felt better if we had spent the night 4,000 feet higher at the Portal campground. At least the motel gave us a good nights rest. However, one of my 5 man team could not make the summit due to altitude issues at Trail Camp.

The hardest part:
- The 2.5 miles from Outpost to Trail Camp with a full pack. Sucked both ways.

Other tips:

Drink tons of water. Dehydration and altitude effects seem linked. At least having both at the same time just doubles the problems for you. You need to drink to prevent dehydration, don't wait for it to happen. Also I brought 2.5 liters for the summit push...I should have brought more.

Thanks to everyone on the board for the tips and advice.

Congratulations.

How cold did it get at night at Trail camp? What kind of bag did you bring?

I will be going up on July 9.

Thanks. I had a 40 degree bag. Which I admit was a bit light. But between the tent, and a couple of layers I was fine.

I'd say the temp was in the 30's. Felt colder in the wind of course.

We used deet as mosquito repellant and it worked very well.