My first attempt was while still in high school. Not actually sure what happened, but sometime during the night at Trail Camp, at around 12,000 feet, I woke up sick. Very sick, with stomach, and lower intestinal problems. It was not pretty.
The amusing part about the attempt, is eleven of us did a training hike on Mt. San Gorgonio (11,502), and four of us summited. None of the four summited Whitney.
Not that surprising, as the Whitney Portal route is grueling. The trail head is 8,365 feet, with the summit, depending on who you ask, of 14,494, 14,495, 14,505 and 14,508 feet.
This route is grueling, because all the gain is in 10.4 miles. You stand at the trailhead and look up. No, not really, but it seems like it.
National Geographic’s Topographical Map gives 14,494 feet. Google Earth adds a foot, and the US Forest Service Visitor’s Center says 14,508 feet. The map I have, was copyrighted less than a year before I bought it. The reason I was given for the discrepancy in altitude, is that Mt Whitney sits on a magma dome that is pushing the range up. Makes sense, and, well 14,508 just sounds better than 14,494. So sue me for taking the higher altitude.
The second attempt was in August of 2014. We took the longer flatter route from Horseshoe Meadow. The trailhead there is 9,990 feet, with the first pass, Cottonwood Pass, just 3.9 miles away. We gained 1,320 feet, most of it in the last 2 miles. This was the killer. The next pass was not made, and we turned back. All I’ll say is altitude sickness is not funny.
Honesty compels me to be more truthful. The hike involved four people, two of which are more experienced. They also live at a higher altitude. Jim and I, live at the lung burning, nose bleeding altitude of 658 feet in the highlands of Central Indiana.
Compounding the problem, was the ill-advised stunt, of driving from Columbus, Indiana, to Indianapolis, and then to Lone Pine, California, nonstop. I used to drive long distance without problems. But I was not sixty years old then either. The drive was fun. We timed it so we hit Kansas City at around 11 pm as I recall. No traffic, and no construction zones. But lord is Kansas long. Around 0 Dark Thirty, we started noticing what we thought were radios towers, but the further west we drove, the more of them popped up. I don’t know how many we saw, but they could not have been radio towers. About an hour later, we were close enough to see we were coming up on a wind farm The red lights on them were not blinking, but being blocked by the huge rotors spinning around.
In Colorado we entered the tunnel on I-70 that goes under the Continental Divide. It was bright sun shine at the entrance, and pouring down rain at the exit.
Attempt number three. This one has been a test from the start. The plan was take the same route as attempt number 2. Start at Horseshoe Meadow, and come out at the Portal. It’s the easiest route totaling about 42.4 miles.
Well the USFS decided the parking lots at the Portal needed to be re-paved, no long term parking available. This re-paving limited the exit permits. Limited them, as in not a chance in getting them. We needed 4 permits. Okay plan B, get 4 permits, and hoof it back the way we came, making the trip 62.2 miles, and 7 days instead of 4 days.
Right. We got 2 permits.
Okay, you take what God gives you. For some reason, He wanted just me and Fred on this trip.
Now I’m a Flat Lander. I am not in bad shape for 62 years of age. But living at 658 feet is not the greatest place for training for a hike around 10,000 feet on average.
So I hit the gym, to be specific, the stair climber. I average 106 flights of stairs in 35 minutes 3 days a week. That is a rise of almost 1100 feet in 35 minutes. Soon, I’ll be doing it with a full pack. Nope. Never did get around to that part of the plan.
The pack. Packing a backpack seems a straight forward affair, right? Don’t kid yourself. I’m a writer, so I am already crazy, but packing a backpack takes it to a whole new level of crazy.
On the second summit attempt, my pack came in around 38 pounds. I gathered my gear and pack, and started packing. The scales minus my weight, said the pack came in at 35 pounds even. Not bad. But remember this is without water. Figure 33 oz, or 2 pounds 1 oz. per quart. The good news, is there is water along the trail most of the time. The bad news, the hardest part of the hike has nada. From Guitar Lake to the summit is about 4, maybe 5 miles, and a climb of 3,000 feet. Not bad, but that is 300 flights of stairs starting from 11,500 feet. Water is going to be, well, kind of important. And the plan is to overnight on the summit to see the sun set and rise. So this means not only drinking water but cooking too. 7 pounds of water is about right.
This time the goal is to get the pack weight below 30 pounds, 28 pounds is better. And the weight includes the weight of the pack.
So here I am, 62 years old, sitting on the floor of the mother of all walk in closets, with gear spread everywhere, and a scale down to the half-ounce on a step stool so I could read it better, while still sitting on the floor with my gear. Now I am getting to the RBSC (Rabid Bat Shit Crazy) stage. I am sitting there with a calculator, a computer, and researching weights of items online, attempting to figure out, if I forgo the spray mosquito repellent, and get two packages of 15 wipes instead… Nope, I gain 2 oz. So I am keeping the spray. Even a hand pump spray won’t help weight wise. When I weighed the selfie stick, my wife Sandi officially declared me insane.
I was at this all day, jotting down items and weights, and attempting to make it come out right. I had so many changes, the weight was coming up higher on paper, then when I started. I was talking to myself in three languages, and nothing I was saying was nice, or helpful.
The spreadsheet I was using had my pack listed 4 pounds too high. Did that help? Oh how I wish. Once I cut everything out I could, I stepped on the scales, took my weight from the total came up with 32.8 pounds. Taking the first breakfast and last dinner out saves 4 ounces, 32.2 pounds.
I have a sleeping bag made by North Face. When I bought it back in the late ’70s, it was top of the line. It is still a great bag for cold weather, but not so much now for backpacking. It weighs in at 6.6 pounds. That is 20% of the total weight.
I bought a new bag rated for 15 degrees, weighing in at 3.5 pounds. A Big Agnes Encampment. I could have spent another $500, and saved another 0.7 pounds, but, why? Sometimes it seems like you are forking over huge sums of money for not much more gain.
When it arrived, I loved it. It is light, my air mattress fits. Okay it is too long, but with the way I sleep, it’s perfect for me, and the bag. I just wish the zipper was on the right side, as I am left handed. SOP though. The world is backwards, and I must deal with it.
I sure hope the temperature rating is correct. The trail will let me know in a hurry. If the rating is correct, it won’t get that cold, and in a tent with the rain fly on, I should get an extra ten degrees out if it. As long as I don’t have to zip it up all the way… I’m claustrophobic. I know it is silly, but my subconscious doesn’t care.
The lighter bag has brought my total pack weight to 28 pounds. I made the goal. So of course little items will be added back. One item is a portable power pack for my Galaxy S5. Both together are lighter than my digital camera. And I can call Sandi from the summit as we will have a great view of Owns Valley, and line of sight to a lot of cell towers.
For now, my 80 Liter pack, has room to spare. That means the 3-liter hydration reservoir will have room to fill it full. I would rather carry too much water, than not enough. Fred has me drinking water like a fish. I am beginning to think my 28 oz water bottle is a permanent part of my left hand.
39 days before the hike, and I weigh the pack again. It gained a little more than 2 pounds. I know the stuff I added in does not come to more than a pound. So, I think my scales are off, but there is no way to prove it. I actually saved some weight too. Doc okayed me not taking my glucose meter, I am a Type II Diabetic, and he said I won’t need my meds, because the hike is going to help keep my sugars in control. The total weight is not much, but it is weight not carried, so the pack weight should show it.
The weight of course, is without water, as we all know, water is heavy. My two water bottles, full total 3.76 pounds. And on our summit leg, that weight goes up to 10.3 pounds.
I found a spreadsheet on line, Eric The Black’s Backpacking Gear Planner 2.0 http://blackwoodspress.com/blog/2755/backpacking-gear-planner-2/ downloaded it and started in weighing gear, and entering into the spreadsheet. The weight is accurate to whatever decimal place your scales are accurate. I have a cheap plastic food scale that is in .5 oz increments and a large counter scale that is also to .5 oz but can weight up to ten pounds. Both seem to be in agreement.
The grand total is 29 lbs. 13 oz. My hiking partner, Fred, and I will go over it together, the weekend we will spend at the Trailhead, and hope to find and ounce here or there. But I am not holding my breath.
With 37 days to the hike, I strapped on the fully loaded backpack, without water, set my home Dreadmill, to 10 degrees incline and started out. The sweat was pouring off me in no time. I was on it for more than half an hour, then I climbed the basement stairs, 6 flights up and 6 down, Think about it. The math works.
33 days to go. This time, I was outside, and hiked the driveway to the slope to the side of the house then the stairs to the upper field. Total distance, 2 miles and 29 floors. To be honest, I felt that in my legs.
3 weeks to go, and I have moved to an elliptical machine. I wish I had done so earlier. One machine, and in my opinion, as good as the other two machines combined.
11 days left, of which 5 will be on the road. Now, “Did I do enough training?” jitters set in. Well I completed a half marathon with 10 days of training. However, 13.1 miles in Indiana is not the same as 13.1 miles at 10,000 feet.
Part two is what actually took place and what I learned, which I am now writing. So stay tuned.