Mt. Whitney Hiking 2018 (1)

Trail Camp

I went hiking to Mt. Whitney Trail.  I have not been there for 2 years.  I will post a few reports in next few weeks.  I am posting the overview of this hiking today.

Getting Permit

As I mentioned in some previous posting, I could not win Mt. Whitney lottery this year.  However, I got a reservation for this hiking (August 18/19, 2018, overnight) right after May 1^st.  Right after May 1^st, I believe that there might be a higher chance to get a reservation for people could not win the lottery.  In my case, I got another 2 reservations for backup, the both of them are Friday / Saturday and I got the weekend reservation, I pick the one and the other backup reservations were canceled.

Training for this hiking

For this hiking, I have not done any special training except a light jog 3 times a week.  Due to my health issue (Sleep apnea), I change the direction of regular training from improving my performance to weight reduction.  Therefore, I have not done any high intensity training such as interval training.  Only I did was light jog.   Also, I used to do Star climbing at a gym before a hiking.  However, I did not do it due to expiring the membership of the gym.  For a light hiking, I have not done any hiking since February this year.  I think that there might be some impact to this hiking and I will report it later.

Logistics for this hiking

I think I find a good way to have a better logistics for this type of hiking based on the past experience.  I have not mentioned this in the past and I am sharing the logistics this time.  Actually, the one we can make reservation on the site is just a reservation of a permit.  Therefore, all people must pick up before the hiking.  People who will enter the Mt. Whitney zone from Whitney Portal, they need to pick it up at a visitor center in Lone Pine.   (People are also required to confirm the reservation 2 to 14 days before the reservation date and it can be done on the reservation site).

From my home to the visitor center is about 320 miles and it will take around 6 to 7 hours when people drive in night time.  The visitor center opens at 8 am.  However, it does not mean that we can pick the permit up right away.  Usually all people who want to pick the permit have drawing to get the order of the process.  Depending on the order, people might need to wait for more than 1 hour.   I do not have enough data to conclude how log people need to wait.  However, I tend to avoid long waiting time, I usually arrive sometime around 9am to pick the permit up.  With this way, I just need to leave home sometime after 3 am and I can take a better sleep at home even it is short.  It is much better than sleep in a car near the visitor center.

From the visitor center to Whitney Portal where is the trail head is about 20 minutes.  If people can pick the permit up around 10am, it is enough time to start hiking before noon.  It is possible for me to get to Trail Camp before the Sun set.  I typically take 5 to 6 hours from the trail head to Trail Camp.  Almost all my experiences, I can leave the trail head before 11am and I took around 5 hours which means I was at Trail Camp before 4 pm.

This time, I left home at 3:40 am and I arrived at the visitor center at 9:30 am via Yosemite National park.  I picked the permit up almost no waiting time and I left the trail head at 10:30am.  I arrived at Trail Camp at 3 pm.

The second day, I usually leaves Trail Camp before Sun rise for the summit attempt and going back to the trail head after that.  The total hiking time on the second day is a long time, it is about 8 to 10 hours in my case.  It could be much easier if people can stay one more night at Trail Camp / Outpost Camp.  Total hiking time (waking time) was 8 hours for this hiking.

Weather

It depends on the season, it is typically very hot around trail head in August.  A typical temperature in daytime in Long Pine is more than 100F.  It is very hot when the elevation is not high enough.  Also above tree line, there is no shared and it is really hot.  People may prepare sun screen.  However, after Sun-set, it is getting chilly and people feel cold when they are outside of a tent without a jacket.

This is the first time I got rain in this season.  It was just dripping a little, but it was better I set-up correctly…..

I will report about the total hiking time and heart rate in the next posting.

(To be continue)