RE: 2600fromatari's remark: I strongly suggest you give Gorgonio a shot......It will give you a very good indication as to whether you're ready for Whitney
ejsurfs,
I agree with 2600fromatari's advice. Mt. San Gorgonio is an excellent mountain to hike in preparation for Mt. Whitney. Also, 2600fromatari is an experienced hiker who can give you good advice on which you can rely.
I've personally hiked Mt. Whitney three times, the last time being last summer. I have never hiked to the summit of Mt. Whitney without taking diamox, but I have hiked to the summit of Mt. San Gorgonio twice without diamox and many times I have hiked nearly to the summit of San Gorgonio without diamox. I firmly believe if you hike San Gorgonio to the summit or even near the summit, you'll do fine on Mt. Whitney if you don't get altitude sickness.
If there is snow for you to hike through on San Gorgonio that's great because you will get a good feeling of what it will be like to hike up the Mt. Whitney trail chute with crampons on. My trip report from my 2005 summit may be good for you to read and I may have a picture posted of us climbing the chute too. With snow, I think it took my friends and I three hours to climb the chute. I've climbed the chute twice in two previous seasons. Only this last summer 2010 was I able to hike the switchbacks. The switchbacks are very nice in comparison to climbing the chute.
If you get altitude sickness on San Gorgonio, you'll most likely get it hiking Mt. Whitney too.
After you hike San Gorgonio and discover whether or not you get altitude sickness, you may want to see your doctor before you hike Mt. Whitney to see what he/she thinks about giving you a prescription for diamox. Two of my friends and I take it for our hike to Mt. Whitney because we want to summit and we don't want a lousy headache standing in our way. Even though we don't get headaches between 11,000 and 12,000 feet, we still take it because it's all about the summit for us. Although, one of our friends never takes diamox, and she always makes the summit at San Gorgonio and Mt. Whitney... she "never" gets the slightest headache.
It's a bummer about your friend backing out on hiking Mt. Whitney with you because of what someone posted on this board. Everyone on the board is quite nice and helpful, but sometimes they like to be funny and they don't realize how their writings come across to first timers hiking Mt. Whitney or first timers posting on the Whitney Zone. It's just like when we send an email to someone, we have to stop and think about what we wrote so our writing is not interpreted incorrectly. Some hikers are just having fun with you, but it may take you a while to catch on to their humor.
You really should try to hike with a partner but if you have to go alone then you may want to read Tom's trip report (tdtz). Tom hiked alone as you may be doing, yet he met other hikers on the trail with whom he became friends and ultimately camped with and hiked to the summit with.
The trip reports I suggested were intentionally chosen for your situation because you'll be climbing the snow packed chute and because you'll be climbing alone. I didn't just choose any random trip report.
I think you should hike the Mt. Whitney trail as far as you feel comfortable. Remember, wherever you're at at 1:00 p.m. the day you head for the summit, turn around if you're not at the summit, don't try to make the summit if you're far from it and it's 1:00 p.m. Night falls fast and it's difficult hiking down the chute in the dark.
WHEN HIKING IN HIGH ALTITUDES, REMEMBER TO EAT AND DRINK OFTEN, YOU WON'T FEEL LIKE EATING BUT YOU HAVE TOO, IN FACT YOU MAY FORGET ABOUT EATING IN HIGH ALTITUDES. EAT SOMETHING AND DRINK SOMETHING EVERY HOUR AT LEAST, THAT'S MY PERSONAL ADVICE.
Take time to stop at the Portal Store to have some food and refreshments and visit with Doug and Earlene and their son who run the store. I'm not certain, but you may meet people in and around the store who post on this board or the Whitney Portal Store Message Board.
Please tell your friend who backed out on you that they should reconsider and not let the jokesters of the Whitney Zone scare them.
ejsurfs, I look forward to reading your Trip Report after you hike on the Mt. Whitney Trail.
Now, I have to hope that the WZ jokesters don't get on my case for writing a book, especially because I'm not in the chat area. This should probably have been a personal message to you. Oh well, I like breaking some rules too.
Have a great hike,
Lynn
