Hi Guys-
New to the forum. Let me start of by saying how helpful this forum has been. My girlfriend and I were planning to come hike Mount Whitney on Sunday. I'm certainly waiting to find out about the snowfall occurring today and tomorrow. We are both first timers to Whitney so I know this time of year isn't the best. What I will say is that I am an experienced trail runner, in fact I ran professionally for a few years. However that was about 8 years ago. I still run daily a couple miles.
My girlfriend and I have done the Mount Charleston (Las Vegas) summit trail twice in the last month. That is a 16.5 mile round trip trail, reaching 11,900 ft in altitude. I know the difference between 11,900 and 14,500 is very significant. During our most recent summit, the weather changed quickly, with a well below freezing wind chill that froze the tubes on our water bladders. It was so cold in the final half mile that ice froze on our clothes and faces. We ran most of the way back down the mountain and though exhausting, we felt pretty good.
All in all, I feel we have the conditioning to do the hike. My concerns with regard to attempting the Whitney trail are related to 1. the time of year and this recent snowfall
2. new hike to us-any new hike has inherent challenges with new terrain, unfamiliarity
3. Amount of ice on trail, from what I've gathered this can make some parts of the trail really dangerous and really slow down the hike.
4. While I am an experienced trail runner, my girlfriend is new to hiking, and while she has done great on the last 2 hikes, this is a different animal.
Curious as to some of your feedback. I am wondering if White Mountain is a better option this time of year? I have heard it referred to as the easiest of the 14'. Also wondering if maybe anyone else is planning to do Whitney on Sunday or Monday?
