Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Florida Man Climbs Mt. Whitney (Noob content)

Or an alternative title could be: If you're gonna be dumb you better be tough.

I posted pics of me and my hiking partner at the summit. In reality getting to the summit wasn't that hard. Getting back to the parking lot was. I should have posted pics of me getting into a rented Toyota Camry for the money shot.

We started out 8/17 and climbed to Trail Camp. Spent the night. Got up at 3am and arrived at the summit by 8:30am.

Here is a list of stupid things that I did that I would for differently next time:

Whiskey; I brought along an 8oz flask of fine bourbon. I suppose a little nip at trail camp would have been fine but 3-4oz of high octane brown liquor probably wasn't the smartest move. If I'd replaced that with 8oz of sports drink powder with electrolyte replacement I would have been a lot better off.

Water: I carried too much water. We had a filter unit so there was no need to carry more water than would get us to the next water source.

Bravado & pace; One of my partners was struggling within 30 minutes of leaving the portal. So we moved about 15lbs of his stuff to my pack and I carried it up and kept the crazy fast pace to Trail Camp. We should have just slowed down. But we couldn't because we left too late.

Start time; we left Vegas at 8am and stopped to eat along the way. We should have left Vegas at 5am and started the hike three hours earlier. All of our nutrition and gear should have been packed and ready to go so we didn't waste time in Lone Pine buying stuff and the portal parking arranging stuff.

Trekking poles; We didn't have any and on the way up I don't think we really needed them. On the way down my legs took a pounding that could have been avoided with poles.

Nutrition; We simply didn't have enough calories to keep up with what we were burning. The day before I was more in WAG bag avoidance eating mode than I need to get 7,000 calories in me mode. I ended up using the bag anyway (an unforgettable experience) If I were to do it again I would eat a lot before the start and bring; an electrolyte replacement (salt tablets, soy packets, sports drink powder) and about twice as much energy dense foods.

Altitude; I live at 13 feet ASL in Florida. We did one hike up to the top of cathedral rock outside of Las Vegas to test the gear and see how altitude felt. Day of the trip we drove straight to the portal, strapped our gear on and did a fast pace to Trail Camp @ 12,000ft. And for that lack of prep I suffered headaches, nausea, lack of focus and some of the craziest, trippy hallucinations I've ever experienced.

Hopefully some other first timer reads this and learns a few things from my mistakes.

Ordering three McDonalds meals at the bottom in Lone Pine guilt free and dusting everything with even more salt was an amazing experience.

Everything usually tastes fantastic after a Whitney hike, no matter what you eat!

Congratulations on making the summit. And thanks for reporting what your biggest issues were.

Enjoyed your report, thanks!

You said you wish you'd brought more food, how much did you bring and how much more do you think you should have had?

Did everyone in your group use bear canisters?

Weather permitting I'll be trying next week.

Our biggest mistake was nutrition related. We just needed a lot more calories than we had and we needed electrolytes. Basically salt. I have an electrolyte, energy powder that I use with cycling called Scratch. (there are a dozen other similar products) That would have made a world of difference. Or just some soy sauce or salt packets would have helped.

We had one bear canister that we shared between the three of us. We had a bunch of Cliff bars, some trail mix and probably the smartest thing we brought (unintentionally) was 2.5lbs of jerky we picked up along the way.

Getting started late was the second big mistake. We had to push way too hard to make Trail Camp.

Good luck on your trip. Its an amazing place to be.

Another alternative for electrolytes if your not a fan of powered drinks is a product called salt Sticks. I used these along with powered Gatorade in my camelbak to stay hydrated throughout the day.

I love salt so I snack on pretzels, sesame sticks, jerky, nuts etc. when on the trail. Will make sure I'm fully stocked, thanks for the info.

We moved to the Florida east coast from California last year. This place is flat as a board. I have spent untold hours on the stair master trying to maintain some semblance of uphill fitness. I think it's a losing battle.

I'm a competitive cyclist (mountain bike) and I do a lot of time climbing bridges. We'll regularly do bridge rides that have a total of several thousand feet of climbing. There are hills in central Florida if you're willing to go there. When time allows I make monthly trips to to the North Carolina mountains to ride and train. The North Carolina mountains aren't high altitude but some of them are crazy steep. Some of the more extreme events up there you'll get 12,000ft of cumulative uphill over the course of one ride. Getting to the top of the mountain wasn't really difficult. It's aerobic conditioning and a similar muscle group and motion as cycling.

Going downhill though... I don't think there is any way to train for that here. Those muscles aren't used in cycling. It doesn't tax your aerobic system and it wrecked me. I guess you could load up your pack and jump off a box a thousand times a week. But that sounds pretty horrible.

Try to find some standing balance training. It helps on both the up and down. The closer you are to balance to begin with, the less work it takes to recover and stay straight on an uneven trail. The more tired you are, the more that effects comfort and safety and how brutal the downhill can be. Unfortunately, the bike only trains strength and aerobic capacity.

Also, learn to avoid heel strike. Try to land the ball of the foot first instead of the heel. Walking like you are on a sidewalk can be brutal going downhill whether you are fresh or tired.

Dale B. Dalrymple

Donut, just off the top of your head - what is the highest point in Florida?

Natural: 350ft. Man made probably some skyscraper in Miami.

Sad isn't it? Thankfully the lushly forested and lovely mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee aren't far away so we mountain men trapped in this mosquito infested mud-flat can still get our hill & nature on.

It's such a treat to be able to spend some time in, and experience the desert mountains of Nevada and California. It's such a ruggedly beautiful and inspiring place. Whitney was stunning from every angle.

I was told Space Mountain at MouseWorld - could be wrong.

Yep, the FL high point is a 345 ft hill out in the panhandle. After catching the Sierra bug, this Florida boy escaped the flatlands to get out here in 2000. It's been an awesome playground for me ever since. Congrats on the summit!
From G'ville originally, how about you?

I googled it. It's the Four Seasons Hotel in Miami. I'm pretty sure the skyscrapers in at of the big FL cities are taller than Space Mountain.

JAX. It's a big, dirty, crowded city. Its only redeeming quality is the newly amazing beer scene.

I want to move to Asheville NC so I can be in my beloved Appalachians when I grow up.

Your part of the world is stunning. I loved every bit of being there.

For the record, the Florida "high point" (excluding man made buildings or towers) is Britton Hill. You can park by the "summit" and walk to a marker in a matter of a few minutes (or less). I was fortunate to be able to make the "ascent" without using oxygen canisters.

Two day trip should be easier. I did one day trip, which is harder.