Climbing Mount Whitney
Trip Start
May 21, 2012
1
32
50
Trip End
Jul 11, 2012
This morning we were up at 11:30 preparing for the hike. At 12:02 we headed up the mountain. At about 2:30 we found a camp on the mountain where about 15 tents were set up. Going up the mountain we could see almost every star in the sky, even the Milky Way! On the way up, we could see headlights on some of the switchbacks below us and two above us. Around 4:30 we started to slow our pace and stop every 3 switchbacks. The altitude started to kill us and we started to get altitude sickness. We started feeling loopy and at one point our lips started to turn blue. We could see the sun start to come up at 4:45, but only the twilight. We walked to the other side of the mountain to follow the trail. I haven't seen so many rocks in my life. At 6:00 we finally reached the summit. We watches the sun rise, found a warm place to sleep, and took a nap on the rocks at 14,508 feet. We woke up at 9:20 to about 60 people screaming and clapping for people who were coming up the summit. After taking pictures an looking around we headed down the mountain. We ended up adding two miles and going to see guitar lake. After turning around and finding the trail again, we headed all the way down. All of us got sun burned on the way down. It took us 17 hours to hike 24 miles, counting the nap and time on the summit. We celebrated by going to McDonald's. That night we wen to bed at 9:00 t the latest. We were all beat.
Comments
That's pretty cool, a view that most don't get to experience in person!