First Sierra Hike: Fitness Evaluation Wanted!

[SWriverstone]

Hi All:

I'm heading down to Bishop, CA this weekend for my first-ever hike in the Sierras. My plan is to start at Onion Valley/Kearsarge Pass and hike south to Mt. Whitney, exiting at Whitney Portal. It's about 45 miles total, and I have 5 or 6 days to do it. (So I'm looking at roughly 8-10-mile days.)

I backpacked a lot (including multi-day trips) as a teenager and into my 20's. I'm 55 today and in excellent health (zero health issues, got an A+ on a full physical in the past year). But it's been decades since I did a multi-day backpacking trip (e.g. longer than 2 nights/3 days).

I have, however, been very active—I've been an avid dayhiker my whole life, and have done one-day climbs like the South Sister (last year) with no difficulty (beyond the usual grunt).

I've done plenty of research on the PCT/JMT in the Sierras so have a very good idea what to expect in terms of terrain and elevation gain/loss. I've also been upgrading my old-and-heavy-as-lead gear to lightweight gear (not ultralight, but lightweight). My big 4 items total about 8.5lbs, and I'm aiming for a base weight of 15-16lbs.

Finally, I've been hiking a lot since this past fall to train for this trip. Since January 1 of this year, I've hiked over 250 miles and climbed over 50,000' (cumulative elevation gain over those 250 miles). My training hikes have mostly been in the 4-5 mile range, done at pretty high intensity (3mph average) and each hike with at least 1k' elevation gain and some extremely steep climbs.

What I have not done is lots of hikes carrying a full backpack. In the past month I've carried a pack loaded with 30-35lbs of water on my 4-mile training hikes, maybe a dozen hikes total with weight. That's gone pretty well.

This Sierra hike is a big deal to me—partly because it's my first Sierra experience, but also because it represents the kind of demanding physical challenge I haven't done in a long time. I'm nervous about it, but in (I think) a healthy way—not a debilitating way.

Knowing everyone is different (and the operating phrase is "your mileage may vary"), I figured I'd post up here for a reality check: based on what I described above, would you say I'm...

a) not even remotely prepared for a 45-mile hike in the Sierras over 5-6 days (don't try it)
b) somewhat prepared (it'll be incredibly hard and painful, but I'll probably survive)
c) reasonably well-prepared (I might not be flying over the trail, but I should do fine)
d) very well-prepared (I should slay the Sierras, LOL)

For me, the biggest unknown is altitude. I've spent basically zero time above 10k' in my life. I didn't have any issues climbing the South Sister last year, but of course that's "only" 10k'—this hike will be at that elevation the whole time with climbs up to 13-14k'.

I know time to acclimate is important, so I plan to arrive at the Onion Valley trailhead (which is at 9k') at least 24 hours before starting my hike, where I plan to hang out, relax, maybe do some very short hikes, and spend the night. i'm hoping this will make a difference.

Thanks!
Scott

[hikinglover4life]

D

[retired jerry]

whenever I go above 10,000 feet I get severe headache, some people aren't bothered

good to spend 24 hours at 9K

drink a lot of water

take some ibuprofen with you, that helps

if your first day of backpacking can go up to elevation, 14K or whatever, and then back down below 10K for the first night, that would help

[SWriverstone]

Thanks Jerry. Yes, after 24hrs at the trailhead (9K'), the first day's hike is 4.4miles up to Kearsarge Pass (11.8K') then another 4 miles back down to Vidette Meadow (9.5K').

I haven't quite figured out each leg yet (it can be split up several ways); day 2 is currently planned to be a long one—7 miles up to Forester Pass (just over 13K') then 4 miles down to 10k' and camp. But I probably have time to make day 2 a total slacker day if I need it—get closer to Forester Pass, camp somewhere nice, then do Forester in the morning of day 3.

Day 3 would be another 8-10 miles, including a (relatively) easy ascent up to the Bighorn Plateau, then (relatively) easy rolling hills to Crabtree Meadow.

From there I'd have another 2-3 days just to do the remaining 11-12 miles left (including a climb of Mt. Whitney if I'm feeling good about it).

When I break it down like this, it seems very doable and not even a "push" of any kind. Plenty of time for breaks, long lunch stops, etc.

Scott

[VanMarmot]

From what you're saying as to distance & timing, this sounds doable. Giving yourself 24 hours at the TH is a good idea. I'd suggest the short day hike from there up to the lakes below Dragon Peak as a warm-up - beautiful area.

Even though it's been a crappy snow year in the Sierras, I'd be concerned about the steep south side of Forester Pass if there's any snow left on it. Descending that side through hard or soft snow could be a challenge. I could probably say the same for the 100+ switchbacks on the eastside descent from Trail Crest. So I'm assuming you're assuming (or know) that snow won't be an issue?

If snow is no longer an issue, then you've picked one of the most scenic parts of the High Sierra to traverse (I still put the North Lake-South Lake Loop in first place). Have fun!

[SWriverstone]

Thanks Van Marmot—great idea re: dayhike to lakes below Dragon Peak!

I've been monitoring the snow situation fairly closey; one good way (among others) is to do Instagram searches for "Forester Pass" and "Mt. Whitney" and you'll often see photos taken at those places from the past 24-48 hours. There is still snow up there, but at Forester it's only patches on the south side, more on the north side—with potential postholing above 9500'. I'm having trouble deciding whether to take microspikes...will probably decide the day before I leave.

Snow can definitely be an issue, but I plan to set myself up to have lots of time for those sections, no rush!

Scott

[Bosterson]

Scott, sounds like you've put a lot of preparation into this! At this point, there's probably not much more you can do from home and you'll just have to go do the trip and see how it goes.

A few things:

Sierra miles "feel" longer. The altitude will probably slow you down a bit. The trick to going continuously above 10,000 ft is to keep a steady and easy pace. Don't overexert and don't let yourself get winded. Pay attention to your breathing and make sure it's slow(ish) and steady. Also drink lots of water.

It doesn't sound like there's time for you to do any more training before you leave; I would have recommended trying to get more than 1000 ft of EG with pack weight beforehand. Expect climbing passes to be a challenge, especially earlier in the trip. I definitely second VanMarmot's suggestion to spend your first day at the TH acclimatizing and getting a little conditioning by taking a dayhike up above 10,000 ft towards Dragon Peak.

Judging by the (horrifyingly melted, for June) snow maps of the Sierras, snow probably won't be a big factor, but I would take the spikes just in case you encounter a steep hardpacked spot. Better safe than sorry.

There should be a lot of options to get water on the trail, so you can reduce weight by carrying less water (1-1.5 L) at any given time.

I did the JMT in 2012 and you'll be visiting a very nice section of it. For Day 1, if you cross Kearsarge Pass and want to find a place to stop on the other side, the Bullfrog Lake area had nice views of East Vidette and the Sierras. If you feel good and want to cover more ground, consider descending a little farther to Vidette Meadows.

The climb to Forester will be a grind, and you'll be going over the highest pass of the JMT with only 1 real day of acclimatization, which may be a bit rough. Definitely take it slow and steady. The areas on either side of the pass are high and kind of desolate. You could camp at the lake below Junction Peak (the north side of Forester) en route, or by a lake on Diamond Mesa after you cross it. However, I'd recommend trying to set up the itinerary so that you're sleeping as low as possible to help your body recover at altitude. The best bet is to try to keep at or near treeline - this means getting past Forester down to Tyndall Creek, at least.

Bighorn Plateau and Crabtree Meadow aren't too interesting - see if you can get up to Guitar Lake. It's a good spot to be ready for an alpine start to summit Whitney at sunrise, which you definitely will want to do. (I actually went up to Trail Crest and bivied... it was cold and we didn't sleep much, not sure it helped vs starting from the lake below.) Descending from Whitney all the way back to the Portal is kind of brutal on the knees, but it's the home stretch.

Have a great time, I'm envious!

[SWriverstone]

Thanks Bosterson—great advice!

I actually have done several training hikes (most recently last night) with 1100' EG carrying a 35lb pack. I'm feeling pretty good doing that, but of course that's at 0'-1100' altitude, LOL.

I'll definitely pay attention to my pace and breathing. I've developed several foot/trekking pole/breath cadences during my training hikes that I think of as "gears," with "low gear" being for really steep climbs (like 1-2 breaths per step) and "high gear" being for cruising along the flats (1 breath for every 2-3 steps). The advantage of this is that I'm very aware of my breathing and pacing and can use it to gauge my condition and how i'm feeling at any given time (if I'm in "low gear" on the flats that's NOT good...and if I'm in a "higher gear" while climbing that's good!)

At this point, aside from the altitude, snow is my only other real concern. I know the south side of Forester Pass is fairly snow-free (just patches)...but the north side is still pretty solid snow above 9500-10K'.

From what I'm reading, the switchbacks on the west side of Whitney are 80-90% snow-free...but the east side (from Trail Crest down to Trail Camp) is still mostly snow. Though I do have microspikes, I will not have more aggressive crampons nor an ice axe (I have zero experience with an ice axe, so carrying one might be pointless in the sense that I wouldn't instinctively know what to do with it in a fall).

I'm hoping that by the time I'm there (10 days from now), it'll be totally doable with just microspikes and trekking poles.

Scott

[SWriverstone]

Quick followup: I keep reading about serious injuries and deaths on Whitney over the past few weeks. Doesn't exactly inspire confidence!

It appears the main issue is the eastside—just getting from Trail Crest down to Trail Camp. There is one area simply known as "The Chute" which is a steep (30-degree) snowfield that many people have fallen on (and gone for a looooong fast slide down).

Never having been there, I'm starting to wonder if I should even attempt Whitney this early in the season? My alternative would be to just blow off Whitney entirely and continue south on the PCT/JMT to Cottonwood Pass. As long as I have time to go the extra distance (instead of going up/over Trail Crest/Whitney) I'd be okay putting off Whitney for another time.

I'm finding it tough to get good, up-to-the-minute advice on Whitney conditions online. I'll keep looking, but if I don't get some reliable intel (enough to make a safe decision about doing Whitney) in the next couple days, I'll probably switch up my itinerary and aim for Cottonwood Pass instead.

Scott

[Charley]

Provided you don't have an unusually poor reaction to that much altitude (one almost never knows- I've gotten thoroughly sick some times, and been fine other times), I'd say you're going to be a B or C on this. Have fun!
(PS- I'd totally personally avoid the snow if I wanted to go have fun. If I didn't, I just know I'd be concerned about it the whole time up until I got there, which kind of makes it like a climbing trip).