It had been a while that I hiked. I used to hike in India, some short ones in Sahyadri Maharashtra and some long ones in Himalayas. But those were high school days and ever since I pursued higher studies and work, hiking was very limited. One evening after work it struck me that I do need to pursue my passion. I had recently run a half marathon and was in decent shape but always felt that mountains were missing in my life.
I was not sure who would I go with but I instantly pinged my college friend Amit with whom I would discuss hiking, running and fitness regularly. And what did I decide? Mount Whitney day hike! I knew the worst would be not being able to make it and return. I did not want the overhead of planning and camping. So we just decided to give it a shot.
Being in VA I flew across the country to LA at Amit’s place. The plan was to take a day off and then drive to Lone Pine a town at the base of Mt. Whitney. From my dad’s hiking experiences I knew that it was way too low an altitude to stay the night before the hike. We had plans to camp at the base of Whiney which did not work out. In the hindsight that probably was a must.
We drove to Lone Pine and reached the afternoon before the summit day. In order to acclimatize we did a short on Whitney trail after picking up the day permits.
Lone Pine Lake @Acclimatization hike
By the time we packed our bags for the hike and had dinner we knew we would barely get any sleep before the hike. I packed around 4L water assuming I would need a lot. The bag was quiet heavy for a really long day.
We were up at 2am ready to leave. By the time we started from Whitney portal it was close to 2.30 am.
Start of the hike @Whitney Portal
I had not eaten much and started to feel tired almost 1-2 hours into the hike. It was extremely cold and we crossed a few small water falls. I realized I was carrying way too much load and should have studied the mountain for water sources.
Sunrise on the trail
I could maintain a decent pace but started slowing down close to 12,000 feet. Amit offered to carry some of my water and wait for me ahead on the trail. Being inexperienced that was another blunder we made. We had no split up plan and over that most of my water was with Amit. I got to the camp site of Whitney and realized I could have taken water purification tablets and just filled water there. By now I could feel the fatigue. The sun and the heat was beating down on me. It was a hot day really with temperature close to 96F.
Still a way to go
Amit probably was tired of waiting for me and assumed it would be ok to continue since I might not make it. We had a plan to start walking down by noon if we did not make it. It was around 10.30 am and I started climbing from the camp site. The hike immediately after the camp was a steep climb and I was very slow. To add to that I was running out of water. One of the older guys on the trail saw that and mentioned it would not be a good idea to continue. Not that I had an option. I knew I had hit the wall. It was combination of lacking endurance, lack of experience in hiking, poor planning and not knowing my body well enough. Ego and will power could take me only so far. I realized I had to return. I had to accept 13,000 feet was the max I could go that day. As I walked down there were number of hikers going back to the camp. The old guy had told many people up on the trail that I am running low on water. Multiple people offered me water. One of the great things about hiking is seeing the humanity in hard conditions. I refilled my water from the lake near the camp and few helped me with the water filter.
I waited at the camp for sometime. There was no shade and the sun was intense. I tried to ask a few people who had come down to the camp if they had seen a short Indian guy. I think our ethnicity was helping us there. Few had seen him climb. But at the same time they were surprised that my “boy friend” left me alone on the mountain. I did try to give our relationship status saying he was my friend but later I realized it was in significant. I was not mad at Amit since I knew him for years. It was unintentional and lack of knowledge of consequences of climbing technically alone. Moreover I knew I wanted him to summit if he could. And he would have wanted the same if in my place.
Walk down was boring and surprisingly very long. Again because of our in-experience we were probably the only two people on the entire mountain without hiking poles. To me it seemed like a norm in US. I had never seen this in India nor had my father used it on any of his expeditions. But I felt maybe they might have helped since I was having hard timing climbing down fast. Speed has never been and maybe never will be my strong point. As long as I got back in time I would be fine.
I got back at 6.30 pm and went to the only small shop at the portal and decided to wait for Amit. He had the car keys and there was no way I could get anywhere. I started to get worried. For one I did not know how long Amit would take and I was not confident about him walking in the dark alone on the mountain. While I waited an Asian guy came and asked if I could buy him an Advil at the shop. I said sure and since I was having a beer got one for him too. He was also waiting for his group to return. I asked him if he had seen Amit and he said he saw my “boy friend” on the summit and he should be coming down.
Soon the shop closed and we were out waiting for people to return. His friends were all back but Amit still was not. It was freezing cold and we were told that the portal was not a safe place to hang out because of possible bear attacks. It was 8.30 pm and I was really worried. Also a little annoyed because I knew that Amit had pushed and not turned around in time. I remembered him mentioning he was not that great at balancing and knew he would be slow climbing down. I think at that point we were one of the last people at the portal. The asian guy and his friends offered to give me a ride back to the town. I knew I could not wait there alone and agreed. Since Amit had the keys to the car he could get back and call me.
Back in town we had dinner and they dropped me to a hotel. I had a good time with all of them. It did not feel like I met them for the first time. I think just being hikers we had some kind of connection. I checked in and had phone coverage. By then my sister and mom had called multiple times and were worried. I did not tell my mom Amit was still not back. I did not want them to be concerned especially since they could do very little about it at that moment. I was not sure where I could call for help. I was just hoping he had not twisted something and was not stuck and warm. I decided to give it a few hours and then explore help options.
I was beyond exhausted but could not sleep. Finally at midnight Amit called. He had been hiking for 22 hours. Ofcourse he made it to the summit but it took him 10 hours to climb down. When he got back he had to charge his phone at a gas station and call me. He mentioned that he was scared to come down on switchbacks on the top and it was really hard to walk back in the dark. He had also met a camper / hiker on the way down in dark who probably had altitude sickness and just wanted to come close to 10,000 feet and sleep in his bag. Amit walked with him and ensured he was safe. The guy gave him his hiking poles and asked him to keep them at the portal and he would collect them the next day. That probably saved Amit a few hours and increased confidence in walking in dark.
Anyways he was back. The next day driving back to LA we could not stop talking on the things we would do differently in the next hikes.
1. Study the mountain
2. Know how much food and water to carry. Too much and too little both were an issue.
3. Carry right gear
4. Have a split plan.
5. Hike in a larger group if possible.
6. Know your body. Everyone works differently but only with experience in a given sport we know what works best for us.
7. Acclimatize well if required.
8. Of course train. This is relative since it would be hard to know how much is really enough. Knowing the thin line of pushing and giving in to the mountain is still hard.
Amit still would not agree with many but we have different personalities. His positive attitude pushes me on the mountain where as my safe attitude makes me plan more for our hikes now (even for him).
I don’t know if I will be or if I am still prepared for Whitney day hike. I will know soon since I plan to give it another shot. Hopefully little wiser and may or maybe not little stronger. What I learnt on this mountain surely helped me in my last few hikes. Can’t wait to go back!
muksvaidya 