Running into lcpl Hughes on Mt. Whitney 9/19

[zippetydude]

Hey, I had the chance to go up Mt. Whitney this weekend. Waiting for a permit, who do I run into but lcpl Hughes! He and a buddy, Danny, were up there to do Whitney for the first time. Let me congratulate them both on their first ascent. (I assume they made it, as I last saw them well above Trail Crest, with a mean look of determination in their eyes.) Great job guys!

z

[Lcpl Hughes]

YES!! It was cool running into you (whats the chances) at the lottery and then on the mountain, Danny was super impressed with your speed on the trail, as was I, and it was great talking with you..That mountain is very fun and interesting, with amazing views..ended up taking us close to 15 hours for the Roundtrip and the last 2 1/2 miles downhill to the Portal seemed like 20 miles..

[zippetydude]

Yep, every year I pass Lone Pine Lake and think, "Just 2 1/2 miles left!" ...then, an eternity later, I finally get down to the portal. Glad you guys made it and had fun.

If anyone would be willing to enter the Lottery in the spring, maybe we could get a group together next September and do the whole thing again.

In any case, see you guys on Oct 9.

z

[whitneyfan]

Congrats on your summit. Glad you enjoyed the mountain.

And whats up with that weird phenomenon with the downhill trip appearing 2-3 times farther? It happens to me on every trail I return on no matter how familiar I am. Sometimes I think I've entered the Twilight Zone, and I'm on an endless trail going nowhere.

The rugged switchbacks between Mirror Lake and Trail Camp always wear me out on the way down.

I think it has to do with simple awareness of the trail. On the way up I am usually distracted by the scenery and not anxious about getting there. On the way down I am completely focused on getting past the strenuous part of the trail, and anticipating the end.
Its like when you are a kid waiting for the mailman to bring that cool toy you ordered from the back of the cereal box. 2 weeks seems like an eternity. But then when you are a kid, 2 weeks is an eternity. As an adult 2 weeks passes without notice.

[Wild]

Hey Zippetydude, it was nice meeting you, and yeah, you definitely are zippety, dude! The idea of running up and down a 14er seemed very distant to me, but now I see that it's quite doable. You seemed like you were doing just fine when we saw you on the way back too, how much did the altitude affect you? Good job on the whole thing man, and thanks for the encouragements!

Don you are the man for bringing up the idea of doing whitney right before we left for lone pine. It was the best change of plans I've ever made, haha.
It was absolutely epic.

You should play lottery more often

[zippetydude]

Hi Danny. It was great meeting you too. If we're up there again next year at the same time, maybe we can all hit "Jake's Saloon" afterward and tell stories over a cold one.

To answer your question about how the altitude affects me, it kicks my butt. I tried running as much of the trail as I could. It's all good up to 10,000'. Then I find I have to do forced hyperventilation - intentionally breathing faster than it feels like I should. This works up to Trail Camp. After that, I can only manage to run on the parts that aren't very steep in the 97 switchbacks, and the whole time I feel dazed and confused.

You ever stand up suddenly and things start to go black and your head makes a strange buzzing sound? That's pretty much my experience above Trail Camp.

Anyway, crazy fun, huh? See you on the 9th, right?

z

[Lcpl Hughes]

Looking forward to Oct. 9th and my first C2C

[Wild]

Hey Don,

Sorry I didn't follow up with you about Gorgonio this weekend man. I ended up going camping somewhere in cleveland nf unexpectedly, haha. Hey you thinking about doing the whole C2C? That's what I'm talking about! That beer at the tram bar will taste even better!

Hey Z,

That forced hyperventilation thing you mentioned is interesting! I always force myself to take long and deep breaths while hiking at high altitudes but I never really knew for sure if it did anything or not; although it does seem to help. I can imagine using efficient breathing techniques can really make a difference sometimes, and especially at higher altitudes.

Yeah I know the feeling you speak of, hehe. Not a good one.

Do you think you come close to significant levels of AMS sometimes? You mention the buzzing and the "things starting to go black" stuff, but you don't seem like you get sick up there though? I'm not too familiar with high altitude sicknesses first hand... but can you suffer from, let's say, hace for example, without even feeling the need to throw up?

Sorry man, not trying to scare ya.. I'd really just like to know, lol.


Take care guys!

[zippetydude]

Do you think you come close to significant levels of AMS sometimes?

No, I don't think so. With AMS, symptoms are the illness itself, so no symptoms = no illness. As far as HACE or HAPE, it is my understanding that they take a minimum of several hours to develop (usually longer than that), and the effective recommended treatment is to immediately get to lower altitude.

Here's a link about AMS, HACE and HAPE.

http://www.ismmed.org/np_altitude_tutorial.htm

He mentions that climbers generally will ascend during the day, then descend to sleep at night as they are acclimatizing. That's essentially what I'm doing.

That being said, it would definitely be smarter to stay at elevation for at least a day or two before heading up - if my time weren't limited, that would be my choice.

z

[Lcpl Hughes]

Hey Danny, it's cool..I needed to chill this past weekend anyway and rest my foot..and there was nothing on tv either so I decided to make a statement