27 September 2011

Way back in the beginning of August, my brother and some buddies came to town, and we all (all but 1, anyway) hauled our asses up to the top of Mt. Whitney.  I finished right in the middle, and the trip up and back took me 15 hours.  Which isn't too bad, since they all live at some crazy high altitude in Colorado, and I live at an altitude of maybe 2 feet above sea level, and that's being generous because I'm tall.
 Having a few pre-hike beers at the local saloon.  Not the best idea, considering we were setting off at 3:30 a.m., but it's not the dumbest thing I've ever done, either.
 I was a little sleepy, but not quite ready to sacrifice my PBR.  Had I known about the 99 switchbacks at this time, I would've chugged the beer and put my tired ass to bed as soon as possible.
This is where I decided that the chance of giardia was nothing compared to definite dehydration, and refilled my camelbak.  3 times.  The hike was a total of 22 or 23 miles (something like that), and since it was my first 14er I had no idea what to expect and just brought fuel/water as if I were doing a marathon.  Silly, silly me.  I needed so much more than I had. 

Anyway, it was beautiful.  Maybe the 2nd most beautiful hike I've ever done.  The drive there was beautiful, the cute little mountain towns were awesome, it was a super great time.  Wish I had people in my life out here that took advantage of the Bay Area's amazing landscape so I could do more hiking and camping with others.  I'd love to do this trip again.

2 comments:

Lindsay said...

i'm pretty sure i know someone who trains to climb mt. whitney, so your lack of training/altitude adjustment makes you a rockstar.

achilles3 said...

buy my family a ticket and we'll be right out!!!