How to Ascend Mt Whitney Like a Champ

So you have decided to go for it, the outdoor lover’s ultimate fitness test: Summiting all of Mt Whitney at 14,505 feet. When it comes to training for Mt Whitney, those who have never summited before have so many questions. Training to summit Mt Whitney is a physical and mental challenge. You start with trekking up the twenty-two-mile roundtrip trail, starting many hours before dawn and probably pooping in the dark in a wag bag. Just to continue with sweating your way up past the ninety-nine switchbacks to the summit, so many hours later.

Are you ready to poop in a wag bag?

Are you in shape for a twenty-two-mile day on the trail?

How many liters of water should you pack for a full day? 

What kind of food fuels your body the best for an intense all-day-long workout?

When it comes to summiting Mt Whitney, you need a good strategy to be successful on the mountain. Summiting the mountain takes months of training, a good fitness regimen and a great attitude. And maybe a wag bag or two!

Summiting Mt Whitney, the ultimate fitness goal

Besides the actual training to get to your goal of hitting the Mt Whitney Trail at two thirty in the a.m. or four thirty in the a.m., there are a lot of other questions you need to ask yourself when you are planning on summiting Mt Whitney. There are a lot of different situations you need to be prepared for. I have successfully summited Mt Whitney four times. I had to turn around once at Trail Crest because of an old Achilles injury flaring up. Another year, we had to turn around at the bottom of the switchbacks because of a ridiculous amount of snow in July. Another Mt Whitney summit attempt was thwarted by wildfire; After months of training, we drove to Lone Pine and the Portal Road was closed down because of the Inyo Creek Fire. We had to cancel our Mt Whitney adventure the night before! It’s all part of the experience of climbing the tallest peak in the continental United States. Even if you don’t manage to summit this year, plan on a grand outdoor adventure, have fun, make the most of your time on the mountain and don’t stress too much!

Now I’m not an expert on climbing Mt Whitney, however, I’m friends with an expert! As I type this, my Hiker Babe buddy Debbie has summited Mt Whitney twenty-three times! Now she is no Crazy Jack Northam who has summited Mt Whitney something like 212 times as I type this, but Debbie is well-known in the southern California community as Bad Ass Debbie, the Queen of Mt Whitney. Everything I have learned about climbing Mt Whitney in the last ten years came from the queen herself. A few years back, I summited Mt Whitney with Debbie and our friend Holland for my 40th birthday. That year, the KNP Complex Fire was burning through Sequoia National Park on the other side of the Mt Whitney Trail. Our whole summit was smoke-filled; Not ideal. I have to admit, it was one of the most challenging times I have ever summited Mt Whitney. I would never want to do it again under smoky skies. This is just one of the obstacles the mountain can throw at you!

Mt Whitney: The Musical

The first time my wanderlust took me to the  Mt Whitney Zone was when I was thirty-four years old. I was a trail runner full of energy. Too much energy, the eight other people in our group may have said, as they glared at me as I literally skipped up the rocky switchbacks. I may or may not have been singing “99 Switchbacks on Mt Whitney,” A tune I personalized back in 2010 and surprisingly never gained popularity. 2014 Amber (Trail name: That Hyper Chipmunk) might have been that annoying friend in the group as other hikers in our group suffered through altitude sickness, blisters and wasting a lot of time filtering water along the twenty-two-mile hike. However, we found some common ground in doing some high-altitude yoga and downward dog, the best way to fill a wag bag technique. This position is not recommended for beginner hikers.

The first time I summited Mt Whitney in 2014, none of us in our group of eight had summited before or done a hike of this magnitude. We were all around thirty and fit. We had a yoga fitness coach, a crazy in-shape gym rat, two half-marathon trail runners and multiple in-shape military dudes. We had a big-time training plan and met up for training hikes up San Jacinto in southern California before the hike. Even with all that preparation, we all suffered through the hike on the big day in our own ways. I mean some of us, like myself, weathered the big hike by coming up with whimsical songs as I skipped up the switchbacks,

“99 switchbacks on Mt Whitney, you climb 1, you think you are done, 98 switchbacks on Mt Whitney, 98 switchbacks on Mt Whitney”

That was a long time ago. The year 2024 Hungry Mountaineer is no longer a trail runner and is fifteen pounds heavier. I did not skip up the switchbacks last week. I limped, cried and yes, possibly filled up multiple wag bags as the altitude sickness hit me with the high elevation runs; Not the best way to finish up a twenty-four-mile hike!

On this particular trek up Mount Whitney, I will say that at forty-four years old, I was not in the shape I was even at four years ago. At forty-four, I gave myself extra time and decided to start at 2:30 in the morning, many hours earlier than I usually start. For me, being the kind of hiker who has a real problem with the heat in late August, this seemed like a really good way to hike a lot of miles fast before the sun came up. I was also really looking forward to an absolutely beautiful Mt Whitney sunrise at Trail Camp. Cool weather and epic sunrises really encourage me to hike at optimal speed.

Train like a bad-ass

If you want to summit Mt Whitney, I suggest starting your hardcore training at least five weeks prior to your big hike. Everyone’s training schedule is different depending on your social life, work schedule and what area of the country you live in.  Are you located here in southern California? Mount Baldy and San Jacinto Peak, at 10,834 feet, are great training hikes. They don’t, however, quite give you the altitude gain that you need to prepare you for the big W. Mt Baldy is quite a shorter hike as well.

I’m blessed to live at 7,000 feet elevation, here in Big Bear Lake, California, so I have a great backyard to train in.

However, training for a Mt Whitney ascent in your mid-forties is worlds apart from training in your early thirties! My boyfriend and I made a five-week pre-Whitney training plan and we basically kept to it. We cut out all alcohol, sugar and most carbs five weeks before the big hike. We planned a few big hikes each week (Between nine and twenty-two miles) and kept to our training schedule. I’m not going to say I felt ready for Mt Whitney a day before the hike, but I felt fit enough that I hoped to summit in just under six hours.

Here in Big Bear Lake, as the days led up to our big hike, I tried to hike up the ski resorts, Snow Summit and Bear Mountain, to the summit at least three times a week. Sugar Lump Peak, also colloquially known as Geronimo, is an absolutely amazing training hike for Mount Whitney. It’s a great hike to do a few times a week before I even attempt to summit my practice mountain, San G.

An Old Greyback overture

San Gorgonio via South Fork Trail is, I believe, the best training hike you can do for Mt Whitney in southern California. This hike is over twenty miles round trip, so it gives you the kind of mileage you are looking for in a training hike. It also has nearly 5,000 feet of altitude gain. That is pretty strenuous for any hike in southern California! South Fork is also just a gorgeous day out on the trail, anytime you can hike here in June and July. We summited San G via South Fork two Tuesdays in a row, the few weeks before our Mt Whitney summit. We felt ready by the time late August rolled around.

Say you are coming from Nebraska with not a mountain in sight, how the hell can you possibly train? Don’t despair, lots of people come from the plains states and still manage to summit Mt Whitney. It may not be easy, but it’s doable!

• Train in the gym on the stair stepper with a heavy backpack.
• If you live near a stadium where you can run stairs, do it!
• Do as many HIT workouts as possible. Mainly concentrating on legs, quads, calves and hamstrings.
• Walk everywhere. Cross-train with cycling or road biking. Just get those legs moving as much as possible.

Social media nonsense or great info

The Mt Whitney Facebook group is an amazing source of information and sometimes pure ridiculous outdoor hijinks. I recently read a report of a lady who managed to survive the trek with five liters of water, four Twinkies and a bag of Skittles. Don’t do that, Especially if you’re diabetic. I read another report of a lady who shared her eighteen-hour adventure day on the trail, fueled by one slice of veggie pizza all day long. I know, I know these days intermittent fasting is all the rage (Back in my day we called it Anorexia), but intermittent fasting does not give your body the fuel, the protein or the calories to hike for twelve to eighteen hours straight! If you are on the Whitney Trail, you should be fueling your body every forty-five minutes, even if it’s just squeezing an energy gel in your mouth. Almond butter in a ziplock bag was my “Gel” of choice on the Mt Whitney Trail this time around.

I’m sure if you are into The Tok you can also find some great Mt Whitney training and nutrition info on TikTok, but I find it a complete time-suck and avoid it at all costs. Who has time for hours of cat videos when you are supposed to be training for Mt Whitney every day?

How to fuel your body for a Mt Whitney ascent

Of course, when most hikers think of hiking, the go-to snack is trail mix. But can you really eat nothing but trail mix for a whole twelve-hour day? Even the Hyper Chipmunk can’t handle that! But if you do plan to haul two pounds of trail mix to nibble on from two a.m. onwards, here are some fantastic and healthy trail mix ideas for summiting Mt Whitney.

Bringing the right nutrition with you for a training hike and even for your Mt Whitney ascent is extremely important. Don’t bring any random protein bars that you’ve never tried before. Do you want a stomach upset on the mountain? The U.S. Forest Service only gives you one wag bag and believe me, you don’t want to be pooping at the summit where there is literally no privacy. Believe me, I’ve been there!

I like to stick to low-carb and keto snacks for the most part. On a day when you may be burning over seven thousand calories (I based this on a twelve-hour hiking day carrying a 20-pound pack, FYI) in one hike, that can be difficult. A twelve-hour day on the trail is a great excuse for me to have a cheat day and a slice of home-baked Sourdough Millet Bread or a Banana Ginger Gluten-Free Muffin for Second Breakfast. Yes, when you start a hike at two thirty a.m., you do get Second Breakfast! For a very long day on the mountain, I also bring an iced coffee and a small water bottle of iced tea to have at my nine a.m. Second Breakfast. Obvioulsy, before you shove some freshly baked bread at your face, stop first for some stretching. Every time I stop to snack on the Whitney Trail, I do some stretches. These small calf and ankle stretches will do wonders for your ankles ten hours into your day on the mountain. Sometimes I will stop and ice my feet in a chilly creek while enjoying my Sourdough and Pate Sandwich at over 10,000 feet.

Diamox is what everyone in every Mt Whitney Facebook group will tell you to take to ward off altitude sickness. That is a prescription. It will require stepping away from Mt Whitney training time to go to the doctor and plead your case. Who has time for that? I always take Altitude RX (You can buy it on Amazon) a few days before and the day of the Mt Whitney hike. It’s basically Ginkgo biloba; It’s natural and you can buy it over the counter. Some Facebook trolls may tell you there is no scientific evidence that it works, but I have taken it on every one of my Mt Whitney ascents and never had an issue with altitude.

Electrolytes are a big deal when planning to summit Mt Whitney. You will be sweating for many hours in the hot alpine sun. It can be very hot above the switchbacks. There is little relief from the sun above tree level. Chugging a water bottle full of electrolytes can really help your energy levels during those last few miles of hiking uphill. I prefer the low-sugar coconut water electrolyte packets from Thrive.

To pee or not to pee

It was twelve noon. I had fulfilled my elusive goal, I had summited Mt Whitney successfully. I was full of euphoria and also full of shit. Or was I? One thing was for sure, it was wag bag time. That adorable marmot over there was hell-bent on watching me. I just wanted to poo in peace at 14,505 feet. I really didn’t need to be judged by an adorable rodent. This was not a demented 14,505-foot Disney musical.

Let’s face it, ladies, sometimes we have to pee a lot. Throw in a twelve-hour hike, hydrating with five liters of water and you have to take the time to squat more often than you would like. Once you get past Trail Crest, there is nowhere to pee with any kind of privacy. Some ladies insist on lugging a trendy Go Girl apparatus up the mountain. However, when you are packing only the essentials for a Mt Whitney summit, you leave the fancy Amazon gadgets at home. I learned how to squat like a pro a long time ago and rarely piss on myself. (Who knew one day not pissing on myself would earn bragging rights? #HikerGoals)

Thank God for Chia seeds. Did you know that Chia seeds can help you stay hydrated? Drinking some water with Chia seeds in it is a great way to not have to pee as much on a long hike. This is such a time-saver! I hiked San Gorgonio as a training hike two Thursdays in a row for our Mt Whitney training. The first Thursday, I did not use Chia seeds. During our ten-hour day on the trail, I peed fourteen times. I know that’s a lot, but I also drank four liters of water throughout the hike. The next Thursday, we were an hour slower, so an eleven-hour hiking day, I drank the same amount of water and chugged half a cup of water with two tablespoons of Chia seeds on the drive to the trailhead. On the eleven-hour hike, I only had to pee four times! What a difference and a time saver!

The first time I summited Mt Whitney in 2014, I was a bit stressed about using a wag bag in public. Luckily for me, I managed to summit and not even use mine! Until I reached over 14,505 feet, took a few selfies and realized, oh shit, it was wag bag time! Why hadn’t I packed some Imodium? The summit of Mt Whitney is not the optimal spot to take care of some paperwork. There are not a lot of rocks to squat behind at the peak of the tallest mountain in the continental United States

Believe me, there is nothing more awkward than a marmot staring you in the eyes as you squat on the top of Mt Whitney. I mean until your BFF walks around the corner and falls over laughing at you as you try to shit in what is basically a big blue ziplock bag.

Thunder and lightning warnings

If thunderstorms are in the forecast, if you don’t cancel your trip, start at two a.m. or earlier. Trust me, if you want to summit, you want to be summiting at breakfast time. If you finish your hike early, you can always stop to skinny dip in Lone Pine Lake on your way back to the Portal! If there is rain in the forecast, make sure you pack rain gear. I pack light, so I have a big rain slicker that covers most of me (Yea for being petite). I also carry plastic gloves in my pack. They are lightweight and if you get stuck in rain at ten thousand feet, your fingers will freeze holding your hiking poles. These thin plastic gloves keep my fingers warm enough in the rain without taking up too much room in my pack.

Where to stay in Lone Pine

After the hike, you are going to be so unbelievably sore. Sleeping in a tent after that is no fun at all. I’ve done it many times! It’s worth it to get a good night’s sleep and not sleep on the hard ground to stay at the family-owned Dow Villa Motel. The Dow Villa is known by generations of hikers as being the best little place to stay in all of Lone Pine. Since the 1920’s this legendary Lone Pine motel has been delivering a quality lodging experience in a small town.

Traveling to the Lone Pine area in a motorhome or fifth wheel? You have a few options down in the Owens Valley for lodging. I personally adore staying at Diaz Lake however, it can be madness on holiday weekends with jet skiers on the lake making so much noise and side-by-sides on the nearby dirt trails. Summiting Mt Whitney in the early autumn? Diaz Lake is the perfect place to stay anytime you don’t need to run your AC at night. If you need hook-ups for your AC, book a spot at Boulder Creek RV Resort. We have stayed here many times over the years. It’s right off the highway. Only a twenty-six-minute drive to the Portal. They also have a jacuzzi for your after-Whitney shenanigans. They have tons of spots so even if you snag a last-minute walk-up permit, you can usually get a spot at Boulder Creek. The campsites are close together like any RV park but are you really going to be at camp that much?

So what should you do after you limp your way back down to Lone Pine? Travel north to a great natural hot spring near Mammoth Lakes or check out the best day spa in the eastern Sierra, The Double Eagle up near June Lake. (It’s so worth the drive!) Your sore hammies will thank me later!

Once down in Lone Pine again, treat yourself to an Elk Medallion dinner at Season’s Restaurant. You just climbed to the top of a 14’er! You deserve a fancy elk dinner in some port wine demi glaze sauce! Do you really want to cook dinner at 8:00 at night after 7:00 after summiting a 14,000-foot mountain?

Mt Whitney or bust

There are so many tips and tricks to a Mt Whitney summit, things you would never think of!

• Clean out your vehicle well before parking at the Mt Whitney Portal. Do not leave even sunscreen or water bottles. Bears see these as food items and the bears at the Portal are smart and know how to take advantage!
• So many hikers start their Whitney trek before it is light out. Don’t set your pack down and neglect it in the dark! Astute bears are always on the lookout in the dark for abandoned hiker backpacks full of snacks.
• Hiking poles are a must! You may not use them the entire hike but they really help on this rocky trail, especially when you get tired and take bad steps. My hiking poles have stopped me from taking a tumble so many times.

What to pack for the big hike

It’s okay to overpack for Whitney! We summited in late August. It was 43 degrees when I hit the trail at 3:30. I wore a hiking skirt, a tank, a flannel shirt and gloves! Yes, starting before dark, your fingers may be cold! I also carried extra sunscreen (SPF 50), a light rain jacket (Even though no rain was forecast), IBProfen, ankle tape, hand sanitizer (Also good for minor cuts), and a headlamp. I planned to run a few miles coming back down, so I did bring my larger runners’ pack but I still carried more than enough food, H20 and electrolytes for a twelve-hour day on the trail.

The number one goal when summiting Mt Whitney is to be safe and have fun! Maybe you won’t summit this year in 2024, but the mountain will always be there. We’ve all seen those SAR rescue helicopters on Mt Whitney. Don’t be that guy!