Ran Mt Whitney starting from the portal to the peak and back. The distance is almost 11 miles one way and 6500 ft of climbimg. The peak is an elevation of 14495 ft. It took me 3:30 to the top and 2:45 coming back down. The trail is steep and rugged. I ran the flats and smooth parts of the trail. I talked to everyone on the trail and made a wrong turn on the way up which cost me about 20 min. The whole trail is absolutely beautiful and breath taking!
The night before we slept at the portal. We decided to lay out underneath the stars. That was okay until a black bear wandered into our camp. It went up to my brother and started sniffing his hand. My brother thinking that his dog had come up to him started petting the bear. My brother quickly realized that this was not his dog and let out a yelp. The bear took off, but as it fled our camp it ran right through us and scared us half to death. The bear sat just outside our camp watching us. We didnt get much sleep that night.
We got up a 3:45 am and ate sweet potato, apple sauce with whey protein, hard boiled eggs, and orange juice. We hit the trail right at 5 am. I took off immediately and ran for the first 4 miles. After I passed the tree line at 12000 ft I could only do a speed walk. Ater 14000 ft I could only walk easy. I ate some food at the top, took some pictures, and called home. I waited for almost 2 hours for my group, but I was shaking too much frommthe wind and cold temps. I headed back down and met up with my friends at the crest trailhead. Going down was tough due to so much rock and large steps. At the bottom I soaked my feet in a cold stream and waited 8 hours for my group to finish. We drove home that night and I arrived back to st george at 4am. My legs and back feel good. Fun trip, I cant wait to do that again. | 