I finished the application. I'll mail it tomorrow. There are a few things to note and a few things I was puzzled about.
Note: Permits are $15 per person, payable when you apply. I believe it is non-refundable, but could be wrong about that. There is a place to enter alternate group leaders, so list all of the the people in your party. That way if the original group leader drops out, one of the other people can still pick up the permits for the party.
The application asks for Entry Date, Exit Date, Entry Trail and Exit Trail and whether it is day use or overnight. I put the same date in each date field and the same trail for entry and exit. I hope that's correct. I know it was redundant, but I didn't want to leave anything blank and risk the application not being complete and getting rejected. There was space for 10 choices so I attached another sheet with 10 more choices. I added some Tuesdays and Thursdays just in case all of the weekend days are gone.
Showing posts with label Hiking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hiking. Show all posts
Backpacking vs Day Hiking
One of the reasons it has taken me so long to get around to hiking Mt. Whitney is that I believed that the only way to hike it was to do it in two or three days. Originally, I thought we would hike up to trail crest, spend the night, leave our overnight stuff there and hike to the top and back. Then either spend a second night, or continue to the bottom. This would have meant hiking about 6 miles the first day and about 16 the second day. It would have also meant sleeping at 12,000 feet.
The first time I went to Mt. Whitney, we camped at Whitney Portal, which is at about 8500 feet. I did not sleep the first night there. I could hear the blood pounding in my ears all night from the elevation. I realized that if I hiked to trail crest and tried to sleep there, I would not get much sleep. Not only would it be really cold and the air thin, but I would not have the benefit of the air mattress that I had when I camped at Whitney Portal.
OK. I have never been backpacking. The idea of it appeals to me, but the practicalities of it make me a little nervous.
So when an acquaintance told me he and his wife were hiking Whitney in one day, I immediately realized that that was the solution to my anxieties. I'd just do it in one day and then I wouldn't have to worry about sleeping at high elevation in the cold! (OK, I'm really a fair weather camper too!)
But Mt. Whitney is 22 miles round trip from Whitney Portal and I'm not as young as I used to be. I decided I would need to train a lot! So I talked my husband into training with me and now I think he will even hike to the top with me, even though it is my dream and not really his. What a guy!
The plan now is to drive up to Lone Pine, pick up our permits, check into our hotel, have a nice dinner, then go to bed. We'll get up around 2 am, get ready and drive up to Whitney Portal and set out around 4 am. We will set a time at which we will turn around whether we have reached the top or not, and we will also turn around if anyone gets serious altitude sickness. But hopefully we will all be in amazing shape by then and we will make it to the top. When we get back we will have the hotel waiting for us. We'll eat, jacuzzi and get a good night's sleep before we drive back home the following day. That is the plan and I think it's a good one! I can't wait!
The first time I went to Mt. Whitney, we camped at Whitney Portal, which is at about 8500 feet. I did not sleep the first night there. I could hear the blood pounding in my ears all night from the elevation. I realized that if I hiked to trail crest and tried to sleep there, I would not get much sleep. Not only would it be really cold and the air thin, but I would not have the benefit of the air mattress that I had when I camped at Whitney Portal.
OK. I have never been backpacking. The idea of it appeals to me, but the practicalities of it make me a little nervous.
So when an acquaintance told me he and his wife were hiking Whitney in one day, I immediately realized that that was the solution to my anxieties. I'd just do it in one day and then I wouldn't have to worry about sleeping at high elevation in the cold! (OK, I'm really a fair weather camper too!)
But Mt. Whitney is 22 miles round trip from Whitney Portal and I'm not as young as I used to be. I decided I would need to train a lot! So I talked my husband into training with me and now I think he will even hike to the top with me, even though it is my dream and not really his. What a guy!
The plan now is to drive up to Lone Pine, pick up our permits, check into our hotel, have a nice dinner, then go to bed. We'll get up around 2 am, get ready and drive up to Whitney Portal and set out around 4 am. We will set a time at which we will turn around whether we have reached the top or not, and we will also turn around if anyone gets serious altitude sickness. But hopefully we will all be in amazing shape by then and we will make it to the top. When we get back we will have the hotel waiting for us. We'll eat, jacuzzi and get a good night's sleep before we drive back home the following day. That is the plan and I think it's a good one! I can't wait!
Training Hike #1: Tahquitz Peak
I'm doing a bit of catch up here. When I started this blog we had already done 4 training hikes starting in October.
Our first hike was Tahquitz Peak in the San Jacinto Mountains from the Devil's Slide parking lot. Round trip distance is 8 or 9 miles. The rangers said it was 8 but some other websites said it was 9. The elevation gain was 2500 feet so about 500 ft per mile. The top of the peak is at 8,828 ft. There were patches of snow the last few hundred feet before the top on the northern face of the peak. There is a lookout tower at the top. Amazing views and a great place to have lunch.
We were shooting for 2 miles an hour so it was a good workout for us. We made it up and back in 4.5 hours, so if it was indeed 9 miles, we made our goal. We did stay at the top for about half and hour for lunch.
We drove up to Idylwild on Friday evening, spent the night and hiked on Saturday. When we got back we were pretty sore, but the B and B we stayed at had a jacuzzi tub, so that was great! We drove back on Sunday morning. It was a great trip and a great first hike! I didn't get good pictures of the mountain though because my camera broke. All I got were pictures of my husband and I that I took on my cell phone. Actually, my current profile picture is from that hike. Hopefully I will have some pictures to post from our next hike.
I found a couple of good websites with information about this hike:
http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/TahquitzDS_4472.asp
http://www.summitpost.org/tahquitz-peak/151446
We were shooting for 2 miles an hour so it was a good workout for us. We made it up and back in 4.5 hours, so if it was indeed 9 miles, we made our goal. We did stay at the top for about half and hour for lunch.
We drove up to Idylwild on Friday evening, spent the night and hiked on Saturday. When we got back we were pretty sore, but the B and B we stayed at had a jacuzzi tub, so that was great! We drove back on Sunday morning. It was a great trip and a great first hike! I didn't get good pictures of the mountain though because my camera broke. All I got were pictures of my husband and I that I took on my cell phone. Actually, my current profile picture is from that hike. Hopefully I will have some pictures to post from our next hike.
I found a couple of good websites with information about this hike:
http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/TahquitzDS_4472.asp
http://www.summitpost.org/tahquitz-peak/151446
Training Hike #3: Cowles Mtn
The weather was turning bad, so we decided we needed to keep our hikes closer to home for a while. In San Diego, the weather is mild and you can hike all year round without having to deal with snow, rain, sub-zero temperatures, etc.
For our next hike we planned to check out Cowles Mtn. We had hiked it many times in the past, in fact I used to run it about once a week while my daughter was at dance classes nearby. I think that's how I wrecked my knees!
Our goal was to go out there and see how many times we could go up and down in a day. It's 3 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 950 in 1.5 miles so an average of 633 ft elevation gain per mile, vs Mt. Whitney with an average elevation gain of 545 ft per mile. The traffic on Cowles is crazy. It's gotten to be like a super highway. We must've passed at least a hundred people in 6 miles, so we decided to call it quits after two times. San Diegans are obsessed with working out in the out of doors and in the last few years Cowles Mtn has become the destination of choice for many people who like to do trail running. I remember climbing Cowles with our daughter when she was 6 or 7 (about 12 years ago) and there was hardly anyone else on the trail.
We decided to find another trail for our next hike.
For our next hike we planned to check out Cowles Mtn. We had hiked it many times in the past, in fact I used to run it about once a week while my daughter was at dance classes nearby. I think that's how I wrecked my knees!
Our goal was to go out there and see how many times we could go up and down in a day. It's 3 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 950 in 1.5 miles so an average of 633 ft elevation gain per mile, vs Mt. Whitney with an average elevation gain of 545 ft per mile. The traffic on Cowles is crazy. It's gotten to be like a super highway. We must've passed at least a hundred people in 6 miles, so we decided to call it quits after two times. San Diegans are obsessed with working out in the out of doors and in the last few years Cowles Mtn has become the destination of choice for many people who like to do trail running. I remember climbing Cowles with our daughter when she was 6 or 7 (about 12 years ago) and there was hardly anyone else on the trail.
We decided to find another trail for our next hike.
Training Hike #5: Iron Mountain, Jan. 29, 2011
We were really curious about the Ellie Lane Trail so we went back to Iron Mtn. We didn't have a lot of time so we decided to try to do 10 miles in 5 hours.
We started up the Iron Mountain trail to the junction where if you go right it is 1.45 miles more to the top of Iron Mountain. If you go left it is 3.3 miles out to Ellie Lane Staging Area. We decided to go to Ellie Lane. This would give us 1.75 up to the junction, then 6.6 to Ellie Lane and back, then 1.75 miles back to Poway Rd. for a total 10.1 miles.
The Ellie Lane trail was fantastic. We had already been on part of it from the other direction, but it was really nice going north from the Iron Mtn. trail. We passed the Ramona Overlook trail about 3/4 of a mile out. About a mile out you get to the first saddle. The views all along this trail are spectacular. You can see down into parts of Ramona and east toward the Cuyamacas.
From the saddle you continue down and there are 3 routes you can take. The left trail goes farther west along the south side of the mountain to the grove of trees we had visited on our previous hike. The right trail crosses over to another mountain and stays to the east and travels high up on the side of that mountain. The third goes east along the side of the same mountain but a little lower down. We went to the right and took the high trail. This trail eventually ends up at table rock. There is a big tree to the west of table rock that has a picnic table where you can have a nice lunch in the shade. Table rock is at the saddle of the second hill. There are great views to the ocean from here. You continue over the saddle and down through a nice boulder area. Ellie Lane parking lot is about one mile from table rock.
We skipped the last few hundred yards to the parking lot and headed back up Ellie Lane Trail. On the way back we took the west road down to the grove of trees and then east back up to the last saddle. We got back to the Iron Mtn junction and took the southern trail (which is much smoother and more wooded than the northern and more traveled trail) back to the parking lot. 10 miles in 5 hours!
I have been experimenting with my shoes on these hikes. I have an old pair of hiking boots and a very worn pair of Merrel walking shoes. The shoes don't have much support and seem to be harder on my knees and the boots hurt my feet, but are better for my knees and back. I tend to alternate until I can afford to buy a new pair.
We started up the Iron Mountain trail to the junction where if you go right it is 1.45 miles more to the top of Iron Mountain. If you go left it is 3.3 miles out to Ellie Lane Staging Area. We decided to go to Ellie Lane. This would give us 1.75 up to the junction, then 6.6 to Ellie Lane and back, then 1.75 miles back to Poway Rd. for a total 10.1 miles.
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| View of Laguna Mtns from near Ramona Overlook Trail |
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| View toward Ramona from near the first saddle on the Ellie Lane trail heading north from Iron Mtn trail. |
We skipped the last few hundred yards to the parking lot and headed back up Ellie Lane Trail. On the way back we took the west road down to the grove of trees and then east back up to the last saddle. We got back to the Iron Mtn junction and took the southern trail (which is much smoother and more wooded than the northern and more traveled trail) back to the parking lot. 10 miles in 5 hours!
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| Just one of many wildflower shots that we took. Early rains in San Diego produced an abundance of wildflowers in January! |
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