Altitude Sickness: How to avoid getting it

Highest point in the lower 48 states in the USA.

In order to gain access to this geographic point one must be able to obtain a camping pass or a day pass. If you go for a day pass you can most likely get one by just showing up BUT be prepared to take on an estimated 22 mile round trip with a 6100 ft elevation gain and then a 6100 ft descent as well.

If you want to camp within the Mt Whitney area you must enter a lottery drawing and then be drawn for the camping pass. This breaks up the amount of miles and altitude that one must due on each day.

I was lucky enough to be drawn for a camping pass on my first attempt. But here is where things went wrong. I will tell you where I went wrong so that you can avoid my mistakes. Firstly, I waited to long to get a reservation at the trail head campground which sits at 8500 ft. If I had done this, it would have helped me to acclimatize to the altitude before heading for the summit. The reason this matters is because we planned to camp at 12000 ft after our first day of hiking. I will already say that gaining 4500 feet of elevation about 8000 in a single day is already inadvisable but doable.

So, instead of camping at 8500 feet I was stuck at 5500 feet.

Look there's my tent!

Cue second mistake. I am your classic over packer. I also was the person with medical training, and as a WFR I was ready!.... For what I'm not sure, but I had a pretty sweet med kit and a SAT phone! Combine this with my over packing and I was carrying about 60 pounds into the beautiful beautiful unknown.

The next mistake was starting too late in the day! Don't wait til 11 or noon to start your 7 mile hike going up 3500 thousand feet, thats just dumb. Especially when you make the mistake of thinking your fit and don't need to train for this adventure.

The final mistake was recognizing I made all these mistakes and going for it anyway. Thats how you end up cyanotic at 12000 feet and sick for nearly 2 days laying in a tent while your friends summit the highest peak in the lower 48.

Take altitude seriously. Avoid my mistakes and get out there and have some adventures.