Whitney In A Day

I got a call on Tuesday from my wife's uncle saying that we might be able to get on Mt Whitney on someone else's permit. Lucky for me I had finished my project at work. Since it was only my second week there, I was a little worried about asking for half a day off. It worked out. So I left work on Friday around noon, packed up the truck and drove to Lone Pine. Three and a half hours later I was in Lone Pine. Things got a little crazy for me about now. The plans on meeting the guys with the permit were a little fuzzy not to mention I really was not sure where I was sleeping that night. Needless to say everything worked out. Shelb went back to Lone Pine to sleep in a cozy hotel and Larry and I spent the night sleeping under the stars at the portal. Up at 3:00 to pack, eat, break camp, and hopefully use the restroom before we left. Not so lucky on the bathroom visit. I did not really want to have to use my "wag bag". Great idea, just the thought of having to poop into a plastic bag AND have to pack it out. The packing it out would not have been bad except for the fact that everything in my camelbak was crushed when I left. I need a bigger pack for these longer trips. Once we got started I was on a mission. I wanted to get to the summit and head back down asap. Not that I wanted a record but if you read the last entry I have been neglecting my wife a bit. I was going at a good clip passing people as much as I could. I was using the people ahead of me for motivation to move at a steady pace. I enjoy being on the trails meeting people along the way. Nine times out of ten they are very nice. I knew that the air would get thinner as I went up so the labored breathing was not too bothersome. After about 12,000ft it did not seem to get any harder to breathe. I was trying to conserve my water as I ran out on the way down on my San Gorgonio trip. I had a full 100oz in the camelback and two handhelds with cytomax. I figured one bottle for the way up and one for the way down, sipping on the water intermittently. Well the water in my hose froze so I was relegated to the handhelds. I was a little too conservative on drinking. I did not pee for at least six and a half hrs. Not good. It was a push to keep going to the summit but well worth it. I hit the summit in five and a half hours. I spent about fifteen minutes checking out the view and warming myself in the hut. Then it was time for the descent. I basically ran every section I could. There were many that were much too rocky to risk a broken ankle over. I was about two thirds of the way down when I got really bummed that my lovely wife was at home, a four hour drive away not to mention however long it was going to take me to finish the trip. Well after ten minutes of that I got a good wind and ran some smooth single track enjoying everything the trail had to offer. I made it back to the car in three and a half hours making for a nine hour one day summit of Mt. Whitney. Yipeeeeeeee I got back to the truck ,changed clothes, gave my unused "wag bag" to the rangers to give to someone else, and got the heck out of there. I wanted to see my wife! It was a great day and I'm a little tired.................