I'm trying to get ready for an early Whitney hike (June 8th). It will be the highest I've been while not airborne. I'm doing what I need to to get into shape ... except for altitude. I need a good 11,000+ foot trainer hike, as close as I can get it to San Francisco. And of course it needs to be accessible between now and then.

I'm doing a lot of research on my own, but some suggestions to get me on the right path would really help. I used to live in Southern California, so planning from the bay as a starting point is still new to me.

There is no close 11,000 foot hike. Mt Shasta would be a logical choice and May is a good time to climb it. However this is not a "training hike" - probably harder than doing Whitney.

As soon as Tioga Pass opens (could be early May this year) you could hike up Mt Dana. Would be on snow.

There are lots of hikes around Tahoe in the 9,000 foot range. Probably about as good as driving farther for 11,000 feet.

Best approach would be to go a bit earlier on the Whitney trip and camp at Cottonwood Lakes trailhead (nice campground there) and do slow paced hikes to acclimate.

Your high altitude techniques will help too. Keep a slow steady pace and do not get out of breath. Learn the rest step. Stay hydrated. The night before the climb is critical. You may be better off camping lower and taking a longer day climbing.

Hmmm, 11k--little comes to mind w/o heading into Yosemite for peak-bagging, and that depends on our scant snowpack and when the first heatwaves hit. Early June, probably isn't happening but this year I don't trust any of the usual rules.

Red Peak Pass will get you to 11k, but there's nothing magical about that height. From 395 you could hit Italy Pass in one day via Pine Creek if you're in Superman shape--I've seen it done even though I didn't believe my own eyes. Takes me two days to cross it.

Cheers,

Of course, there is always taking hikes at low elevation, but using a restricted breathing apparatus to simulate the low oxygen.

I'm doing that right now, although it's more commonly called "hay fever."

According to what I've read, I strongly suspect that going to 11,000 feet once a week is not going to work. It takes a while for your body to adapt to high altitude and this adaptation is quickly lost once you are back to low altitude. Whatever adaptation you might gain in one day (not much) will be lost in one day!

Better, as Wandering_Daisy suggests, go to the Whitney area several days early and give yourself time to acclimatize before the climb

More here, from the NOLS Wilderness Medicine Institute.

Thanks everyone. I hear you all about acclimating. Although I am always strapped for time on these trips, on this hike, I may actually be able to take it slow at the start and spend some time at altitude before shoving off for Whitney.

That being said, I still would like to do a trainer hike. I do reject the idea that you will lose any benefit when you get back down -- I believe that I have gotten better at high altitude hikes with every one that I have done. Perhaps its just a mind over matter thing.

The Pine Creek hike would be great -- I actually have it all mapped out for a trip that got scrapped. But it's a long drive from the bay. Maybe I will make it my memorial day hike if weather permits. If I accept the idea that I have to get to the Eastern Sierras, then I would have my choice of hikes.

The Red Ridge hike looks interesting -- I'll look into that.

"Thud" from hitting head forgetting the obvious. Short drive, big reward--go up 50 towards S. Lk. Tahoe and do Pyramid Peak--if you have a good vertical leap you'll hit 10k jumping at the summit. Ralston Peak in the same area is 9200, and north of Pyramid there are several 9k'ers.

Cheers,

I think the closest you can get is Mt. Hiffman, by May Lake off Tioga Road. It's well over 10k...10,500? And it is an easy dayhike from SF. We've driven ti Yosemite, camped at Porcupine Flat, and then driven to the May Lake trailhead and climbed Hoffman.

Of ciurse, my poor wife got altitude sick fron that. But it can be done.

Photos and trip report are on our website

"That being said, I still would like to do a trainer hike. I do reject the idea that you will lose any benefit when you get back down -- I believe that I have gotten better at high altitude hikes with every one that I have done. Perhaps its just a mind over matter thing."

Based on what experience? In my experience from several years of living in the Andes (my house was at 11.5K ft.) and going back and forth to around sea level to college in the US, you definitely lose your acclimatization and sometimes fairly quickly. I almost died twice from HAPE and I don't chalk that up to bad luck.

Being cavalier about the possible effects of altitude can be fatal. Both times, I was lucky, I was in a city with immediate medical care, not stuck out in the boonies. The second time this happened, our landlord was a doctor who lived nearby. He took a quick look at me and it was straight to the hospital for about a week.

Based on living at 1,000 feet for all my life then starting to do high altitude hikes in the Sierras when I was 28. Acclimatization is one thing; teaching yourself how to acclimate is another.

There are a lot of variables at play, but based on my personal experience, I would bet money that there is some neurological mechanism on some level that learns how to run the body at altitude, at least after the first several high altitude hikes. When I first started spending time at altitude, my impression was that my body didn't have any idea how to deal with the altitude; it seemed to be able to adjust much better after I had been through several hikes. I say neurological because I don't think that being at altitude necessarily has any permanent or semi-permanent effect on the body. But the brain seems to learn a lot from experience (a lot more than we realize), and that sure seemed like what happened. It was like waking up one minute before the alarm goes off when you have an important event to get up for.

I totally agree. You gain both conscious and unconscious skills at acclimation. Rock climbers do repetitive training to gain "muscle memory". I still have to acclimate- but it is a lot easier and shorter than the first time I was at altitude. I never "train" for altitude. At the start of the season I take it slower. By mid-season I do not feel the altitude until above 12,000 feet. On another forum we have bets that Tioga Road will open by early May. I think it is about as close as Tahoe if you live in south SF or Bay Area. Probably longer from Marin County.

Yeah I think you are selling the brain short if you think it doesn't learn how to run the body better when it's working under those different pressure/oxygen/etc. conditions. I just want a "refresher course" to remind my brain of what it's like at above 10,000 feet so that I don't have to have that course on my way up Whitney. I haven't been that high since October. And since I'll probably do Mt. Dana (thank you for that suggestion wandering daisy), it will also be an "intro to above 12,500 feet" course for my brain.