Mount Whitney: The Complete Trailhead-to-Summit Hiking Guide by Paul Richins, Jr.

It’s official. We have our wilderness permits for climbing Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the continental United States, and the big day will be August 19.

This wasn’t my idea. E came up with it a few months ago and his best friend immediately jumped on board. So I had to make a decision: either I would have to participate in this grueling, 20-hour, high-altitude climb or I would have to stay behind and wait. I hate staying behind.

So I’m going to climb Mt. Whitney, and I’m going to be terrified for the next five months about getting into shape for this Insanity Trek. Some facts to consider: The Mt. Whitney Trail, one of nine routes up the east side of the mountain, begins at 8,365 feet. It rises 6306 vertical feet over a trail length of 11 miles. According to our book, Mount Whitney: The Complete Trailhead-to-Summit Hiking Guide by Paul Richins, Jr., the ascent should take 11.8 hours. And that’s just going up. Our plan is to reach the top and return back to our camp in a single day.

As soon as we return from Asia, we should start our training routine. What that will be, I have no clue, but it will probably involve running around the neighborhood, hiking up the big hills and small mountains of the Bay Area, and doing some higher-altitude hiking up in the Sierras this summer. In July we’ll climb Half Dome at Yosemite National Park as a warm-up.

My only consolation will be that by the end of the summer, I should be in terrific shape and ready for the gluttony of the holiday season.

Mount Whitney: The Complete Trailhead-to-Summit Hiking Guide by Paul Richins, Jr.

Tags: books mountain climbing mount+whitney Paul Richins