JMT: Doing Tuolumne to Whitney in 13 days. A bit worried about acclimatization

Err, I have no idea what just happened and I’m not sure how to edit the post, but here’s a hopefully more readable version…

I’ll be camping one night in Yosemite Valley followed by three nights in Tuolumne Meadows with some day hiking to acclimatize.

I don’t have a ton of experience with high elevation, but I did do a 4-day trip in the Tetons last year and camped around 9000-9500 each night. I had some mild altitude sickness the first night since I got 3 hours of sleep and woke up extremely early to drive to the trailhead. The night before, I slept at 4700 ft, and the first night on the trail, I was at a little over 9000 ft. At some points, I felt a little short of breath (moreso than usual when hiking), but it went away when I took a break. Felt a bit light-headed and had a bad headache when we finally made camp, but I know for a fact I was really dehydrated and not eating enough. With a Tylenol, water, and proper nutrition, I felt good the next day and great for the rest of the trip, even though the next 3 days were more strenuous. I hope I’m not going to have any issues…

This is my tentative schedule for camping:

Day 0: Yosemite Valley x1 and Tuolumne Meadows x3 (8646)

Day 1: Tuolumne –> Thousand Island Lake (9847)

Day 2: Thousand Island Lake –> Upper Crater Meadow (8916)

Day 3: Upper Crater Meadow –> Chief Lake (~10500)

Day 4: Chief Lake –> Marie Lake (10576)

Day 5: Marie Lake –> McClure RS (9639)

Day 6: McClure –> Helen Lake (11617)

Day 7: Helen Lake –> before Golden Staircase (~8900)

Day 8: ” –> Lake Marjorie (11132)

Day 9: Lake Majorie –> NS Glen Pass (Wenk indicates there are some small lakes with established campsites below the pass, otherwise I would aim for Rae Lakes) (~11200)

Day 10: NS Glen Pass –> Lake 12250, NS Forester (12250)

Day 11: NS Forester –> Guitar Lake (11480)

Day 12: Guitar Lake –> Whitney Portal

I have room for a zero day somewhere, too. Where it falls will depend on how I’m sticking to the schedule.

I think the first two days follow a good progression of elevation, especially since I’ll have been at Tuolumne for 3 days. The jumps I’m worried about are Upper Crater Meadow –> Chief Lake, McClure RS –> Helen Lake, and Palisade Creek –> Lake Marjorie.

I had planned some of the higher camps because I enjoy the solitude and being away from the more crowded camps, but obviously my health is more important. As well, though, the current campsites work with my schedule, and going out of the way to camp much lower would require a bit more effort on my part.

I would class myself as an experienced/fit backpacker, but as I said, I don’t have many opportunities to hike at comparable elevation, and I know acclimatizing properly is the best way to ensure I don’t get AMS or worse. What do you think of the above itinerary? Any suggestions?

You should camp your first night in tolumne meadows instead of yosemite valley. Sleeping at 4,000 feet of elevation will do nothing to acclimatize you but spending a night at 8,000 feet will help. It’s worth driving from the meadows back down to the valley just to sleep at a higher elevation.

Do you have resevations to car camp in yosemite? Camping in the valley is impossible without reserving far in advance unless you are only staying at the backpacker camp. Tolumne meadows is possible but can be hard to get a spot.

We’ll stay at Tuolumne all 4 nights then. And no, we don’t have any reservations.

There are two of us total actually doing the JMT, but we’re having a third friend drive us to Yosemite. We’ll actually have a car with us the entire time, since said friend will be staying with us until we depart.

We don’t have reservations. I saw half of all sites are first-come first-served. We’re slated to arrive at Yosemite on a Tuesday. Hopefully if we get there decently early, we can get one. If not, would Porcupine Flat or White Wolf be a decent alternative? About 500 ft lower…

My 2 Cents.

• I think that it takes well over a week to acclimate to higher elevations, so a night or two won’t make much of a difference.
• Avoid alcohol a least the night before your hike (trust me on this one)
• Know your body.  My resting heart rate is about 60; my first night at 12k my resting heart rate was 95.  When hiking, stop occasionally and check your heart rate.  When mine goes +160, I take a breather.
• Expect to be tired the first few days and drink fluids
• I am sure that others will chime in

You should be able to get a site on a Tuesday.

Alternately, you can drive out of the park on the east side and try for a campsite in Inyo NF – there are campgrounds at Tioga Lake, Ellery Lake, and along the Saddlebag Lake road — walk in campgrounds on the way and a car campground at Saddlebag itself.

Symptoms sound fairly mild to me – You should be fine. Just be sure to hydrate. :)

Just skip the Valley to Tuolumne. (Heresy to some). Take an easy day at Tuolumne, or two, and you’ll be on your way to acclimation. This is different for everyone. It’s true that it typically takes two weeks to fully acclimate. I monitor my heart rate while hiking. There is a significant drop in my resting and active rate after a day, and more after two days, at elevation–specifically, Tuolumne, which I’ve hiked out of a lot.

Hiking southbound will help with acclimation. Look at the profile. The highest stuff is well south. After Donohue pass, you have a few days at lower elevations. This should help as well.

The hike from the Valley to Tuolumne isn’t easy. Many people think to do it in a day. That’s a lot of elevation gain right out of the box. You can always do this section at another time or at the end of your hike. (Or you could leave food at Tuolumne and hike this section with a very light pack, since you have a car.) On the other hand, starting at Tuolumne, you can take an easy day over 9 miles on flat land while acclimating, then have a not bad climb to Donohue on the second day and downhill from there. This will prepare you for the big climbs to come.

How fit are you cardio wise?  What’s your exercise regime? If you’re in good cardio shape most likely you’ll have no issues.  Lots of us here in Calif live close to sea level and don’t have issues with elevation. Your first day on the JMT will be hiking over Donohue Pass at a little over 11,000.  That’ll give you a good idea on how you’re going to react so you can adjust accordingly.  If you have issues you can address them at Mammoth Lakes.  My thoughts would be to skip the valley and TM stays and use the extra 4 days to start the hike earlier and proceed at a much more relaxing pace.  But this may be your first time to Yosemite and you may want to see the sights.

@jeffrey I should probably have added that I already have my permit for a mid-August start, and I’m definitely skipping the valley since I’m starting from TM. Not miffed at all about that.

@Kenneth generally my cardio is pretty good. I run regularly on a recreational level, but I’m capable of running a half marathon. I hike fairly frequently outside of the big backpacking trips I take each year, but it’s mostly day hikes. Been doing some 15-18 mile day hikes on rugged trails out here in the Appalachians with 4500-5500 ft of gain and a 15-20 lb pack. I’d have to fly to get anywhere with hikes at decent elevation though, and ve only had one experience at high elevation backpacking. It’s a possibility we can start a few days earlier by waiting for a walk-up permit from Tuolumne and ditching our current one. We did want to do one or two day hikes in Yosemite though

The only time I’ve had bad altitude-related symptoms was when I drove from sea level to Tuolomne Meadows then dayhiked up to 10,800 feet, all in the same day.  Splitting headache and nausea on the way back down to camp at Tenaya Lake (those were the old days when there was a campground there), though I didn’t toss my cookies I spent a couple of queasy hours in a fetal position in my car.  I learned on that trip not to exert myself on the same day I reached high altitude.  It does help to sleep high, keep hydrated, and I also find that if I can get to even higher altitude during day hikes (just not the first day) that also helps with acclimatization.  I think you should be fine with your plan of 4 nights at Tuolomne; just take it a little easy the first day.  If you want to drop that to 2 nights, that should be fine too.

If you get there reasonably early in the day (before noon) you should be able to snag a spot at White Wolf if nothing else, at least that has worked for us when we’ve brought the nephews up for car camping in recent years.

Justin:  Based on your fitness level, most likely you’ll be fine.  But I’d recommend adding interval training to your exercise schedule to increase your aerobic capacity.  It’ll help out with AMS, plus it’s much easier to work on preventing AMS at home rather than trying to deal with it on the trail.

Justin, agree with other comments, based on your plan to sleep a few nights in Tuolumne you should do okay though you will likely suck wind going over Donohue Pass.  What works for me, though your mileage may vary:

1. sleep 1-2 nights at elevation before starting the hike
2. restrict my pace, if I cannot maintain by breathing in exclusively through my nose I slow down
3. hydrate, I time it to make sure that I am drinking at least one cup of water every 1/2 hour
4. “drip” fueling, no big meals during the day, food is planned to consume 150-200 kcal every hour

Even so, my hands will swell (beware of wearing rings) and when pushing hard I will feel my pulse in my head for a couple days.

Steve

if you live near the coast (elevation 1,000 or less) and have had altitude sickness issues before, you might want to consider spending your first night lower than Tuolumne but higher than the Valley, at one of those campgrounds on the road to Tuolumne.

the second night you should be ok at Tuolumne. and if you are spending at least 2 nights at Tuolumne, you should generally be ok on your trip.

It actually takes a full 2 weeks to become acclimated but the first 4 days will do most of it.

also … your day 1 , Tuolumne – Thousand Isle Lake is fairly ambitious if you are worried about altitude sickness.

“also … your day 1 , Tuolumne – Thousand Isle Lake is fairly ambitious if you are worried about altitude sickness.”

Again, it’s a four hour stroll on flat ground from Tuolumne to near the start of the climb to Donohue. I’ve always found that to be a good acclimation day. and it will make going to 1,000 island on the next day a lot easier.