The Training Plan — Whitney Journal Entry 2
April 2026
The Training Plan
Entry 1 was the permit. Now we talk about what I’m actually going to do with it.
I’ve been hiking Southern California trails for most of my adult life, but there’s a gap between “regularly active hiker” and “person who can complete a 22-mile day at 14,500 feet.” That gap is what the next six months are about. I’m going to close it honestly — which means documenting the weeks it goes well and the weeks it doesn’t.
Where I’m Starting
Current state: I can do 8–10 miles with 2,000 feet of gain and feel strong the next day. That’s not nothing. But the math on Whitney is sobering. The summit hike is 22 miles with 6,100 feet of gain. My current comfortable range is roughly 40% of the summit distance. I have six months.
Fitness baseline as of April: aerobic capacity is decent, leg endurance for longer days needs work, and I haven’t done anything above 8,000 feet in over two years. That altitude tolerance gap is the one that concerns me most. The Eastern Sierra pre-summit trip in August is not optional.
The Schedule
Two mountain days per month. That’s what my schedule realistically allows — I run a web agency full-time. Two days. Make them count.
April–May: San Gabriel Mountains. Building base. Every hike is about time on feet and cumulative elevation gain — 2,000+ feet per hike, 8–12 miles. Goal by end of May: complete a 12-mile day with 3,000 feet of gain and feel okay the next morning.
June–July: Harder terrain. Pushing toward Whitney-equivalent difficulty. Target: one hike with 4,000+ feet of gain by July 15. Mount Baldy at 10,064 feet is the peak I’m building toward — the closest high-altitude conditioning in Southern California.
August: Altitude work. One Eastern Sierra trip before the summit — Big Pine Lakes or South Lake, trailheads starting at 10,000 feet with access to 12,000+. Spending two nights at 9,000+ feet ahead of the summit attempt.
September 21–22: Arrive Lone Pine. Local movement hikes — Alabama Hills, lower Whitney Portal trail. Not hard hikes. Keep legs moving, don’t fatigue them.
September 23: Summit day.
The Gear Plan
Auditing my current gear against what Whitney actually requires. Testing everything on training hikes and reviewing it here.
- Trekking poles: I don’t own a good pair. This is April’s gear priority — my knees on long descents will require them.
- Footwear: Testing Salomon X Ultra 4 GTX (reviewing now) versus a trail runner option for the 22-mile day.
- Layers: My current rain shell is aging. Whitney in September can be 40°F with wind. I need something genuinely wind-proof and packable.
- Altitude medication: Doctor’s appointment in July to discuss Diamox. Want to see how altitude training goes first.
What I’m Worried About
The altitude. I can control my fitness. I cannot control how my body responds to 14,000 feet, and I haven’t been there in years. I’ve watched fit, prepared people get knocked flat at Trail Camp (12,000 feet) and have to turn around. That could be me. The workaround is everything I can do: acclimatize in August, sleep at altitude before the summit, stay hydrated, move slowly in the upper zone. The rest is out of my hands.
The other thing I’m watching: my schedule. If I miss a training month, I’ll say so here. Pretending the training went perfectly when it didn’t is exactly the kind of thing this site exists to avoid.
— Andrew