Mount Whitney is the highest summit in the contiguous US with an elevation of 14,505. In terms of running it's the Ultra Marathon of hiking. It took me months and a lot of training hikes just for this day hike. It's the toughest hike I ever did. It took us about 18 hours for the 22mi out and back trail.
I didn't get enough sleep the night before and I had to work before heading to the campgrounds. We started our hike at 2:30am, by the time that sun came out we are all tired. We had to take a nap and rest to catch our breath for several times. It took us almost 12hrs to reach the summit. Going back down is much easier but it's still not an easy hike because it got dark so we're just relying on our headlights.
There are times that I wanted to give up and don't want to walk anymore. I was telling asking "Why am I doing this?". I could be somewhere else that time relaxing but I chose to hike. The feeling I got was like running a hilly marathon on a sunny afternoon. Nothing compares the satisfaction and accomplishment I got after this hike. I'm glad I did this! If you ask me if I'll do it again? I'll say NO. For me this are those things you only need to do it once haha.
BTW according to my Chicago Marathon training schedule, I was supposed to do a 20mi run that day. So I guess a 22mi hike will make up for that :)
I didn't get enough sleep the night before and I had to work before heading to the campgrounds. We started our hike at 2:30am, by the time that sun came out we are all tired. We had to take a nap and rest to catch our breath for several times. It took us almost 12hrs to reach the summit. Going back down is much easier but it's still not an easy hike because it got dark so we're just relying on our headlights.
There are times that I wanted to give up and don't want to walk anymore. I was telling asking "Why am I doing this?". I could be somewhere else that time relaxing but I chose to hike. The feeling I got was like running a hilly marathon on a sunny afternoon. Nothing compares the satisfaction and accomplishment I got after this hike. I'm glad I did this! If you ask me if I'll do it again? I'll say NO. For me this are those things you only need to do it once haha.
BTW according to my Chicago Marathon training schedule, I was supposed to do a 20mi run that day. So I guess a 22mi hike will make up for that :)