altitude

[AllDownhillFromHere]

I have no practical experience at altitude, other than a dayhike on Telescope Peak at around 9k. Can anyone share any personal experiences with higher altitude climbing? When you can't "climb high, sleep low", what do you do?

[nsherry61]

Experience? I've had headaches and complete lack of energy being exhausted just walking along. Never any severe altitude sickness.

If you can't climb high and sleep low, then ascend slowly. Those are your only two options. Drugs help when it's mild, but pushing it can be dangerous. If you're not handling the altitude, you have only one choice, descend. Rule of thumb: for every 3000 ft of elevation gain, take a rest day. Symptoms typically take 2-4 days to subside, so you don't really have much room to push it.

[MuddyWaters]

It helps to have some history and know your limitations
I have minimal altitude effects.
My wife has pretty bad.
This is pretty consistent.

About most I get is restless sleep, headache for a few days. I felt really bad on a dayhike to summit a 14000+ once, was glad to get down. It was just too fast with no acclimatization. I can go from sea level to sleeping at 9000-10000 with minor annoyance though. After several days Im feeling normal.

If start at 6000 ft and go up no more than 2000 ft per night, most will be fine . I wouldnt hesitate to go 6000-10,000-11000 personally. Id try to avoid 12 for a few more nights though.

You can always take diamox to help if dont have time to acclimate.

[colorado_rob]

Are you talking about simply hiking NOBO on the PCT as part of a thru, or section hiking it? If the former, don't worry about it, you will naturally acclimate easily. If you're hitting the Sierra on a section right off, that's another story, manageable, but I don't want to write a book if you're doing a thru attempt.

[AllDownhillFromHere]

Mostly concerned about Whitney and the surrounding areas. I've been a flatlander my whole life.

[colorado_rob]

Mostly concerned about Whitney and the surrounding areas. I've been a flatlander my whole life.

But where would you be starting from and how long before you're climbing Whitney? That was my question. If you're starting way south of Whitney, and it takes you 2 weeks to get there, it should be no problem. If you're climbing right up Whitney from Lone Pine/Whitney portal the 2nd day you're out west, it could be an issue, though lots of folks manage.

[Wooobie]

If you feel bad, go down.

[gwschenk]

I live at sea level. On trips to the Sierra I'll sleep at a trailhead, such as Onion Valley, and have no trouble the next day going to elevations equivalent to what you'll meet on the PCT. By the time you get to Mt. Whitney you'll be acclimated.

However, as Wooobie said, if you really feel it, head down. Sometimes my wife gets sick, nauseous, etc. If we drop 1000' she'll feel better right away.

[Longnok]

One thing often missed is hydration levels. As you increase in altitude, water loss increases as respiration levels increases resulting in a greater need for fluids. You can also experience diuresis from the cold temps, resulting in more frequent urination. Sweating is not a good indicator of hydration needs. In low humidity areas, the sweat just evaporates right off your skin. Urine color would be a good indicator of hydration. You don't necessarily need to be clear, but definitely not dark or just a total lack. Often times, what appears to be AMS is really dehydration. This year, there really shouldn't be an issue with water availability...


If you're going from sea-level to 14k in a day, or two, you'll have a difficult time avoiding issues. Normally, it takes a person about a week to acclimate, somewhat, to higher altitude. Going easy in the beginning can be of benefit, as well. But, again, hydrate. If you end up in a severe circumstance, descending to a lower altitude is the best solution.

[Dogwood]

Google how to avoid AMS. Lots of advice.

[rafe]

You never know. In 2007 I met my nephew in San Francisco, to go hike a bit of the JMT. He lives in Hawaii, I live in the suburbs of Boston. Both sea level, in other words. We drove to Mammoth Lakes and hooked up with the trail there.

My nephew was about 25 at the time, I was 55. He has never smoked, I'm a light smoker.

Somehow, it was my nephew who got altitude sickness, so much so that we had to bail after just a couple of days. We were mostly at altitudes around 10000 feet. There were no serious grades. It was pretty easy walking, compared to the AT.

[Shutterbug]

I have no practical experience at altitude, other than a dayhike on Telescope Peak at around 9k. Can anyone share any personal experiences with higher altitude climbing? When you can't "climb high, sleep low", what do you do?

I hiked the Salkanty Inca Trail which tops out above 15,200. It wasn't as difficult as I expected.

And, I was a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. My helicopter didn't carry oxygen, so I frequently went from sea level to 10,000 feet in just a few minutes time. For the particular missions I flew (drone recovery), we stayed at 10,000 ft or above for long periods of time.

My experience has been that sometimes the high altitude has a big impact and other days it doesn't. I have never figured out why I react differently in similar conditions. I do know that hydration is one of the factors. One tends to dry out more quickly at higher altitudes. Drink a lot of water.

I also noticed that one adjusts to higher altitudes the more often you experience it. When I had not been in thin air for a while, I tended to notice it more than if I was there several days in a row.

Exertion level is another factor. The more energy you burn, the more you will notice the thin air. When you apply that to hiking, it means keeping your pack as light as practical.

[Spirit Walker]

If you can acclimate to altitude slowly. If you are doing a long hike, you get used to the altitude as you go. On the PCT, it is possible to go over the passes in the Sierras and sleep a couple of thousand feet lower.

How much of an effect altitude will have is impossible to know in advance, if you haven't done it before. And even then, on different trips you may have different responses. My husband and I wanted to spend 3 weeks on the CDT in Colorado a year before our thruhike. We both started out with headaches, but were able to begin our hike okay. I got better, he got worse. By two weeks in, he had pulmonary edema and was coughing up blood, so we had to bail. However, a year later, he had no problems on our CDT thruhike. I could always tell when I reached 10,000', because I would slow down and hiking felt so much harder but he wasn't affected at all.

[Hikingjim]

most people that have problems with altitude, have most of it around 8,000+ ft

As a "flatlander" that has done some trips to elevation with little other high altitude exposure throughout the year, it generally goes like this for me:
- 1 day at 5,000 or 6,000 feet is a nice start
- next day 8,000 or 8,500
- next day 10,000
- up a bit from there and so on.

I can push that a bit, especially if it's temporary. But I get a few symptoms like premature fatigue, etc. Except same scenario for my wife and 2 others friends I've hiked with, with some minor variation in symptoms, but same general idea.

You may be different, but I would plan on some acclimatization like that at a minimum. If you're hitting whitney after you've been in the mountains for days, you'll have no issues. If you go straight for it quickly, that may be another story.

[Hikingjim]

I will add that your acclimatizing doesn't have to be hiking to contribute to the process. When I went to colorado in Sept I just drank a bunch of beer and sat on my ass in denver (mile high) for the first night.... and it helped me along

[Traveler]

Older people (over 50 but that number moves a bit) are apparently less prone to altitude related issues than younger folks. There are a few reasons for this according to sources, one being associated with brain function in older versus younger people, another is a slower rate of ascent that allows older bodies to sustain time at altitude. This is not to say all people over 50ish are excused from the effects of acute mountain sickness (AMS), only that a demonstrated difference exists.

Myself, I am hoping when I reach 80 I can finally finish the climb of Rainier from sea level without the headache.

[AllDownhillFromHere]

Thanks guys, less worried now that I'll die. Finding the drugs online is starting to look ... complicated, I'll have to trust to luck and ~700 miles of hiking to warm me up (assuming Whitney is even accessible).

[colorado_rob]

Thanks guys, less worried now that I'll die. Finding the drugs online is starting to look ... complicated, I'll have to trust to luck and ~700 miles of hiking to warm me up (assuming Whitney is even accessible).

If you're doing a pct thru, you won't need any drugs, you'll be fully acclimated when you get to the high places. You'll still very much feel the lack of O2, make no mistake.

[Malto]

If you're doing a pct thru, you won't need any drugs, you'll be fully acclimated when you get to the high places. You'll still very much feel the lack of O2, make no mistake.

Agree with this. If you have a major issue with altitude then it will likely show up well before the Sierra. Look at the elevation profile of SoCal, after the initial increase going to Campo it's a pretty easy ascent. You hit about 6k at Luguna. But then back down a bit. You then have a week or so before San Jacinto where you are in the 4-6k range. The good part of SJ is that you are up and back down allowing you to sleep low and continue your acclimation.

I have heard ears of a couple of altitude issues with PCT hikers though 8 suspect there are other factors such as water and fueling that factored in as well.

[QiWiz]

I have no practical experience at altitude, other than a dayhike on Telescope Peak at around 9k. Can anyone share any personal experiences with higher altitude climbing? When you can't "climb high, sleep low", what do you do?

I find that above 8000 feet, I do best when I don't sleep more than 1000 to at most 1500 ft higher than I did the previous night. And I would not go up by 1500 ft sleeping altitude/day for more than 2 days in a row. I also find that I hike slower at altitudes above 8000 when hiking uphill, even on a relatively minor uphill grade. Downhill and level hiking is pretty close to sea level speeds for me. The higher the altitude, the more I notice this hiking speed difference. The more time you can give yourself to acclimate, the better. In Nepal at sleeping altitudes up to 17,100 I found I used acetazolamide for mild altitude sickness symptoms when I ascended and continued to hike and sleep above 14,000 feet. In Wind River Range sleeping as high as 11,000 and on JMT SOBO I was able to acclimate while hiking and picking relatively lower camping locations for the night with no altitude illness and no need for acetazolamide. Our highest camping elevation on JMT was also about 11,000 feet. Everyone is different - YMMV - just sharing my own experiences.