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The thin air gets you somewhat light-headed. It felt similar to motion sickness, of which I am really prone to. The only thing that saved me was the fact that I was super-hydrated, a key factor in actually making the peak. Another thing that was odd -- at that high it's hard to catch your breath, even when taking a break. I was the only one in our group for four who did the hike all the way up with a full 65-liter pack. The other three did the last 5 miles with their day packs. Let's just say that made it way more challenging! Taking a break actually seemed counter-productive... so I tried to take as few as possible. Believe it or not it worked.morna-san wrote: I've done lots of hiking but I guess I've never done any real high altitude stuff. What does that feel like?
It's funny you mention that. There were people up there much older than you. In fact, within about 200 feet of the top I was passed up by a much older couple! Talk about embarrassingStan Sakai wrote:It's been awhile since I've done any backpacking or camping. I really miss it sometimes. Other times, I remember how old I'm getting.
It's all good. I'm just glad I made it to the top. The stats say that only 30% of the people who attempt Whitney actually summit.