For years I've had a desire to hike from the lowest point to the highest point in the continental U.S. I studied maps of roads, trails and Contours to come up with a direct route over the Tucki, Nelson, and Inyo Mountain Ranges. I projected it would probably take two weeks as a backpack; after all it was only 105 miles long with 30,000' total elevation gain. Imagine my surprise when I found that a less direct route was regularly done, and took only two days!
I came upon the details in a rather circuitous fashion. It all started on July 30 after I crossed over the Sierra Crest (13,480') and started down the Mt Whitney Trail after bagging Mt Hale and Young above Guitar Lake to the west. For some strange reason, my hands had gone completely numb even though it was quite warm out. In fact, I couldn't even feel my own pulse. Ignoring the problem was my initial reaction; then; my ears went numb, too. This made me sit down to scope out the situation. Along came two guys with walkie-talkies. Great, I thought, and asked one to keep an eye on me to make sure I didn't die unnoticed on the trail. This would not have been easy as, at 5 PM, more people were coming down from Whitney's summit this summer day than could be found on a typical suburban street. In any case, along trots another guy wearing only jogging shorts and tennis shoes and carrying a mere pint of water, and he's going up the trail, see picture. The guy with the walkie-talkie forgot all about me and excited began snapping pictures of this runner, who stopped for some 'posed' action shots. Unfortunately, I didn't make inquiries at the time, being too concerned with my own problems. It was six more miles to Lone Pine Lake, where I was to rejoin (Caroline) Curry's Wilderness Expeditions; I went in to climb Whitney with them on their permit. Anyway, my concerns was unwarranted. Some salty food, water, and rest restored my circulation and the miles faded away faster than the evening.
My curiosity, as well as that of others in our group, was piqued again, while hiking out the next day. We passed several signs put up by the U.S. Forest Service which warned of a $500 fine for anyone engaged in a competitive sport further up on the trail, probably where it went into Sequoia National Park at the Sierra Crest.
A bit further down the trail, we met a willowy, blond woman wearing a 'Badwater to Whitney' T-shirt. She was more than
willing to talk about
that run, which was now over, having been a member of their 'support team'.
Before continuing up to look for her husband, who just may have beaten last
year's record, she directed me to one of the participants, Jim Walker of
Hi-Tech Sports, 440 Northstar Way, Modesto (209) 577-1861. They gave me the
following information and the statistics at the end of this article:The race from Badwater Basin (-292') to Mt. Whitney (14,495') has been run every year since 1972. Hi-Tech Sports sponsored the 1988 run, which evidently caused some consternation with the U.S. Forest Service (prior runs were unsponsored); just a week before the run was scheduled, they revoked the permit they had issued to use the Mt Whitney Trail. This evidently didn't deter participation, although two runners were subsequently cited by the Forest Service on the trail. Of those who didn't finish, one cut up his feet badly by trying a short cut through Badwater's salt flats, and another was found to have two broken bones in his foot. In spite of these difficulties, the runners hope to see a race similar to the 'Western States 100' (100 miles from Squaw Valley to Auburn over the Northern Sierra), a well publicized event for which permission is routinely granted.