I'm not going up Mt Whitney. I could say it's because of the altitude, or the cold, or the weather, or that I'm still worn out from the Grand Canyon, but none of those things would be true. In reality I haven't felt any effects of altitude, it was warmer than most of the days I spent in the Grand Canyon, the weather outlook is perfect, and I've never felt better. What it comes down to is that my heart isn't in it anymore. I should have realized it when I woke up this morning and didn't want to get out of bed, which is impressive considering my bed was a 1/8" piece of foam on top of snow and frozen ground. I dragged around camp all morning getting my gear together and then after a late 10:30am start made it a little over a mile up towards Whitney Portal. Instead of thinking about how happy I was to be on the mountain I found myself thinking about how happy I would be to get off the mountain. For over a week I've setting up and breaking down camps, waking up in sub-freezing temperatures every morning, wearing the same smelly clothes, alternating between fast-food and re-hydrated freeze-dried meals, I haven't had any meaningful human contact since I left, and I'm thousands of miles from home with a long drive still ahead of me.
It has finally caught up to me. I know I could physically force myself up that mountain, but climbing is as much a mental challenge as it is physical and I have no business being up there
in the state I'm in, it would be dangerous to say the least. There's also no point in doing it if I'm not having fun, that is why I'm here after all. I need to be happy with what I did get done on this trip, the mountain will be there another day. It's time to come home.

And thus ends what was possibly the most over-equipped 2 mile day-hike ever recorded.

Tags: Mt Whitney, Hiking, Road Trips, Sierra Nevada