Whenever I go over about 7k feet I get some kind of altitude sickness. Even doing cedar grove to paradise valley for a quick overnighter, I ended up getting abnormally exhausted. So far I haven't gotten really sick, I just lose my breath constantly and it takes forever to get anywhere.
I tried to do Mineral King to big 5 lakes and gave myself 5 days, but me and the other 2 people I was with were really having a rough time. It took us most of the day just to do a few miles. We spent 2-3 times more time resting than hiking. I have done things steeper and longer in distance at lower elevation in pretty quick time, so I know it wasn't my physical fitness that was the problem. We gave up the next day halfway up sawtooth pass and walked back.
What is the key to high altitude hiking? Do I have a natural weakness to this? Can I get over it by more exposure? Only going up 1k feet a day is pretty unreasonable. I really want to do the entire john muir trail next summer, but I am worried if I will be able to. Should I just get in extremely good shape and keep trying? I don't see how the rest of you bay area folks cab sit at sea level and then just sprint up these 11k mountains one weekend.

Just add water.

Seriously, the best thing you can do is to hydrate like mad when you need to acclimate.

The basics are: get some time at altitude before the departure, even if it's just a day, to rest and hydrate. If you use your trailhead location, all the better, but you have to chill out and drink (note theme) to enable your body to start the process. Now, a day or even two won't fully acclimate you to 7k if you're coming from 1k (I live at 300ft), but it will get you pretty far along. The last little bit of acclimation takes several days and you probably just don't have time for that, like most of us.

If you more regularly visit altitude, you can develop a "fitness" for acclimation, so do that. Of course, as many of us discover, any shortcoming in our cardiovascular fitness at sea level is magnified at altitude, so walk those stairwells and pound out those miles at home!

My wife suffers as well, and finds that spending the previous night at elevation, even 4,000 feet, makes a big difference the next day.

One issue you might consider--at those elevations EVERYBODY hikes slower. If you are trying to hike at the same speed as you do in lower elevations, you are going to suffer immediately. Slow down, keep a slow, steady pace, and you'll find that you cover a lot more ground.

Justin, I usually feel the altitude around 9,000 ft, after about 2 hrs at that elevation. What has always worked for me, even when coming from sea level, is tons of hydration. I drink water the day before I start, the morning of, every hr etc. Combine that with proper nutrition, and being in decent shape to boot, and you'll be good. I don't remember the science behind it, but I've read that those in better shape, potentially deal better with altitude. Since you plan on doing the JMT, you'll likely want to train at least 3 weeks to 1 month for it), so your starting condition should be fine. Also, I pop 1 advil if necessary. It also helps if you can spend the night at moderate elevation the night before. I slept in Mammoth Lakes, CA (elevation ~7,900ft) the night before my JMT, and I think that helped.

Worse case scenario, get a prescription for Diamox

It's totally subjective, but my experience has been that my aerobic conditioning greatly affects how I deal with altitude. I've never lived anywhere but sea-level, and going into the mountains to play would always leave to winded and with difficulty catching my breath.

About 4 years ago, I started running regularly, and I quickly noticed a difference in my ability to hike at altitude.

The need to be fit was just reinforced to me. I went from sea-level on the East Coast to Tuolumne Meadows for a 4 day trip, which would start at 8600' and after that rarely drop below 9000'. I had hurt my foot a month before and so hadn't run since and only been out on my bike a few times, so my conditioning had fallen off, I just didn't realize how much.

I did make sure to spend the first night of my arrival at a motel in Mammoth Lakes (7800') to allow myself a bit of time at altitude to acclimate. I slept pretty fitfully that night, which could have been pre-trip excitement, or a sign of mild altitude sickness, according to what I'd read.

The first day went okay, but going up Donohue Pass into Ansel Adams Wilderness kicked my behind a way it hasn't been kicked in a long time. My hiking pace for the next 3 days dropped from my usual 3-3.5mph to barely averaging 2.25mph over a day. I think not hydrating often enough on the first day may have had something to do with it, but after that, I kept myself well-watered, and I was still beat and slow. Headaches were never an issue.

Thanks for the info guys. I tend to not drink very much water, so that could have been an issue. I wild definitley try and over hydrate myself. I will also try and get my butt in really good shape. There are plenty of mountains around here that I can charge up and down in an afternoon.
On my trip out of mineral kind, we spent more than 12 hours at 7800 feet before starting.

They spend weeks aclimatizing when they climb Everest

Does spending one or two nights do anything when climbing at elevations like up to 14,000 feet?

"Does spending one or two nights do anything when climbing at elevations like up to 14,000 feet?"

Yes.

Take the Mount Whitney Trail as an example. It starts around 8300' and ends at nearly 14,500'. I've hiked the trail many times with only a single night slept at the trailhead elevation, with two nights, and with more nights. I've compared my performance to those who slept zero nights there before the hike. All I can say is that the more nights, the better.

Plus, you don't want to just sleep there and call it acclimatization. It works best if you do some mild exercise, not enough to get exhausted. Plus, you need to get a good night of sleep.

Short term acclimatization activates your body into breathing slightly faster. Basically, there are pressure sensors around the carotid body that determine that you are at some elevation where things need to change.

People do poorly when they have been exhausted for a few days, they haven't been sleeping well, they are poorly hydrated, and they have been eating the wrong diet.

--B.G.--

Acclimate and Acclimation are the word.

Acclimatize, Acclimitization are in the dictionary now for the same reason "ain't" is, also. Next up, "acclimitizationary". Ha ha. I ain't sorry I bringed this up, don't loose it now.

Mt. Whitney: Determinants of Summit Success and Acute Mountain Sickness (2008).

Although this paper is about only Mount Whitney, I find that it has very good advice for anybody going up to high elevation.

--B.G.--

7000 ft is pretty low, many persons with AMS retreat down to levels like that to feel better. If you get affected there, you likely have a predisposition. You realize Im sure that there are quite a few towns located at elev. up to 10,000 ft or so.

Unless you experience severe effects that can be life threatening, you probably will get over it totally after several days.

Altitude sickness and being out of breath arent the same thing though. Headaches, vomiting, nausea, etc would be signs of AMS.

There is less oxygen pressure available so your body has to adapt and become more efficient. Which it does in time. But no matter what your shape, if you arent acclimated you will be more winded than at lower elevations when doing the same thing.

Endurance athletes who compete at sea level will train at 12000 ft today to improve their oxygen uptake and efficiency.

Edited by livingontheroad on 10/12/2011 16:12:10 MDT.

If you can't take extra time, and go extra slow, I recommend getting a prescription for Diamox. It works well for me.

If shortness of breath was your only "symptom" then I'd say it's just more water and get in better shape perhaps. It's not altitude sickness. This summer I was concerned about my planned trip for this reason though I've never had trouble with altitude when flying. I live at 600 ASL. Flew into Aspen and was on the trail at 9400 within 3 hours of landing. Spent the first night above 10000. I only really felt the thin air above 11000. That lasted a few days (going over passes) but it didn't keep me from my trip at all. I'm 44 and am in fair shape, but I do not work out, jog, etc. I sit behind a PC most of the time. I did try to drink more than normal.

"I did try to drink more than normal."

Well, that certainly tells a story!

Oh, you mean water...

--B.G.--

I didn't get headaches or feel sick, but on the way up Sawtooth Pass I started getting lightheaded to the point that I stumbled over a few times. I would walk a few feet and it felt like was going to faint and fall over. I couldn't concentrate either. That was the point where I had to call it quits and hike back out.

You stated:
"I tend to not drink very much water, so that could have been an issue."

I've seen lots of hikers get too low on water, and lightheadedness was the first significant symptom.

For the next time that you try something like this, sleep one extra night at the trailhead before you start up. Then double your water consumption, or at least mix a little Gatorade powder into your water to help out.

--B.G.--

Thanks bob. Unfortunatley, acclimatization is not always that possible on a weekend trip when you are going up 1k feet every 2 miles. I guess that means I need to plan much longer trips and be prepared to sit around a lot.

This has been mentioned frequently on other threads, but hasn't come up here. If you increase your water intake significantly, make sure to increase your electrolyte intake, particularly salt, accordingly. Otherwise there is a risk of hyponatremia, a potentially fatal condition.

Thanks tom! I will definitley take some Gatorade packets, unless there is something better for electrolytes?

"I will definitley take some Gatorade packets, unless there is something better for electrolytes?" That will work.