I will be riding a loaded-down bike with front and rear panniers, probably carrying around 60 pounds. Tent. Ice axe. Crampons. Food. The bike is a touring frame that I am building up—I need very specific things on this bike as far as gear ratios and frame geometry, so building it was the only comfortable option for me.
There are obviously going to be gravel roads involved in reaching trailheads. What type of tires would one use for this? I thought road bikes all have skinny 25 or 23mm tires. My road bike has those 23mm tires on it, and there is no way those things would handle any distance on a gravel road.
The 20-year-old doing this trip probably weighs half what I weigh, but the 60 pounds of luggage on the bike is going to make it a heavy ride anyway.
Mt. Williamson will also be a problem, seeing as it is closed most of the year due to mountain goat protection, so any ascent on this mountain would be illegal.
All that matters is that you make it there before 15 July. Correct?
And the last problem will be Rainier. I am confident in my abilities on Rainier and will be attempting a solo ascent up either the Disappointment Cleaver or preferably the Emmons Glacier route. The only way to do a solo on Mt. Rainier is to have a meeting with the superintendent of the park and receive the OK. So that meeting will be inevitable, but I am hoping by the time I have made it that far they will at least give me a shot at Rainier.
Wouldn't it make more sense to get this worked out ahead of time? Imagine doing 67 out of the target 68, just because you got turned around at Rainier. Don't just show up and hope for the best!
. . . a lot of these areas have quota systems and permits are hard to obtain, especially in the Mt. Whitney area. I’ll hang around as long as necessary to get the Whitney permit.
Haha! Even worse than being turned back at Rainier, imagine having plans fouled because of that stupid F-ing quota system that supposedly protects that "wilderness area" around the Whitney trail!
If you use the February lottery to apply for mid-week dates, I think you have a reasonably good chance of getting them. If you list several alternate dates that are also during the week, getting the permit shouldn't be a problem, I think. Then you can schedule the Whitney part of the trip ahead of time, instead of going there and wasting mornings at the permit office, waiting for an opening.