(Topic changed from "Current Conditions: Mt Whitney Trail)
Hi All!
We made it - day hiked Mt Whitney on 6/11!
Thanks to everyone for posting - you all helped tremendously.
A couple of things we learned that might help regarding current conditions:
1) Wear sunglasses/snow goggles. I did for a little bit, but they got uncomfortable and I stowed them. I am not used to dealing with snow conditions, so I am an idiot. Result: snow blindness set in about 6 hours after we finished our hike. This condition is so painful I could not sleep. I could not see well enough to drive. Even now, two days later, I can barely see well enough to post. This situation is entirely preventable.
2) Training: I was grateful for every minute I spent training. I trained hiking Piestewa, Camelback (Phoenix) and Black (Cave Creek) mountains every weekend for about two months (did more than one back-to-back and in 100+ degree heat for the last couple of weekends). I also put in some longer hikes (20-30 miles) in the last two months, and hiked two 12,000 ft peaks in Flagstaff. Everyone in our group did this and we had no problem whatever with the effort required. However, we followed the recommendations and hiked MUCH slower than we might have otherwise. I am really glad we did. We won't be able to say we hiked Mt. Whitney in record time, but we all made it, and NO altitude sickness in our group.
3) Water: you need at LEAST 4 liters to make the trek for someone my size (120 lbs), 5 to 6 would be better if you are larger. Yes, you can get water on the trail but some of the locations on the water map are currently frozen. We were prepared to filter / add chlorine tabs to it, but we did not. One of our group traded the weight of water for a heavy camera without telling the rest. We bypassed a lot of water sources thinking this fellow had enough water. This was a grave error.
Luckily, he told us at Trail Camp and we found a snow-melt runoff, but this was a point of failure that could have been avoided. By the time we could rectify the situation, the guy was already a bit dehydrated, which made the rest of the trip much tougher for him than it might have been. The best preventative for AMS is SLOW speed and more-than-adequate hydration.
4) You only need crampons for the chute between Trail Camp and Trail Crest. You DO need an ice axe to stay safe if you slip. Stopping is HARD if you slip on something that steep.
5) The backside after the junction with the John Muir Trail was seriously scary for me. I have a trick ankle and a trick knee that give out (occasionally) without any warning at all. If I'd lost my footing on some of those sketchy spots (there were three on Saturday 6/11) and was not able to catch myself immediately, there would have been a very bad outcome. I was seriously doubting the sanity of what I was doing and worked my way VERY slowly and carefully (three points of contact) through those sections. That was by far the hardest part of the hike for me. I nearly turned back. I guess I am glad I hung in there but I would never take anyone who is affected by AMS, dehydrated, or physically challenged (like me with my trick ankle/knee) through those sections in the snowy conditions without some kind of safety gear. I had a great time, and the scenery was epic, but I am very glad I did not take Scouts or Venture Crew members on this day hike under current conditions.
6) Waypoints/Route finding: I programmed waypoints into my GPS from the
https://sites.google.com/site/mtwhitneytrailinfo/MtWhitneyTrail/waypoints site and used them. This helped confirm that the boot tracks we were following were headed in the right direction. Doug Sr. at the Whitney Portal Store was a huge help showing us visually where we were headed using the big photo on the store wall. We picked up smaller versions of the big photo at the Portal Store and found ourselves using that more often than the topos and GPS.
7) Boots: three of us wore low-cut waterproof hikers by Merrill and Keene. These worked fine. One wore Lowa boots. We all wore gaiters and were glad to have them: we were able to march over the snow on the way up but the snow was quite soft on the way down. Gaiters kept snow out of our boots the whole way.
8) Socks, gloves: I have primary Raynaud's Syndrome (fingers and toes go numb and white under stress and even mild conditions) and was quite concerned about getting cold and wet. I borrowed ski gloves and wore wool socks and they worked great. I had a backup plan for everything but the ski gloves were perfect and I didn't need neoprene socks or plastic bags liners for the feet. I was sure glad I had gaiters, though!
Despite all the warnings, this was a fantastic journey and I am just delighted we got to do it!
Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/annetteheinemeyer/sets/72157626822818633/ 
