Disclaimer: I am no expert mountaineer, everything I say should be taken as just an opinion from someone who only did it once.
If you guys decided to do it again, you almost undoubtedly have to sleep at Whitney Portal the night before you hike, the difference in elevation from the town to the trail head is like 6000 ft alone, which is huge for acclimatization.
AS already mentioned, you drank and possible ate way to much and that grungy feeling may in part, have come from all the "power bar and gel " stuff you ingested, that stuff is meant to be a supplement, not a staple food. Eat when you're hungry, drink when you're thirsty.
Also, I hope you guys attempt it again, it is well worth it, I did my first time just a month ago, and plan on doing it again in about a month before I leave CA for good. And what I've told everyone who asked me back home, probably is worth repeating here, hiking stuff like this more mental than anything else. By placing limits on your guy's hike before you even left, you sort of set yourself up to not make it. I don't know what girls do to psyche themselves out, but the morning I started, I was thinking how I was going to destroy this mountain and very few things were going to stop me.
For reference in this pic, the guy in this photo was doing this for his first time, first hike up Whitney, first time doing an Alpine hiking up snow and first one up the chute in the morning and I can guarantee you, in that head was "WHAT THE FUCK HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO, WHAT THE FUCK I AM DOING" but what wasn't going through my head was anything like "If I feel unsure about something I'm turning around" Because after trail camp, I wasn't sure of anything I was doing...
Do it again soon, you wont regret it.
