> I'll spend a night at the Whitney portal motel and start hike at 4:30AM.
This sounds like a quickie trip. If you have never been to 14.5k, be sure to read up on altitude and acclimatization. You may be ok ...or you may feel like you were hit by a truck. I always like to get two nights at 10k before heading up to Whitney. If this is news to you, read up on it in the Orientation Notes, and think about trying Diamox.
...just want you to be prepared.
