Hi all, I would first like to thank everyone on this forum with all the helpful advise that I've read on here. As you may have experienced yourself, my hike up to the Summit was a year and a half in the making and have gotten a lot of helpful info on this forum. I Summited on October 1st 2013! Id like to contribute the conditions I faced during the 3 days and 2 nights I was on the mountain:
Weather: Clear, no clouds to be seen for miles and miles. It was however in the 30's at Trail Camp. The tip of my exposed Camelbak was frozen in the a.m. Light winds.
Trail: No snow or ice to worry about. I saw a lot of people carrying shoe chains (including myself) and it wasn't necessary. I counted 98 switchbacks...WTH?
Water: Last water is at Trail Camp.(not sure if there is suppose to be water higher than that?)
When I was coming down the mountain on the 2nd of October, various hikers going up were saying "there is no government down there" being out of communication for a few days, it took me a few to figure out what they were talking about. As of this morning, there was no Park Ranger (as there was when I went up on 31 Sept 2013) to check for permits before the Whitney Zone. There were no closure signs or tape anywhere to be seen.
