I hiked Whitney for the first time back on June 12. I am by no means in excellent condition, and it took me 8 hours to summit (and 8 more to get back down).
As far as bears, I have been fortunate (?) enough to see three in the last 4 weeks after seeing one in my previous 35 years of off and on hiking and fishing. I did not see one at Whitney. Just lots of overly bold Marmots and a couple of deer. I saw a black as sin black bear up at Whiskeytown NRA near the end of a 17 mile hike at the much too close for comfort distance of 60 feet. Saw a golden brown bear at the Happy Isles (I think that's what the area is called) at Yosemite Valley the day after my hike up Whitney, but at a much more comfortable 200 feet or so. Then I just saw another golden brown bear at the Kings Creek Campground in Lassen NP earlier today at a distance of 150 feet. I think that should fill my quota for awhile.
