I am back in LA lounging in my home with a beer (feels terrific I tell ya!!!) as I write this post. I am immensely grateful for all the advice I received on this forum that made my trek successful and my dream fulfilled.

The two most difficult sections of the hike were the 2 miles to trail camp and the 2 miles to summit - before trail camp you leave the tree line and suddenly there is relentless sun hitting you and just granite everywhere, the trail is a lot rougher and it takes forever for trail camp to appear! The other difficult section was the last 2 miles to the summit - once I hit Trail crest it was absolutely FREEZING as the sun was blocked by the mountain and the winds were crazy. The "trail" - if you can call it that, in some places was just straddling over boulders which made the going that much tougher.

I saw some day hikers on that part - it looked like there were about to die WTF?? Day hiking this thing is absolutely insane, but if people can do it then good luck to them. Personally I would NEVER recommend a day hike of this trail to anyone but the MOST experienced backcountry hikers. If you get stuck on this part of the trail without adequate gear you will be seriously f*cked!

Couple of goofs - I went to the summit without any food which sucked. I had left my Bear Vault solo out and in the morning the entire thing had frozen over and since my fingers were freezing as well I just could not open the thing to get anything, I finally said screw it and went without anything except my water.

I was pretty slow, I departed trail camp at 5am and hit the summit at exactly 9:24am. The switchbacks were not that bad but the last 2 miles to the summit was pretty brutal. I met a girl en route that told me she hiked from trail camp to the summit in 2 hours flat...WOW!

One thing that saved my behind was Diamox, I did not have any altitude sickness at all. I am telling you - this thing is magic and I SWEAR by it. I had an Oximeter and measured 92% O2 at 12,000 feet. I took 250mg twice daily starting on Thu. I did not take it the final day as the diuretic effect was too much!

I have hiked Mt. Baldy, Mt. San Jacinto, Everst Base Camp, White mountain peak etc. and I can say that this is one MONSTER hike. I wish I had prepped more for it. But unlike White mountain peak which is extremely drab, the Mt. Whitney trail is so beautiful and that helps a lot with motivation.

Thanks again for all the help! Adios!