Hi, just want to say thanks to everyone particularly SteveC for all the advice you have given me over the last few months. I ended up changing the dates of my climb due to the bad forecast for this Saturday. I left Las Vegas Monday at 4am. Drove straight to Whitney portal and did an acclimatization hike to lone pine lake. I the walked back to the car and drove to get my permit. I slept at the portal until 1 am when I begun my hike. I was solo in the dark until 6am when I hit the chute. If you didn't already know Whitney had A LOT of snow over the last few days. So unfortunately I was only able to get to trail crest due to massive amounts of snow and ice on the Whitney side of trail crest. Although I could feel the altitude and the hike was tough and cold at times I know I would of made the summit had conditions at the end been slightly better. I reached the top of the chute at 8.15 spent roughly an hour at trail crest and I was back in my car by 12.45 and back on Vegas by 5. It was a big day but an amazing experience and I definitely do not regret the challenge of a day hike, although if I had more flexibility more acclimatization would of made a difference.
So once again thanks, I look forward to getting to the top next time and for those of you planning trip all the best for the summit.
