Thanks for the replies. Our date is in September, and sunrise that day is 6:30 a.m., with first light at 6:04 a.m., according to this site:
http://sunrisesunset.willyweather.com/ca/inyo-county/mount-whitney.html.What about getting to the E-ledges, can that be confusing in the dark? I read one trip report that had a party getting lost on the way to the E-ledges after starting at 3 a.m.
I'm also concerned about parking. The 6:30 sunrise would have us leaving around 5:00. Even though we'll have a parking permit, I presume all the JMT hikers will be long gone by then, and their parking spots taken. I'll have to see how that aspect goes as the summer season unfolds.
And yes, it will be a day hike, and I was planning on returning via the regular route.
When I did the East Buttress 20 years ago, it took 5 hours to do the approach, which ends somewhere above Iceberg Lake. That was then, I was younger and thinner and at the tail end of a 3 week trip in the E. Sierras. This time it will be 1 week into a trip. We're steady hikers and I have some long, steep training hikes planned.
