Harvey, maybe this is mostly anecdotal, but for myself, driving directly to 10k elevation and sleeping has worked well for me. And I've been recommending people do that in preparation for their Whitney adventures. I usually take 62.5 mg Diamox in the morning and before that first night, too.
I've only seen a few rare cases, like this one, where people were susceptible to definite AMS problems doing this. It is pretty clear for these few that their "intermediate height" for a first night is somewhere below 10k.
