Matt: thanks for the detailed report. Just a few more things to balance the report:
1: any AMS symptoms with or without meds? That was a quick ascent and was it just a weather/environmental decision to turn back?
2: what's your level of conditioning and experience to attempt a late season summit?
Reason for inquiry: I talked to many hikers this season during my Whitney PSAR trail days and followed many others on blogs. Frequently after all of the congrats and kudos, what was not mentioned in the posts was an ambulance ride from the Portal, an ER visit in Lone Pine or a doctors assessment that they had PE. (Obviously all three hikers put themselves at great risk). Without that background knowledge, other less-experienced hikers may have followed their lead and put themselves at risk also.
Thanks for your reporting efforts.
Ed
Rescue 18 Inyo SAR
