After planning and training for 7 months, we departed Whitney Portal at 2:00am. Me and one other group member started getting altitude sickness at about 10,000 feet. We immediately regretted not taking some Diamox!! We just weren't sure how it would affect us. I was dizzy, nauseous and had a slight headache, but we pushed on. Felt better once we reached Trail Crest, but was having some balance issues and that was quite scary given the fact that you can fall thousands of feet to your death if you slip. Less than a mile from the summit we decided to call it and turn back. We just were afraid of not being able to make it back down safely. It was disappointing, but we had a great time nonetheless. We were all in excellent physical shape so fitness was not a problem. We also had plenty of food, water and clothing. The altitude was a killer. Next time we will definitely take medication.
