On Tuesday afternoon we had a meeting at the Hostel to discuss the "Senior Hike" and struck up a conversation with a fellow who had done a Whitney dayhike the day before. He relayed a conversation he'd had with another hiker - who had also stayed at the Hostel - apparently this hiker and a friend had done a similar dayhike, and one of them had "missed" that junction on his return from the summit. If I understood him correctly, this hiker had gone all the way to Crabtree before realizing his error.
Another anecdote for either another sign or better placement of the existing one.
As noted before - as you're approaching this trail jct from the summit, you're already pitching downhill, and the trail down to Crabtree is visible whereas the one to Portal is obscured - you need to go around a corner in order to continue your descent.
