We summited on July 2nd.

We left our hotel in Lone Pine around 2:45. We were at Whitney Portal a bit after 3am. We started our hike at 3:20. The temperature was in the 50s. I had long hiking pants on which I rolled up and back down as needed during the hike. I had a non-cotton t-shirt on, which I augmented with a long sleeved non-cotton shirt, when I got a little cold. My down jacket went unused and was extra weight I didn't need (same with about 2lbs of food (of 4) I carried up and back down again.

The temperatures throughout the day were above the mid-fifties. There was no snow on the trail, but a little here and there on the sides.

Sunscreen and a hat with neck protection were really important for me. I should have done something about my lips, which are the main issue I am suffering from now, two days later (4th of July).

Hiking poles were immensely helpful. I don't know if it was a coincidence that every member of the group without hiking poles, also had swollen hands.

I had a 3 liter hydration pack which was 3/5 thirds full with ice tea before the switchbacks, and I did not refill there. In hindsight, I should have refilled there as I ran out of water on the way back down. I could have filled it to 1/2 for the walk up and refilled it numerous times, instead of carrying 6.6lbs of water around, earlier in the day.

The hike up wasn't easy, but it wasn't grueling either. We had arrived at Lone Pine on June 30th, hoping for some acclimation, but didn't realize that Lone Pine was only at 3700 of elevation. We did do a test hike on July 1 to Lone Pine lake which got us over 1000ft, but that wasn't a real test of our ability to handle 12-14K of altitude.

As I said, the trip up isn't bad. The pain and torture began on the way down, when every segment seemed to take longer and be farther than we recalled. The latter half really cures you from thinking that you'd repeat the hike anytime soon. It'll be a while before i am ready for another Whitney summit.

It took us about 17 hours roundtrip. We took many breaks, including almost two hours at the summit (where I made some hot tea). We probably should have rested a bit more on the way down too, but everyone had scared us into thinking that thunderstorms would get us. We saw no large clouds in the sky al day.

Any questions?

Good luck!!