Just thought I would share a newbie experience. I hiked half dome with friends this summer, but none of them could make it for Whitney. When I saw a day permit come up for a day that would work for me, I jumped on it.
Headed down the day before my hike from Sacramento and stayed in Lone Pine for the night with my mom. I didn't have any acclimation plan. I knew if I got sick, I wouldn't have qualms about turning around, especially since I was solo and nobody else was depending on me to summit with them. My plan was to leave at 3:00 am, but after seeing weather reports for 30% chance of lightning after 11 am, I decided to leave earlier. I was on the trail at 1:30 am. I got a little off trail in the dark in the mirror lake area, but back on track without too much anxiety. It's also worth noting that I'm slow. Several passed me through out much of the uphill. I also had a slight headache, but nothing worse over the course of the day. I pumped water at trail camp (which I arrived upon thinking it was mirror lake - a nice suprise to be further along than I realized). I made it to the summit about 10:00 am, and the weather was wonderful. Also saw a marriage proposal at the summit which was lovely, even though it wasn't proposed me... (next 14er is my lucky one maybe?)
I didn't spend much time up there because I noticed clouds were forming. I had seen lightning on the mountain from Lone Pine the previous evening and knew I wanted no part of that! I went down the switchbacks fairly quickly, and got a little dizzy. It started showering and thundering, then raining in trail camp, and then hailing not too long afterward. I was amazed that not 3 hours earlier, there was barely a trace of a cloud. What is crazy is that some people with light "gear" kept heading up! Though I felt more prepared than the average dayhiker with my gear, I didn't anticipate stinging sideways hail. Like a true novice, I freaked out a little. I didn't know if I should wait it out or continue to hike, if I were able to. My solo trip ended at this point, as I enlisted some help from two experienced hikers whose names escape me - one from Colorado Springs and one from Memphis. They were kind enough to let me hunker with them momentarily and then gave me some guidance hiking down. The storm blew over not too long after, leaving shining scenery I had missed on the way up in the dark. However, even as I headed down, showers started again. I really wanted nothing more than to be back at portal. Preferably with some beer.
And soon enough, I made it. Along with several people concluding the JMT. Congratualions to all of them... I'm back and feeling much less sore than I did post half dome (though still have some marks from the hail). Really though, so happy I did it! And thankful for the wealth of information in this forum. It helped tremendously.
