Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Trip on July 9th, Need some Advice

Couple questions;

- Anybody planning to go up on July 9th? (day hike no camping). I do have a group of 3-4 people but they may or may not summit. It will be my first time but some peeps in my group summited before. Not

- What do you guys recommend to wear? Shorts or long pants?, is it any cold? Jackets?

- For the water crossings, can you pass them barefooted or is it too cold? I'll be carrying extra socks but could do barefooted if not too cold?

Gear I am taking;

Short or pants (can't decided), top layer is basically what I wear when I snowboard, is going to be my base layer, maybe my arctery'x mid layer jacket on top or is it too much?
Ice axe, crampons.
3L camelback bladder but considering taking my other 3L bladder or 1 is enough just take water filter?
sun screen, hat
couple ibuprofen
bug repellent
extra socks

any advise would be appreciated.

I am doing an overnight hike on the 9th/10th. It is my first attempt at Whitney so I have been training on other area hikes. I am by no means an experienced hiker but I can provide you with some info.

I was hiking the Cottonwood trail pass to Chicken Spring lake yesterday. At the Cottonwood pass trailhead,south of Whitney, it was 66 degrees at 10 am and was 72 degrees at 5 pm. This was at 10K ft. I was fine in shorts and a t-shirt all day. As was a few others in my group but one wore pants and long sleeves. I also forgot to put on sunscreen so my arms and neck are a little burnt.

I am taking long pants, long sleeves, and a jacket for Whitney. I'm staying over night but its better to be safe than sorry. I've been reading people have been missing the trail in areas because of the snow. One hiker recently got lost and had to be rescued (Check the forum for lost hiker post, its informative on how that got off/on track and where)and another lady died about two months ago when she separated from her group and lost the trail. However, there was a lot more snow at that time.

The water is ice cold. I do not suggest going barefoot. I stuck my hand in a small stream on Cottonwood trail and it was freezing. The Whitney crossings are large even without all the snowmelt. I've seen mention of an Old trail starting behind the Whitney portal store that allows the hiker to skip the first water crossing but still meet up with the main trail. I'm going to look for this on Saturday.

There are places to filter water along the trail. I am bringing a 3L pouch with a filter.