Sorry for the somewhat tardy posting of trail conditions. By now more snow will have melted. I wanted to add some comments anyhow, as I have found that each person's perspective is so very different.

First off, we took someone's awesome recommendation about staying at Mammoth Lakes a couple of nights to acclimatize (almost 8,000 feet) and then arriving in Lone pine the day before our hike. That must have worked for us because we felt fine with the altitude during our hike, also our very slow pace helped with the altitude no doubt.

1. We started out a little early at 1.30 am as we knew putting on and off water shoes/hiking boots/gaiters/crampons etc etc would add time. For us that was a great decision, we ended up summiting right before noon.

2. We had read someone's great suggestion of the "old" trail to skip the first water crossing. We went up to Whitney Portal to find that rock and that trail the day before in the day light - also a good decision for us. Felt much calmer knowing our way in the dark. Someone had commented on this "old" trail not being maintained and steep. We found it in excellent condition, easy to follow and not very steep. Then again, we are used to hiking on some rough or no trail at all when mushroom foraging. Skipping that extra mileage and water crossing was a good thing for us.

3. We only got lost once, when we got to Lone Pine lake (in the dark), there was a junction in the trail that I had not read about previously. Someone had written "peak" on the sign, pointing right, while the sign itself pointed left to Lone pine Lake. As we did not want to go to Lone Pine Peak, we opted for Lone pine Lake, and it turns out if you go that way you end up down by the lake, in the camp ground, and not on the trail to Whitney. Very easy to see in the day time, but at night in the dark, it was not as easy. My advice, go toward "peak" - would have been nice if they had written Mt Whitney or something instead. Rest of the trail was pretty easy to follow. Although carry a map, we did, and some pics of where you want to go past trail camp.

4. We had read that the switch backs were clear above trail camp, so we walked toward the chute and saw the cables above us, to the left of the chute. We scrambled straight up to the cables on the snow. This was the only time we used our crampons the whole trip, frankly, we could have made it up in our hiking boots easy. We are however used to hiking in snow, and trained in steep snow, so remember, everyone's perspective is different. The cables themselves are bent over and covered by snow. Climb over a few little rocks to get up on the trail, holding on to the cables helped me.

I would say the switchbacks above the cables were 80% clear. When the trail was covered in snow, we looked up above us to see the rebar holding the next level switch back and scrambled up on the rocks. We also had to do a couple of snow traverses, was a little sketchy and steep, but we took it slow and dug in our hiking poles. Overall we found this path less strenuous than the chute because the sun was up and the chute was very slushy, so people we met at trail crest were much more tired than us (they were younger and fitter).

5. The toughest part of the hike for us was the return along trail crest, when you have to climb up again, at this time we felt the altitude and were very fatigued. Probably had not eaten enough- I generally try to make sure I eat at least 100 calories per hour, seems to work for me, and it keeps me on an "eating schedule".

6. We went down the chute, half way to the right of the "bob sled" path We only had hiking boots and poles, no ax. I personally am comfortable going down on my belly, (feet first of course!) with my pole fully collapsed and dug in to control my speed. We then traversed over and jumped in the "super chute" for the second half because we were a little worried about hitting the exposed rocks below us. Other than agreeing that the "super chute" is getting some exposed rocks, we didn't have any problems. I would say to be sure to bring warm ski-type gloves for this part. One in our group got a little frost bite on her hand. She went slow, probably took 10 mins down.

7. Best advise I have is to sit down and eat good when back at trail camp before heading back down the rest of the trail. We ate ham & cheese sandwiches and drank refreshing ice cold water from the stream (we filter pump our water). Its common for people to cheat on the eating on the way back on any long hike, and that makes that last leg of the trip way more painful than it needs to be. Seeing the beautiful scenery for the first time, was a bonus on the return hike (it was dark on the way up so we didn't see much on the way up).

8. Someone told us that water was NOT available at trail camp - this is NOT true. There is LOTS of water available due to snow melt. There was even water available on the switch backs, although I would not count on that for many more days/weeks as the snow is melting quickly.

9. Last piece of advise, read as much of the comments on this and other pertinent blogs & websites as you can to prepare, you pick up good tips, and you realize how different peoples perspectives are. And don't believe the fear mongers. This is a VERY strenuous, but also wonderful experience, just go slow, make sure you hike plenty to prepare, have a firm turn-around time and be in the moment and enjoy the journey.

This was one of the best experiences of my life, loved it !!

Happy Hiking everyone, be safe out there !!