After being caught in a hailstorm on day one 7/22 of our two day trek to conquer Mt Whitney we were about a mile from the summit on 7/23 at about 11:30 when the clouds started to darken and we decided to abort. Got past the switch backs but still exposed above the tree line when the hail and lightning started again.Pretty scary. Hope we made the right decision. Came from the Midwest so probably won’t try again but in hindsight I would encourage hikers to get to summit as early as possible.

The same thing happened to me going up the Mountaineers' Route on 7/20, only it was before 11am. I also turned around. I think that was the right decision.

You made the right decision. The conditions you describe would have been even worse at the summit.

Yes, I also have turned back from the summit one mile from the hut. I could see it, I was heading for the Needles but dark cloud approaching from the west made me turn around. I had a moment of should I? I'm only a mile! But I did it anyway. Oh well, don't know what would have happened but here I am today, alive and ready to try again this Sunday Sept 16th.

Know how you feel!

-Dan