Successful Summit / Conditions Great
Left at 515am. Temps 65F at Portal, down to about 45F at summit, was able to just do a long sleeve and shorts the whole way. Low/no winds. No clouds.
Prepped for altitude (coming from sea level) by camping at Cottonwood two days before, hiking the lakes, then staying in Lone Pine the night before the Whitney hike. 400mg of Ibuprofen at the start of the hike in Portal, 400mg at Trail Camp, and no altitude sickness aside from some swollen fingers.
Lots of water on the trail, and some sections of trail require some rock hopping. I did it without trekking poles but having one would have come in handy. Plenty of places to refill all the way up to some spring/melt on the switchbacks, although I would fill at Trail Camp before summit and use the trickles on the switchbacks in an emergency.
Trail in great condition and easy to follow.
Heard a pack of howling coyotes just above Trail Camp.
About 100 feet of snow/slush on steep slope, about 0.3 miles before summit. Was able to walk path going up with hand in high snow, some little slips. Tried micro-spikes on the way down but didn't help much. Trekking poles seemed the most helpful for folks. You could also just post-hole to the side of the worn path.
Spotted some smoke coming from southern Sequoia at the summit. Also saw a glider fly over the summit.
Trip down was quick. Made a pit stop at Lone Pine Lake which I had to myself.
12.5 hours all together with lots of stops, probably 11.5 hours moving time, felt good
