Hi Richard, Interesting about the Coyotes.... How were the bugs?
Do you have a favorite repellant? Going up next week for a couple nights ... High Lake, Chicken spring... Any input appreciated.
Happy Hiking to All, Rick

What - no coyote picture?

I arrived late (really warm) and finished early, so I can't comment on how the bugs are...last week, when doing the longer CP to NAP, there were swarms around the lakes (South Forks...Cirque)...I forgot my spray, so I had lots of bites...

I just carry a can of Repel when I don't care about weight...I have an order coming that has a DEET-Free formula that I'm curious to try (only cost $1.89)...(ruined plenty of plastic using DEET)

First off thank you to this extremely useful forum and it's contributors. Successfully summited on July 1st. We were a group of 12 and it took us anywhere from ~17-23 hours. The team was from Midwest so no real altitude training other than regular running and stairs. Stayed at the Whitney Hostel, few spent one night at the campsite at the trailhead. Not a lot of acclimatization so we did a practice hike in the morning all the way to LP Lake, came back down by noon, slept for a few hours at the hostel. Started at 12:20 AM from the portal, caught the sunrise at the trail camp. Simply awe inspiring! Continued on to the switchbacks and the group got split into multiple teams. No issues at the switchbacks at all. At the end of the cables, there is a real nice walk path on the side with no snow or ice. But I can imagine the challenge couple of weeks ago with the major exposure on the side. Continued on to the trail crest, then JMT JCT and the final 1.9 mile stretch. It was hard but as long as you keep a steady pace, no issues at all. One thing caught us by surprise was the snow patch at the top. There was a bit of scrambling but no major issues at all. The views throughout the hike was amazing but at the top it was a bliss. No major altitude related issues other than a slight headache. Spent a little extra time at the summit waiting for others in the group. The weather was amazing and the entire team summited before noon. Water refill at 23rd SB was key, depending on your fitness level, you may spend several hours to get back to that point so make sure to fill'er up. Another important thing is paying close attention to the trail, there are couple of places we deviated from the trail but quickly realized and got back on to the right path. This happened mostly while we were traversing through rock tops on the trail. No major issues on the way down other than the never ending trail to the portal. Most of us were marathoners so they knew how to grind it out. There were few lessons learned on the way when it comes to refueling, H2O management, communication when you have a large team etc. which we will implement for future hikes. Overall great day at the mountain, we all summited and made our way back safe! Definitely come back one of these days.

Made a video here:

https://youtu.be/8LHy5SiTyKA?si=nLiABApfVHnzOtCM

TLDR: two small patches of snow, neither at all dicey. Summited 7/4/24, started at 12:00am, summited by 8:45am, spent an hour at the top, back to whitney portal by 3:00pm. Lots of folks out, trail is beautiful.

Xander,

Thanks for sharing this outstanding and detailed video.

You and your Dad clearly had a plan, executed it well, and were in control. Great teamwork!

I appreciated all the clips done in the darkness of night. This is because for most of us doing a day hike of Mt Whitney, the reality is that many hours will be spent hiking in the first hours of the new day. It seems to me that being alert and hiking safely in the dark is an underestimated skill and part of the Adventure.

I also hiked the Mountain on July 4, topping out at 10:45 AM. Since you left the Summit at about 9:45 AM, we probably said hi to each other somewhere on the Backside (in Sequoia NP). We sure had great conditions for a memorable day.

Jim