Mike and I set our tents up at trail camp at 4:30 p.m. Saturday night. We went to filter water and noticed low dark black clouds rolling over the mountains. As we were filtering water, the skies opened up. We moved back to our tents and got inside. Thunder,lighting and rain pounded trail camp for about two hours. We just laid in our tents and commented how loud the thunder is up there. Not sure what you are supposed to do in those situations,but it seemed like a good idea to stay put. It rained throughout the night and our tents held up well. We woke up at 4 a.m. and the sky was clear and loaded with stars. We were pumped up and ready to go. We left trail camp at 4:30 a.m. and reached the summit at 8 a.m. There was about a half inch of fresh snow up there and man was it cold. I had light gloves on and my fingers were frozen. We took some pictures signed the register and proceeded back to camp to find that our tents were both entered by marrmots. They tore open a small hole in the tent screens looking for food which we had in the bear container inside one of the tents. That was a mistake on our part. Anyway made it back at portal at 3:45 p.m. and saw all the mud and rocks in the parking lot. This was my 2nd attempt to summit Whitney. I tried a one day last year Aug.27th which had the same conditions. We could not make it then due to heavy lightning on the summit. Well anyway, it was an experience Mike and I will never forget !
