Just got back from a trip from Mineral King to Whitney. The trip was 6 days and 59 miles. We camped at Franklin Lakes, Kern River, Junction Meadow, Upper Crabtree, and Guitar Lake. The 5th day was a rest day only hiking 3 miles from Crabtree to Guitar and then fishing all day.
The final day was 16 miles from Guitar to the summit and out to the portal. We started at 4 in the morning to the crest, dropped packs, and hit the summit by 8 am. We were the first to the top. The reason for leaving so early was to avoid the afternoon storms that seemed to hit by noon over the previous 5 days. No need though because they didn't come until 5pm, 3 hours after we hiked out.
If anyone has any questions on the trail or hitting the summit from the west side or anything else, just let me know.