[Summit team: Targo]
We arrived in the town of Lone Pine in the late afternoon of Sunday, June 19th, 2005. Warned by scary messages on the Inyo National Forest web site, I had reserved my climbing permit and campground spot something like four months in advance. In fact, it turned out to be quite unnecessary, as most of the spots were still vacant and people were registering at the last moment. After a crappy dinner in a local joint and replenishing our supplies, we drove up a small paved road to Whitney Portal campground and set up camp.
Next morning I got up at 3:30, my earliest highpointing start to date, ate a few slices of watermelon and left the trailhead at 4:15am. It was midsummer but still completely dark at that time of day. Crossing Lone Pine creek was a little scary in the dark as I couldn't see anything downstream and could only hear water falling over rocks (it turned out to be perfectly safe when I got back but everything's different at night). I was also somewhat sleepy and missed the sudden switchbacks a few times, thus having to backtrack after losing the trail.
It was getting lighter pretty soon though; I could turn off my headlamp at 5:30 and soon after that, the sun started painting the mountaintops. After Outpost camp the trail continued mostly on snow, occasionally forming a trench more than two feet deep, a mark of high popularity of the trail. Once I got to Trail Camp the trail became steeper and I started catching up with other hikers who had started earlier this day, or had camped on the trail; this was also the place where most people put on their crampons. The infamous 97 switchbacks were all buried in snow and people just attacked the slope headfirst. This was probably the most physically intensive part of the whole hike and I saw at least one guy turning around here.
I had developed a considerable headache by the time I reached trail crest, not sure if it was caused by altitude, effort or dehydration, probably a combination of each. In any case, I just dropped down and didn't move a limb for a while, not even noticing the absolutely awesome view that had opened up to the west. The last portion of the trail followed the west side of the ridge, and had taken quite a lot of effort to construct. It was also mostly clear of snow and crampons were no longer needed. In the end my headache got stronger and stronger, so I had to rest a minute after every two hundred steps or so. In the very end, the trail reached a talus field and became indistinct. Gathering my last strength, I got up to the summit hut at 11:40am. The hut itself was all full of snow although it had completely melted in surrounding areas.
The hike back was obviously much easier, especially the snow slope before the trail crest. Snow that had been really hard and icy in the morning had softened up and provided an awesome thousand foot glissade. Somehow I still managed to get off trail in places, but finally got back at about 4:45pm, a 12 and a half hour total.
I had been hoping to replenish my strength with a famous Whitney Portal Store pancake but the store was a disappointment. They only make the pancakes until about noon, and the rest of the food wasn't all that great. But this was a minor worry after standing on top of the contiguous 48 states.

Map of the trail (large file!):

My approximate splits for different parts of the hike:

Pictures of the climb:

The side of the road to Whitney Portal is littered with piles of rock	The side of the road to Whitney Portal is littered with piles of rock	Overview of the trail	Right before Outpost Camp	The infamous 97 switchbacks are covered in steep snow
Look back	Fellow climbers putting on their crampons	Views from the trail	Look back	Views from the trail
Apparently, many people use this trail	The steeper portion ahead is the physically hardest part of the climb	This is where the switchbacks usually are	The much hyped high-tech solar toilet is closed due to overuse	View from the snowslope
Views from the trail	Views from the trail	Views from the trail	A fellow climber looks tired...	...but keeps going
On trail crest	On trail crest	On trail crest	On trail crest	On trail crest
The trail on the ridge is a bit scary in places	Climbers on the summit hump	Climbers on the summit hump	The final boulder field	The summit hut!
Views from the top	Views from the top	Views from the top	Views from the top	The obligatory posing picture
The neighboring pinnacles don't look all that scary from the west side	View from trail crest

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