Hi Sublatum,
First off, let me say I'm not an expert hiker or climber, in fact I've never climbed, but I have summited Mt. Whitney three times and I'm a girl so this post is from a woman's perspective.
I and my friends all carry Dana Design Marmot Kompressors ($40) in our backpacks. They're extremely lightweight and they serve as a very light and very strong backpack to wear to the summit so we can leave all our stuff at Trail Camp.
http://marmot.com/products/kompressor?p=116,173Last summer we left our tents up while we summited (I don't recommend leaving your tents up because the wind can blow hard while you're summiting - we're either lazy or very trusting so we leave our tents standing while we summit). We camped right next to the rocks at Trail Camp. The only items we left in our tents were our sleeping bags and pads. We don't take any food or scented items like lotions, tooth paste, etc. into our tents with us "ever". All food, toothpaste, lotion, food trash, etc. is left in our bear canisters "outside of our tents, about 50 ft. away from out tents at night. While summiting, we leave our backbacks near our tent without any food or scented items in any pockets, again everything is in our bear canister. Even though there is nothing in our backpacks, we leave our zippers and flaps open on our packs so if any little critters want to get inside they can without chewing holes into our packs. We leave our used wagbags at trailcamp and carry clean wagbags.
Take all vauables with you to the summit like drivers license, credit cards, money, watch, pocket knives. I've never known there to be any theft on the mountain, but it's best to watch out for yourself than to be sorry and regretful later.
You'd be amazed how much a Marmot Kompressor can hold. When you leave in the morning headed for the summit you'll have extra clothes on because it's cold. The Kompressor can hold a lot of clothes plus water, food and other essentials like flashlights, etc. Never summit without a flashlight and headlamp. If something happens and you have to come down in the dark, you're going to need light.
Remember Doug's rule: Turn around wherever you are at 1:00 p.m. and never later than 2:00 p.m. If you haven't summited by then, come back next year, the mountain will still be there. (Doug and his wife Earlene and their son run the Whitney Portal Store).
BE SURE TO HIKE WITH SHOES THAT GIVE YOUR FEET ROOM TO GROW A LITTLE so you don't have toe nails hitting the front of your shoe and so your feet don't ache because they've swollen larger than the width or lenghth of your shoe. Clip your toe nails before your hike or take a nail clipper with you. Wear cushioned Coolmax socks, Tholo makes nice ones.
Personally, I think the best thing about Summiting Mt. Whitney is the website linked to it, this website, THE WHITNEY ZONE.
