Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Whitney Main Trail Conditions 2012 (Out-of-Date)

I'd second what Fran said.

We ascended via Guitar Lake (thru-hiking the HST, so only had trekking poles and Kahtoola microspikes) and came down the MMWT yesterday.

The cabled section is dicey, yes, but with a lot of caution, it is passable, even without gear. Of course that is not the safest way, and I wouldn't recommend it, but plenty of people are definitely doing it.