This might be out of date now but I just found out about WhitneyZone.com so I'm re-posting my trip report from the Portal Store Message Board (it still appears to be the most recent).
My husband and I summited Saturday June 2. We left at 4 a.m., reached Trail Camp at about 8:20 a.m. We set up camp, refilled our Camelbaks and headed for the summit about 9:30 reaching the summit about 1:40 p.m. After nearly an hour break we headed back to camp at 2:30 and arrived at 6 p.m.
Yes, we were slow, but intentionally kept a steady pace to ensure we wouldn't wear out since it was our first time. We spent the night at Trail Camp and headed back to the Portal Sunday morning from about 6:45 to I think 10:20 or so (I have bad knees so I go just as slow downhill as up).
The first three miles of the trail are mostly dirt, steadily uphill, some switchbacks. The next three miles there are a few stream crossings, the views of the mountains get even better and you break out above the trees while climbing more and more stone steps.
Following Trail Camp of course there are the 97-99 switchbacks. The cables weren't bad this weekend. If you hit them after 7 or 8 am the snow was slushy so you could just use your trekking poles and take it slow. We brought ice axes and micro-spikes and never used either. Others did note that the snow is more like ice and more dangerous before 6 a.m. We saw one guy haul @$$ up the chute but he seemed to be the only one.
Along the switchbacks there is a LOT of water flowing, literally down the trail and across it in several places. After Trail Crest there were two sections with big piles of snow/ice left but a pretty deep track through them; again, just plant the trekking poles and you'll be fine. Near the top there is a snow field with a well worn path. This last two miles is the rockiest and of course accompanied by long drops in places by the windows. It wasn't as bad as I expected though and the trail is plenty wide. Once we got to the top there were a few people suffering from altitude sickness and two guys who I think climbed the east face. While we saw a few people who turned around or didn't make it, it seemed like the majority were summiting. The weather was beautiful and I got sunburned in my tank top. At that altitude I failed to remember/realize how often I should have reapplied and maybe used a stronger SPF.
Our photos are posted in Dropbox here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2zat7yre38vsaku/EDuFVASsyD Hopefully that works!
