Bulldog, thanks! Backpacking is such a confidence builder. I had a typo in my trip report ... first backpacking trip as an adult, and first Whitney summit, was only two years ago. Then I got bit by the mountain bug! Now I want to go back, camp on the Bighorn Plateau, and then do a cross-country hike to explore the Wright Lakes.....

Steve, yes, a strenuous trip, and you are right that a lot of planning went into it. Yet, after all that prep and training, I found hiking 10 miles a day easier than I thought it would be, and often had energy to spare after setting up camp for additional exploration. One of my favorite detours: the morning we summitted Whitney, we dropped our packs for a bit before hitting the backside switchbacks to explore the Hitchcock Lakes (a detour that became a necessity after we learned that one of our members was only carrying 1.5 liters of water for summit day, which we remedied at a tarn). For other newbies, here is some of what I think I did right:

-LIGHT PACK! My pack was 30 lbs at the start, not including water. My pack was 25 lbs at the Whitney Portal, but I still had a liter of water left, so figure 23 lbs. I used an REI Flash Pack 65; a Big Agnes Seedhouse SL1 tent; and a Big Agnes insulated Air Core sleeping pad. I used a Steripen for water treatment. The Flash Pack performs best at 30 lbs or less.

-BOUGHT/RENTED A BEARIKADE: Best decision ever, for a bear cannister, I bought a Bearikade Weekender, pricey, yes, but you can rent them too, and one of my friends did so. Plenty of room for 6 days/5 nights, and so light and easy to use/access.

-MAP/COMPASS: I got better with my map/compass skills, and that was important for planning camps and water access. Also made the trip more fun.

-USED A PACK LINER RATHER THAN A PACK COVER: I used a pack liner, which weighed less than a cover, and meant that when rain/hail came, I did not have to make any adjustments. My sleeping bag and other clothes were fully protected the entire trip, from my water bladder, rain, stream dunks, whatever.

-TRAINING: I focused my training on preparing for Shasta, figuring that training for Shasta would also suffice for this trip. It did. For me, Shasta remains the most strenuous trip I have ever done (more than Kili or this trip). But, by comparison to some training regimens listed here, I am a lightweight. I do weight training 2x a week, an extra 30 minute cardio workout on the elliptical trainer another 1-2 times a week, and at least one 10-14 mile hike every weekend (with at least 2,000-3,000 feet of elevation gain) with a heavy daypack. Recent training hikes included: (1) Yosemite Falls; (2) Cloud's Rest; (3) Marietta Falls (Bay Area); (4) Mt. Diablo (Bay Area); and (5) Mission Peak (Bay Area).

-READ OTHER PEOPLE'S TRIP REPORTS and asked a lot of questions.

-PICKED COMPATIBLE HIKING BUDDIES. We were a total of 3 hikers, aged 43 to 63. We hiked at somewhat different speeds, but were generally compatible in hiking style, expectations, etc.

-BROUGHT LOTS OF THINGS TO MAKE HOT DRINKS: I enjoyed an evening or morning pick-me-up. I had tea, packages for hot chocolate, packages for hot apple cider, and bouillon cubes. I used all of it.

-TAPED MY HEELS AND OTHER KNOWN TROUBLE SPOTS: I had tried my boots out on other trips, including Kili, so I was aware of potential trouble spots. I used duct tape to tape my heels before we started the trip, and surgical tape on toes prone to calluses. I did not get any blisters, but the tape sure took a beating; when it started to wear through, I would replace it.

-CARRIED SERIOUSLY GOOD CAMP SHOES: Yeah, extra weight, I know. But I actually did evening hikes in my camp shoes, North Face Hedgefrog sandals, including a long acclimatization hike a mile up Forester Pass, and it was great to give my feet a break from my otherwise wonderful Asolos.

-GOT LUCKY ON WEATHER: I got the permits when I knew it was a low snow year, figuring that we'd have a chance at nontechnical conditions this early in the season. It worked out well. And we largely had sunny days with no precipitation, which made the trip that much easier.

-TWO NIGHTS AT 9000-plus before starting trip: One night at Tioga Pass, and one night at Onion Valley Campground, helped with acclimatization. But still, that first day climbing up Kearsarge was tough.

-HITCHHIKING! We had only a partial car shuttle -- one car left at Onion Valley, one car in Lone Pine itself, which was too old to get all the way back up to OV. That meant relying on the kindness of strangers at the end of the trip to get from Whitney Portal to Lone Pine, and then from Independence to OV trailhead. No problems there -- folks were incredibly generous, both with their cars and with their regional knowledge! I got some great ideas for future trips!

Here is what I know I did wrong:

-TOO WARM A SLEEPING BAG! I vacillated between my 10 degree and 25 degree bags, and finally chose the 10 degree (because of the possibility of sleeping on the summit). I was HOT every single night. The only thing that made it bearable was using the sleeping bag as a blanket. I still sweated. And I do not usually sleep hot! But, at least for our trip, temperatures were generally in the 40s, occasionally slipping into the 30s or near freezing in the 4-6 a.m. period (but only on two nights).