I am just scanning thru the advices to this hiker and surprised to see that there is no mention of acclimatizing ahead of the hike by spending at least one or two nights at Cottonwood Camp ground at 10000 ft and doing some day hikes in the surroundings which should alleviate all concerns of AMS. This definitely helps in my own experience.
Everyone is different.
Wifey can go from 1,600' to 11,000' overnight with zone problems...me I fed a lot of chipmunks overnight.
The absolute worst AMS I have had was after two nights of acclimatization at 10,000'...I was lucky to get off of White Mountain. It finally cleared after an hour or two in Big Pine.
