Mt Whitney Zone Forums Trip Reports 7/1/2014 Day Hike - First Timer Trip Report

I too cursed those granite steps on the way back down. I did not feel amazingly well the next morning. I did stop in Yosemite the next day and walked up to Nevada Falls, but that was my limit. That night, my legs hurt so bad after I got to bed that getting out of bed the next morning was quite the experience. A short list of things I would do differently now (I may think of some others by next year):
1) Get in better shape. I plan to go later in the year in 2015 and that should give me a chance to do some more strenuous hikes around my home turf up at the north end of the state.
2) Pack less water. I've decided to start backpacking and as part of my gear, I now have a water filter, which is much lighter than 1 1/2 gallons of water (I took 2 gallons of water with me for the hike).
3) Better camera. The pics I took with my cell phone are far from satisfactory.
4) Take a longer break at the top and change my socks. I had planned to do this but was running 30 minutes behind schedule and wanted to get headed back down. I'll take more time to enjoy the top next time and to change my socks to help avoid or at least limit blisters.

I still can look at the pics from the top and on the way up and marvel at the beauty that I remember. Makes me really want to do it again and actually I would also like to do an early season one-day hike where I could climb up the chute using crampons and an ice axe. So, I guess I want to do it two more times.