I am one of those people who never refill, I carry 6 liters with me every time. I have summited 5 times carrying water the whole time with no problem. I don't mind the weight, 2.2 lbs per liter. I have slept in the car at the portal and I have slept the day/evening at the hostel in town. Both work for me. Apparently I don't need too much acclimatizing, I have never had altitude sickness. If I sleep in town I usually show up in the morning from L.A. where I live, drive up to Horseshoe Meadows and just stay up there for several hours, then back to town when my hotel room is available and sleep until about midnight. Then I drive to the portal and sit in my car for another hour, then hike. That works best for me. I used to just drive up from L.A. and "sleep" in my car at the portal from about 6-7PM to about 1AM then hike but my car is too uncomfortable for that. Water crossings are usually OK in just regular boots, just be careful on those rocks! Bring extra layers it can get cold up there on the 99's and Trail Crest in the morning. Expect a 17 hour day for 1st timers is the average. And go slow at the beginning if you want to be OK on the 99's and the 2 miles from Trail Crest to the summit.
I think that is all.
Good Luck! I will be hiking on Sunday Sept.16th, see you there!
-Dan.
