Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Which MW hike is the "easiest"?

Fred, thanks for that info. Pretty much answered my questions.

Rod, your trips sounded very similar to mine. My first trip, my pack was 53 lbs. This trip I trimmed it down to 27 lbs. I would have thought that would have made all the difference in the world, but for some reason it didn't. Maybe being nine years older was the culprit, although I'm in as good of shape as I was back then. Not sure exactly what the deal was, but as soon as I put on the daypack, it was all good.

I believe the heat may have played a big factor too. My first trip it was cooler. This trip my thermo showed 89 at the Portal Sunday afternoon (prior to the 60 minute thundershower), 83 at Trail Camp Monday afternoon, and 61 at the summit at 10AM Tuesday. These temps were quite a bit higher than the weather sites showed. I thought maybe my thermo was off, but it felt that hot those days. I believe the Portal showed 75 on the weather sites. Just another lesson to be prepared for all types of weather up there.