Here's the short story: 32 hours on the trail, 16.5 of those hiking the 22 miles round-trip to the summit. Brit (my friend from the ward) and I camped one night then started backpacking and spent one night on the trail. She got sick and I summited by myself. It was amazing.
Here's the long story (or you can just scroll down for pictures). I want this for myself, so I remember the whole trip. Read as much as you feel like.
Wednesday July 7, 2010. I was all packed and ready for the trip. We were scheduled to leave about 3:00 p.m. At 10:30 I got a call from some of our group who had to cancel last minute. So that left just Brit and I. We decided to go anyway. I had been planning this too long to cancel on the day of. Britt and I left LA about 4:15 p.m. The traffic was bad and we made it to the ranger station to pick up our permits just as it was getting dark. Then we drove to Horseshoe Meadows campsite and set up our tent in the dark and went to bed. Somewhere around 3:00 Britt started feeling the effects of altitude sickness. It didn't hit me until about 5:00 when I started feeling very nauseous. After relieving myself of the stomachache (aka throwing up), I made us some oatmeal and we packed up and got ready to leave. We drove about 30 mintutes to the trailhead. Brit wasn't feeling very good and I kind of had to convince to keep going with me as she was still feeling sick, but by the time we were ready to start hiking, she was feeling fine.
We hit the trail about 9:30 and made it to our campsite at 4:00, 6 miles later. The last mile and a half were really hard. It was the steepest part of the trail and the trail was hard to find in a few places. Along the way we met 3 guys in their 50s who were also camping where we were that night. It was nice to follow them and we took breaks in the same places a few times. Finally we reached Trail camp, elevation 12,000 feet. Here's a picture of a meadow along the way. That isn't Whitney, but I liked this picture.
We were both exausted and hungry so we set up the tent and ate dinner. Then we pumped water and planned out the next morning. I am a faster hiker than Brit and really wanted to make it to the top, 5 miles away. We decided that we would start hiking at 5:30 the next morning and each go our own pace. I was planning on making it to the summit and then turning around and findin Brit and then we would hike down together if she was still pretty far from the top. We also visited the campsite of the other guys and had some hot chocolate and talked with them for a while. I asked if I could tag along with them the next morning if Brit wasn't feeling up to it and they said that would be fine.
Friday morning, 4:45. My alarm went off and I climbed out of my sleeping bag. I got things put away in the tent and then left to make some oatmeal while Brit started rolling up her sleeping bag. I walked out of the tent and saw the most beautiful sunrise! Pretty soon the sun came up just a little bit more and lit up the peaks (including Whitney) around the camp. It was so pretty!
I was feeling nauseous again, but managed to eat about half of my oatmeal before I had to relieve my stomachache for the second day in a row. This altitude was killing me! Brit wasn't feeling good and decided not to start hiking with me. I ended up leaving camp by myself at 6:00 a.m. I had heard from others the day before that it should take about 4 hours to reach the summit from Trail Camp. I started up the switchbacks (all 95 of them) and reached the ridge at 7:45. I was able to see over into the next valley which was partly Sequoia national park and it was so pretty.
From there, I coninued up a gentle incline for the last 2 miles to the summit. I was pretty hungry because I didn't really get breakfast. I had plenty of food with me, but pretty much had to force myself to eat becuase I felt sick every time I tried anything. This part of the trail was the hardest for me because I had very little energy, but I kept going. I started to count my steps and would take a break to eat every 1000 steps. It actually helped a lot because I felt like I could see progress. I met 7 people coming down from the summit, but I was the only one going up. I almost turned around a few times because it was really hard, but I kept thinking about how I had to call Kirk that night. I didn't know what he would say if I told him I turned around 1 mile from the summit. I also knew that would bother me and I would have to hike it again. This hike was hard enough that I didn't want to have to come back and do it again. Finally I looked up and I could see the hut on the summit just above me. I got so excited and hurried up the last 100 yards to the top. It took me 3:45 hours to get there from Trail Camp. There was one guy up there. He was just leaving and I asked him to take my picture before he left. Then I was alone on top of Mt. Whitney, by myself. It was incredible. I was so proud of myself for making it and just turned around and looked in every direction. I could barely see one road and everywhere else was just beautiful mountains, lakes, forest and rocks. And I was above it all!! I took pictures in every direction. I didn't stay on top for long; it was really windy and cold, even though I had 5 layers on and my winter gloves.
Views from the summit. Looking down to where I camped the night before:
Me--On top of the world!
I headed back to Trail Camp with tons more energy than I had hit the top with. I made it back in 2:15 hours. On the way down I met several people. Everyone wants to know if you made it, if it was cold, how's the trail etc. I was also wearing my BYU hat and met a ton of LDS people on the trail. Backpackers are very friendly people too.
I had to eat some lunch and then repack at Trail Camp and then Brit and I headed out. She was feeling much better and had actually hiked up to the ridge while I was gone before she started feelin sick again. We made it back to the trail head at 5:00 after hiking 4 hours. My feet were pretty sore, but my legs felt fine. We had burgers and fries at the Whitney Portal Store at the trailhead and then left to go to the valley. We debated about driving home that night, but were both really tired. We ended up staying at the Whitney hostel that night which was a good choice. The shower felt nice and we were both asleep by 9:00. We made it back to LA about noon on Saturday.
Great trip, but one that I don't want to do again (soon). It was definitely the hardest hike I've ever done, but also the most rewarding. I wish that I could have made it to the top with someone else, but it was really cool to do it by myself. I had to prove to myself that I could do it on my own and it was so awesome to be there by myself too. So, if you're looking for a tough 2 days with an awesome ending, get a permit to hike Whitney.
The Lincoln Monument. We got so lucky to be the only ones in this picture.
There was a special muppets exhibit at the Smithsonian. I am a huge muppets fan, so of course we went. We didn't know you weren't supposed to take pictures though, and we got in trouble. You can see the security guard in the background on his way to bust us. 
Lindsey and Jason at the Washington D.C. temple. It is so pretty!
This is Kirk and I on Cascade Saddle, looking down Rock canyon to Provo.
My brother-in-law Connor and I at a picnic. I love his face.
Melissa and I playing hand and foot.
On the hike to Cascade saddle. My parents and Alan and Melissa came with us. It was really beautiful.
