Before heading out we decided to have a big breakfast at the Mt. Whitney Portal Store. We thought about getting the famed Whitney pancake. After seeing the size of the pancake, we opted for the traditional Bacon and Eggs breakfast. By 9:30am we were on the trail.
After a little route finding through the river crossings, and somehow skipping the 8 foot waterfall, we arrived at the Ebersbacher Ledges. We made our way up the obvious line/route and soon found the company of our companions (Harlan, Tiffany, Chad, and Brian) who headed up earlier in the day for a 2-day stay at Upper Boy Scout Lake.
We continued up the trail toward Lower Boy Scout Lake. On the way we saw beautiful birds and even a nice meadow. We met a nice lady who was summiting Whitney via the Mountaineer's Route (MR) for her 10th time! Her goal was to get to the summit the next day and sleep in the hut. She was an interesting lady. We hoped to see her the next day on our journey.
Upon arriving at the lake, we had lunch before descending back to camp around 1pm. We packed our day packs for the next day's journey, making sure we had warm gear, headlamps, helmets, emergency supplies and plenty of food. That evening we ate Beef Stew (c/o Mountain House) and learned that Beef Stew in combination with Carina's stomach leads to a very gassy evening (and not to mention, the dreadful next day)!