Did I mention it was cold? The forecast for the Whitney Zone dropped from daily highs in the 60s to daily highs in the 30s over the week preceding our trip. Joel, however, packed a week early since his gear lives at Turtle's apartment in Salt Lake City and he flew to L.A. a week before the trip. This is at 10:30 in the morning in bright sunshine. We decided because of the cold and because we were still acclimating we wouldn't climb this day, but instead go on a Class 3 scramble to the top of Mt. Russell, another 14,000+ foot peak directly north of Mt. Whitney.