Here are the pics. Ben also posted his.
The trip rocked overall . . . a great culmination to our summer of hiking. My worries about altitude sickness proved unfounded – as long as I took it easy it was not a factor. Also, I pooped in a bag – no different from any other time pooping in the woods. I laugh in the face of others (ahem . . . Ben, Melissa) who so feared the wag bag to the extent that they used Immodium for a non-FDA approved indication.
We drove down on Saturday with Mike and Michelle – and discovered we could tolerate six hours in the car with each other. I was blown away by the scenery of the Owens Valley, a huge part of California I had never experienced before. I’ll be pressuring Kristi and Eric for reasons to hang out in Bishop going forward. After picking up our permits and setting up camp at Whitney Portal, the group went to the Pizza Factory in Lone Pine for a great dinner. We left the next morning on the seven mile/3700ft climb to Trail Camp. I was feeling the altitude a bit and needed a nap, but was ready for dinner afterward. The temperature dropped a couple of hours before dark as the sun tucked behind the mountains, and we retreated to our tents a bit early because we really hadn’t brought the proper gear to be comfortable out in the open wind. I think it got down to about 25F or so that night, but our new tent and sleeping bags did great. The next morning I stuck with Mike and Michelle through the pleasant climb up 97 Switchbacks. The scenery was better on the other side of Trail Crest, but with the higher altitude the climb got tougher. After 4.5 miles or so, we finally reached the summit, enjoyed the view, took pictures, Mike puked, etc. The hike down was much easier than the way up. We returned to trail camp, drank some celebratory everclear, and powered through another cold night. We were up at 6:45 the next morning, reached the cars at the Portal by 11:45, and drove home.
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