In short, this was a cold, cold evening. Joel and I lasted until approximately 2am, neither of us having slept a wink when we finally decided that the full moon would give us more than adequate light (in conjunction with our headlamps) to make it down the tourist trail. After this decision was made, we wasted no time packing our gear and setting out of the summit hut at 2:07am. I remembered at this point to sign the summit register, which was coated in a thick layer of frost like a neglected ice cream carton in the back of the freezer. Neither of us had a thermometer but it is safe to say it was well below freezing. Once we were moving we could hardly feel it though. We were dressed warmly and in wicking materials which kept us dry from sweat. The only thing weighing upon us during the hike down was our eyelids, and for Joel, a bit of a headache from the elevation. We had just spent 6 hours or so at 14,497 feet while tired, dehydrated and a bit hungry so it wasn't surprising. Still, the hike did at times seem endless. One reason the trail is 10.5 miles is that the switchbacks are conservatively cut into the hillside, passing each other by only a few vertical feet each. On one slope, out of boredom, we counted well over 100 switchbacks. The scenery was pretty, which I noticed after the first of the morning light appeared, but mostly we wanted 3 things: a bathroom, breakfast, and sleep. Probably in that order too. Here is a type of conifer only seen in the eastern Sierra near the tree line (I forget the name) silhouetted against the eastern morning sky.

Location

Inyo National Forest → Whitney Zone

Photographer

John Hovell

Date taken

2009-08-09