I day hiked the main trail for the 12th year in a row, leaving the Portal at 3:55 am, and reached the summit at 10:40. It was the 3rd day after the full moon, and 80% of the lower trail could be navigated without headlamp. The weather was beautiful and clear until mid-afternoon, but was reported to be cold and windy in the early morning, and clouds built up into the evening. I spent an hour and a half on the summit, and had gratitude on this trip for the summit outhouse (which is currently adequately walled on the side facing the top of the mountain…)
This year there is a cut through the perpetual July snow bank right below the summit, allowing you to remain entirely on the true trail (more gradual) for the final part of the trudge. In past Julys no one attacked the snow bank and almost everyone had to use a steeper shortcut. There is no other snow worth mentioning, and carrying poles or gloves exclusively for snow is not needed. The cable area is dry.
I had an 11” x 17” copy of Wayne Pyle’s switchback map with me. It’s a great work, and counting off the switchbacks with it made that part of the trail pass by more quickly. Unfortunately, I left Wayne’s peak list behind, but with binoculars I could see some of the colors on White Mtn. Peak, more than 70 miles away. I had my GPS turned on for the whole trip with a hat antenna, and my odometer reported mileages of 11.06 up, 10.99 down.
I counted 87 signatures in the peak register for July 4 (90% from the home state), and Monday was on a pace to total 80-85. Assuming a few don’t sign the register, and counting all of the permits issued from various trailheads, one can conclude that about half are reaching the summit. I conversed with several of the other day hikers who were taking from 7 to 11 hours for the up trip. There were an unusually large percentage of hikers of Asian descent, so I’m wondering if climbing a major mountain on a holiday has some cultural significance here.
Someone left one of the bear boxes in the hiker parking lot unlocked that morning, and the bears were appreciative, thank you. I was able to stash my stuff in an almost cleaned-out locker, but there was a big mess of shredded bags and backpacks on the ground for the camp host to clean up!
