First I would like to thank you all for the tips and advice.My son and I left the portals at 1:30 am Aug 6.Started slow but steady,saw no one else for about an hour,while my son(23) was tying a loose shoe lace we were passed by an older man with duct tape on his laces,said we should do the same. Later we met this guy twice and helped him find the trail,hard to see in places in the dark even with good headlamps.My son did not train much for this hike and it showed.We had to take many breaks. Sorry to the people in the tent that I was standing next to in the dark,talking kinda loud,didnt see it and woke them I think. Made it to trail camp around 7,took another long break, filtered water from the rocks near the trail and marked this on the GPS for return trip. Shortly into the switchbacks my son was hurting and thought about stopping. Since he was not sick I told him he could wait at trail camp and I would go on,but he pulled it together and kept going,really slow though.I had heard the switchers were tough but you don't know til you try them,pretty brutal.Took 2 hours to get up them. Amazing views at this point gave us a boost. Saw some guys from F/S working on trail,now thats a tough job. Finally made the summit at 11:30.Words can't describe how I felt,didnt cry though, well maybe almost sorta. After taking pics and made a couple of phone calls we headed down. Right away my son didnt feel well,headache,nausea and no energy.I had to keep him moving.About 3/4 way down switches he was done and stopped,I think the wag bag incident he had did him in. After about 20 minutes he got going again and we stopped at t/c for more water,the spring where we got water on the way up was dry so we pushed on and got water later, still had plenty. At trail side meadow, we stopped, soaked our feet and changed socks. It felt great. Headed down the trail, finally reaching the portals at 8:12pm. Tired but exhilerated. Went back to our sight at Portal Campgrounds, made sandwiches and conked out. Woke up the next day sore, and had the world's biggest pancake at WP store. Thanks to everyone for all your advice and help. See you up there next year.....
