After about 5 hours of interrupted sleep, we hit the trail at 4:10 a.m. If you sleep in your vehicle at the trailhead be sure to bring earplugs and eyeshades. That place is like Grand Central Station with headlights, beaming flashlights, car doors slamming, and loud chattering, almost continuously all night long. But we were excited so weren't too upset. We stored our food in the easternmost bear locker and found there was plenty of room, although the locker stunk from all the trash stored in there. Yuck!
We didn't find such an early start to be a disadvantage at all. I was just as awake and alert as I've been on any other hike. We ate leftover lasagna for breakfast and washed it down with Starbucks Mocha Frappucinos!! It was chilly when we started -- maybe 50F -- and that is perfect hiking weather as far as I'm concerned. The sky was very dark and full of stars. There were other people starting around the same time as us but the trail wasn't too crowded at all. We reached the Lone Pine Lake sign after 1 hr. 20 mins. I think it was around Mirror Lake, 2 hrs. later, that we saw the pink/orange/yellow rising sun hitting the mountain. It was a beautiful sight! Above Mirror Lake to Trail Camp I found to be the most difficult part. All those steps built into the trail were really killing my legs. Next time, I guess I should do some stair stepping to really be ready for those steps.
We made it to Trail Camp in 3 hrs. 10 mins. Actually, *I* made it Trail Camp in 3 hrs. 10 mins. My boyfriend made it in just under 3 hrs. I was starving by then so sat down and ate some salami, crackers and cheese while my BF pumped water. It was 40-45F at Trail Camp. Not a cloud in the blue, blue sky and barely a breeze.
We left Trail Camp at 8:00 a.m. The water on the switchbacks was frozen so I guess it got really cold during the night. I did not find the switchbacks very troublesome at all, and after passing about 15 people, I made it to Trail Crest in 1 hr. 30 mins. I sat down for 5 mins. and ate my Mocha Clif Shot. Wow! I think that thing catapulted me from Trail Crest to the end of the Windows! I'd never tried any of those Goo things before but this was great.
I passed no one from Trail Crest to the peak, and only encountered a few people coming down. Last year I never noticed the dropoffs around the Windows so this year I paid particular attention. There is one spot that's about 5 feet wide where there's sharp dropoffs on both sides. It's about 30-40 feet long and I didn't find it particularly scary even though I tend to be afraid of heights.
I carried on to the summit and reached it at 11:00 a.m., 3 hours after leaving Trail Camp. My BF made it to the summit 1 hr. 15 mins. before me & waited for me (the darling!). He ran some of the trail, passing 29 people after leaving Trail Camp. He is an amateur competitive athlete so a mere mortal like me cannot hope to keep up with him. But I don't care. I want him to do his absolute best. Besides, I kinda like hiking alone. :-)
It was quite chilly on the peak, probably about 45F, very little wind and not a trace of clouds in the sky. By the time we left, I had my wool sweater, hat and gloves on. After 40 mins. of snacking, picture taking and chatting with other cheerful hikers on the peak, we headed down. By the time we reached the switchbacks, all the ice was melted. That's about the only place we encountered on the entire hike where your feet could get wet, assuming you don't fall off any of the boulders that cross the streams. :-) The weather held up very well and below Trail Camp it started getting somewhat warm.
We felt great for the first few hours but by the time we reached Mirror Lake we were pretty d@mn tired! The last few miles were killer!! We stopped for 20 mins. while I patched a hot spot with benzoin and duct tape (stoopid moleskin didn't stick!!) and got down to the Portal 5 hours after we left the peak. We were disappointed with our performance coming down but I guess we'd given it our all on the ascent. We headed straight for the Portal Store where I had a cheeseburger & fries and my BF had the chicken sandwich & fries. We washed it all down with 2 Bass Ales each. The cheeseburger was pretty good but the fries were really delish! My BF said the chicken sandwich was good too.....a real hunk of chicken that actually looked like real food!
A note on our gear/personal info: I am 45, my BF is 41. We both wore running shoes and don't regret it. Neither of us had any problem with altitude but it seemed lots of other people did. My pack was probably about 15 lbs. with water. I carried the 10 essentials including lightweight rain pants and a Gore-Tex jacket, a monocular, GPS, Swiss Army altimeter knife, walkie-talkie, notepad and pen, and my cell phone (never got service, Sprint s*cks!). My BF carried a Mountainsmith fanny pack, probably about 10 lbs. and he was quite sore from the belt after the hike.
Last year, as an overnighter, it took me 16 hours of actual hiking time to do the roundtrip hike. This year, as a dayhike, it took me 11 hours, and I shaved 4 hours off my time from the trailhead to the peak. So, am I proud? He|| YES!! How did I do it? Beats me! Maybe it was the Clif Shot. Or maybe it was the Gingko Biloba which I'd never used before but certainly will in the future. Whatever it was, I am very, very pleased.
Please excuse the length of this post. I sure hope someone benefits from the information and I sure hope someone is encouraged.....especially you women out there. I'm not an Amazon. I'm just an ordinary hiking type o' chick. With a little preparation and training, anyone can do it. Am looking forward to doing even better on it next year.
Best of luck & see you on the mountain!
