Sorry its taken me a while to get back. As for gear: The footprints we followed through the snow patches were no deeper than a few inches. We only put on gaiters when we decided to glissade down because our pants alone were more than capable of blocking a little snow from getting in our boots. If you intend to go back down the switchbacks I say leave the crampons and gaitors at home. We did have microspikes, and by the time we put them on for the glissade, the snow was so slushy that they didn't do anything. I feel more confident on hard snow, and was glad that we passed the snow fields while they were still firm (7:00am-ish), but still didn't feel the need to put on the microspikes.

Our packs weighed in at around 22.4 lbs. That included ice-axe, trekking poles, microspikes, helmet, 3 liters of water, rain jacket, rain pants, a patagonia nano-puff jacket, extra socks, steri-pen, first-aid kit, GPS, extra t-shirt, wag-bag, and food. Our packs weighed 4 and 5 pounds empty respectively. These are the Gregory pack we're taking to kili which is why they are heavier than your average day pack. I'ld say its pretty easy to drop that weight to 14lbs and still be safe for a day hike where you know you'll be using the switchbacks up and down.

As for finding the trail. Its pretty straight forward, but I can see how its easy to miss a switchback in the dark. Just remember that the trail is very well maintained, and if you feel like your making your own trail then you probably are. We had a GPS with the points pre-loaded, and it was nice to have the reassuring 'beep' whenever we hit a waypoint. We had to stop and figure out were the trail went during the switchbacks above mirror lake, and then again for the start of the switchbacks above trailside meadow. This was due to a couple of snowpatches and slabs of granite that interrupted the dirt tail.

As for the AMS and dehydration. I appreciate the input. Dehydration was my first bet because I couldn't keep water in my system. Normally I'm not one who needs to take a leak that often, but I could not, for the life of me, keep water from going right through me. To quote my wife, "I think you've peed more today than in the 3 years we've been married". I'm not sure if its a result of lower pressure, but I wasn't drinking any more frequently than I do on hikes in San Diego. Fortunately I pick up my prescription of Diamox for Kili next week. Hopefully that will sort out whatever the problem is.

Thanks,
Scott