Answering briefly:
Sonora Pass will be open and dry. Nice drive, quite scenic.
Altitude issues depend on your luck and acclimatization plan. How much time are you spending at altitude before you hike?
Two-way radios are line-of-sight. If one is waiting on the west side while the second is going to the summit, there will only be contact from the summit (maybe), and from the "windows", where you can see the Trail Camp area from the trail.
I think +@ti2d's "Saturday night special" is referring to one hiker coming down, and then alerting authorities that the other is missing. It is YOUR responsibility to be safe. If you separate, you are pretty much changing the plan to be two solo hikers. It is quite easy to never see each other again unless you make very concrete plans and decisions between the two of you. DO NOT leave a slower hiker behind on the way out!!! When someone is hiking slow, it is a symptom of worse things to come.
...adding more: I think the trail will be clear enough to hike without ice axe by mid May. (But that is only a guess.)
Last edited by Steve C; 04/23/12 11:54 AM.
