wb, Amen to that stupid beach sand - I despise it! Takes twice the energy to hike in that stuff. At times I wished I had snowshoes. After two days of that crap I bought gaiters in Lone Pine just to keep the sand outta my boots. Seems to be more of it in the Sierra than anywhere else I've hiked around the country ('cept Death Valley - lot of it there too in the alluvial fans). The Rockies are not nearly as bad, and the Cascades are virtually free of it.
Re those switchbacks: On the way down from the pass I came across a couple on horseback working their way up. I was astounded since there are some pretty tight turns near the pass, but Horseshoe Meadow seems to be an equestrian hangout so I suppose they knew what they were doing. I was tempted to hang around and see how their descent went - I just couldn't picture it. If they were smart, they just looped around the Lakes trail back to the parking lot.
