Stunning hike on 9/7. Group of 12 (age range 39-53) from San Diego. All made it. 13 hours round trip for 4 of us. 14 hours round trip for the rest.

Details:
3 a.m. start.
Trail camp at 6:30 for sunrise.
Summit at 9:30.
Back down by 4 p.m.
We all weighed our packs: weight range of 14-17 lbs.
All of us were taking Diamox and Motrin. No AMS issues.
I ate about 2000 calories - Cliff Blocks, sports beans, Nuun electrolyte tabs, and 2 PB&Js. I did the Cliff Blocks with caffeine because I didn’t want to add a coffee-withdrawal headache to the day.


Weather was perfect. Tip from John at Elevation Sierra Adventure in Lone Pine - start only carrying 2 liters of water. This was a good call. Fill up as needed (either filter - Katadyn, or chlorine dioxide or iodine tabs). My friend’s 1L Katadyn filter was easier to use than my chlorine dioxide tabs. There is plenty of water up to Trail Camp and some on the switchbacks. I tend to drink a fair amount of water so I loaded up 4 liters at Trail Camp to get me to the summit and back to the camp.

There were several icy spots on the switchbacks on the way up, melted shortly after that. There was a small area of snow to get through near the summit. Not a problem.

Just a simply spectacular day.