I am extremely late on this trip report (sorry about that) but I wanted to still post as sort of a thank you to all of you on this board that helped make this trip a success.
My wife and I began our trip by flying to LAX and driving to Yosemite NP to start our acclimatization. We camped one night at Tuolumne Meadows, one night at Horseshoe Meadows near Lone Pine, then one night at Grandview Campground near Big Pine. Time between these places was spent driving, getting our permit, purchasing equipment we realized we needed, doing one warm-up hike to Lone Pine Lake and back, going to church (shout out to Calvary Chapel Bishop), and generally being tourists.
side note: we met a 7 year old named Tyler who became the youngest person on record to make it to the summit and back in one day. GO TYLER!
Sunday night we stayed another night at Horseshoe and struck out on the trail after a HUGE breakfast at Alabama Hills Cafe on Monday morning. We made it to Outpost Camp on Monday afternoon after about 6 hours of hiking, and my wife established a great system of taking 500 steps and then a short break and water. After a quick nap we whipped up some dinner and camped for the night.
Tuesday morning we began our journey to trail camp, arriving just after lunch. After another enjoyable nap, we awoke to some gnarly sunburns and it was HOT! (we also saw some marmots break into a tent by actually unzipping the door and ravaging the food that was left inside...bear canisters aren't just for bears!) An early bedtime, cool temperatures, and little wind made for a great nights sleep at trail camp.
Wednesday morning we rose at 5am to begin our summit day. I swear I counted more than 97 switchbacks, but either way it is downright cruel that the last 5 switchbacks are about 10 times longer than all the others! Keeping with our 500 step system, we trudged on. We encountered a few snow crossings near trail crest but no problems with only trekking poles. One last snow field, then we reached the summit at 10:50am and it was everything that I had hoped for and more!!! I could not believe the views of Sequoia NP! No headaches, no nausea, just the sheer joy of accomplishing a goal 6 years in the making!
Energized by our triumph, we ditched our 500 step system and headed down at a blistering pace, stopping only to stay well hydrated. We packed up at Trail Camp and decided to head on down to the car that day. We made it to the car before dark, but not without an accidental off-trail adventure that cost us a trekking pole and some significant discomfort in our feet.
A night at the Hostel and we seemed to have nothing but a couple of relaxing days in LA ahead of us. Well, a flat tire in the rental car, a few hours with no car and nowhere to stay, and a night sleeping in the airport kind of killed the relaxation idea. But we made it back to Atlanta on a 6am flight on 7/30.
What a trip!!! Thanks everybody!!!
