If you didn't read my trip report from Oct. 7th; my partner and I were trudging through a foot or more of fresh snow and having trouble finding the trail. It took us 5 hours just to reach Trailside Meadows, and that's where we decided to turn back.
When I read the weather report for the 14th, I knew we had to give it another shot, and my partner from our Oct. 7th trip, Annette, was excited to try again too. We left the portal at 3:20 A.M. and within 10 minutes we were shedding our jackets, and not much later, our gloves as well. It was warm enough that we didn't have to wear a wool beanie or hat. We used headlamps, although it was easy to see, with the full moon.
We reached Outpost Camp at 5:30 and easily crossed the creek. The week prior, the creek was partially frozen, and the snow covered the rocks where you cross, so it had made the crossing difficult.
We reached Trailside Meadows 2 hours sooner than the week before. It's amazing what a week of warm weather will do; almost all of the snow at Trailside Meadows was melted, and we easily found the trail leading up to Trail Camp that had eluded us the week before.
At Trail Camp, it was difficult to find the switchbacks, so we followed a guy up through the snow, and found the switchbacks that way. Some areas of the switchbacks were bone dry. I was concerned about what the conditions would be like at the cables, but just using poles, it was a piece of cake. After the cables, some of the switchbacks had a LOT of snow on them, and the poles really came in handy.
I was happy to reach Trail Crest, after the neverending switchbacks. The view west was unbelievably beautiful, however, the hike from Trail Crest to the summit seemed like an eternity!! I don't know what the temperature was, but I got so hot, I had to take off my Hot Chili fleece top, and was wearing just my base layer to the summit.
We reached the summit at 11:50, signed in, took photos, and enjoyed the awesome views. The skies were clear blue with cirrus clouds, and just a hint of a breeze. A perfect day!! We stayed 1/2 hour, and started back down.
The switchbacks had turned slushy/slippery, and I put on my microspikes, and Annette used her crampons. There were some guys ahead of us that were having a tough time without microspikes or crampons, so I was thankful that I had bought the m.s. from the portal store the week before. (thank-you Doug!) We reached Trail Camp around 3:27.
We filtered water, rested, and changed socks near Trailside Meadows, and reached the Lone Pine Creek log crossing around 5:50. (It was so nice to cross those logs without a foot of snow on them, and not slip and fall in, like I did the week before.)
We arrived at the portal at 6:50 P.M. Long day! Annette drove home, and I crashed in the back of my 4runner around 8:00. The next morning, after a hot shower and a great breakfast at the portal store, I headed home. I'll post some photos in a few days.
Many thanks to all here on the message board for their helpful comments/suggestions, and also to Doug at the portal store for his words of wisdom.
Jean
