Took me 11 hours to climb this mountain! I started with 6 buddies. Some were slower (I was at the beginning), some were faster, so we got spread out over the hike. We weren't sure who would make it up, we weren't sure who would make it back down (over 6 hours for me to get back down)! We all did!!! I decided to concentrate on making it to the top, so I kept my camera stashed until the top. My first picture was...

The Sign-In Book at the Emergency Shelter at the top of the mountain


I felt even worse than I looked!


How'd you like to be the ones who spent 2 years to cut this Trail?


The valley we came up


Emergency Shelter.
See the rain coming toward us, better get started back down!


Yes, parts of the trail were just piled up slabs of granite


See the hiker?


They make it look like a casual stroll!


Trail Crest
From here, it's down behind the ridge,
and then a few hundred feet (vertically!) to the peak


Zoomed in on Trail Crest sign


See the trail? 97 of those switchbacks to get you down to the smaller lake!


Same pict, zoomed in on that lake...


Zoomed in some more... Yes, that yellow speck is someone's dome tent!


Scary ledge!


It's that yellow dome tent next to the lake!


The next morning, back on the flat stuff near town (Lone Pine).
Mt Whitney is that peak toward your left!


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