Thanks to the Craigmeister (Number Four) for hiking with me on his day off from work
We started at 5:30, which would normally be early enough in late April, but it got toasty very quickly for this polar bear.
The rescue boxes at 2.5 K and 5.5 K have been completely stripped of water and emergency supplies
Among his many other attributes, Craig is a gentleman and left a quart of water at an undisclosed location for emergency use. I left several packets of salt at the same location.
When we reached Coffman's, a fellow was hiking down looking for his friends who had started at 4 AM. Turns out they headed uphill too soon before Coffman's and were above us in the Long Valley chute.
I treated Craig to a beer -- I've been wanting to do this since he took care of me following my PCT to tram adventure last November
Thanks to Sarge for taking us to our cars at the museum.
Microspikes aren't needed to go from the desert to the tram. I don't know the conditions from the tram to the summit. This Sat, the projected high for Palm Springs this Sat is 89 and low is 61. I recommend starting several hours before sunrise (4:30 AM) to beat the heat.
Miles of smiles,
Ellen
