A brief report on the successful day hike that my wife, 14 year old daughter, and I had yesterday. A beautiful day save the heavy smoke from some nearby fire that largely obscured the views from the summit.
We left the portal at 2:45 along with a group who had just had a backpack stolen by a hungry bear (recovered later and returned to the store). A good warning - portal bears are marauding so don't leave your gear unattended for a minute! Summited at 1:45, back to the portal at 8.
The snow patches on the trail have been discussed quite a bit. We found them to be an annoyance but not much more. Certainly the last patch near Trail Crest is intimidating, but very passable with care and nothing but boots and trekking poles.
It was the second summit for my wife and I, first for my daughter. We've never had altitude problems other than general fatigue and lightheadedness. Our regime has been to super hydrate for several days, take ginko biloba (no idea if this helps) and advil, and use a slow and steady pace with plenty of stops for food and water. We acclimate with hikes at Tioga Pass and June Lake on our way from the Bay Area, and stay in Lone Pine (Dow Villa) the night before and after.
One highlight was meeting a seven year old boy and his proud father after their successful summit. Way to go Tyler!
One comment - it was nauseating to see how many morons had left trash and used wag bags on the trail. I picked up two used and abandoned wags on the switchbacks. Would highly encourage responsible hikers to help keep the trail clean by picking up some of the trash left by these idiots.
