Loaded the camper on to the back of the truck and headed north to the Portal EARLY on the 4th. Picked up the permits which took a little longer because their computers were down.
Got an email on the iPhone from Dave aka sefreet who went up on the 3rd. He said the snow and ice were no problem for him. He was in sneakers and used poles.
Filled up on diesel and propane in Lone Pine and still made the Portal just after 0900. Did a drive by on the campground which was full as I expected. All of the hiker lots were full as well. Parked in the day use lot and went to chat with Doug and order breakfast. When I got back to the truck 1/2 hour later the day use lot was full as well with cars circling trying to get a spot. Took a long nap after breakfast and when my brother rolled in around 4 we moved the truck/camper to the overflow hiker lot. Topped off the tummy with a store burger/fries. All in all it was a pretty mellow 4th of July - I did get to fly my new flag from the mount on the camper. No fireworks or gunshots that I heard.
Hit the trail just before 0300. I switched to my bigger daypack to have room for my fleece and to have a spot to hang my treking poles from (I wanted them in case I needed them in the snow/ice).
Made decent time up to trailcamp with a couple of breaks along the way. One small patch of snow before trail camp with two "lanes" in it. On the way down the snow had softened up enough that I postholed as fall as a man can posthole. Thought I would need a crane to get my big arse out.
Pretty much everyone we talked to was worried about the cables - I passed on what I had heard from Dave and we headed up to see for ourselves. When we reached the cables I couldn't see what the fuss was about. Now that I have seen Richard P's pic from the 3rd that changes my opinion - a little. On the 5th when we went past most of the snow was gone from the rocks nearest the cables. We walked on the rocks and held onto the cables.
Trailcrest was plenty cold and windy and I was glad I brought the fleece and gloves. Lots of folks in t shirts and shorts though. I left my long sleeve hiking shirt and pant legs on all day and for the 1st time I didn't sunburn.
There is a stretch of trail covered with snow just before Trailcrest but it wasn't much of a problem. A couple spots on the switchbacks snow is causing small "reroutes" of the trail. No big problem there either.
About 1/2 way to the summit from Trailcrest my sister in law started feeling ill. My brother started making plans to take her back down (he had stuff in the camper - I had stuff in the car, etc) - while we sorted that out she starting feeling better. The two of them actually hit the summit 5 minutes ahead of me. There is a patch of snow on the trail just before you make that "right" turn to head up to the hut - as mentioned in another TR, a slip here wouldn't be that bad. At the top the sickness reappeared (probably never left) so they quickly left. I signed in, took some pics, changed socks and broke out my pole. I figured since I carried them all this way I would use them some. They did make the snow/ice easier, but it wasn't too hard to begin with. Caught up with the group at Trailcrest and we headed down. Nothing to note of the downhill 1/2 except for the posthole to my..................
The trail is getting better every day. Many people had the strap on spikes (as seen in the Portal Store) but I think that is overkill. Saw one person with crampons. I also saw people with tennis shoes and no poles/ice axe/crampons. Each person knows their skill level and what they are comfortable with. My brother and I grew up in Iowa so we have walked on snow before.
If you want to carry crampons/ice axe etc - go for it. They don't weigh much anyways. Your milage may vary.....................................................DUG
