I depart Cupertino 8.30pm, finally geting off work... at 3.30am I am in Lone Pine. I get to the cone that says I should not go any further - ROAD CLOSED - thinking back to November when I could have driven all the way to trailhead in my little 2WD Golf, I foolishly continue only to get stuck in snow couple hundred feet further. I am "an idiot of the day" - trying to get the car out until 4am (with the help of Kris who passes by in his Toyota 4WD). So I get 2 hours of sleep, am up at 6am, in daylight I dig out the car and wait for Bill and Steve to pick me up in their Jeep...
We drive to approx. 7300 ft which leaves 1000 ft of elevation to trailhead. Start at 8am, at 4pm I am below Iceberg Lake where I meet Jim and Dan - the mountain is kind of crowded, at Thanksgiving I was almost alone here. The weather is awesome, abundant sunshine - I expected much more wintery conditions!
On Sun morning, I start at 7.30am, I pass Bill and Steve in the gully - climbing is absolutely excellent, the snow is still hard. At the saddle I meet Kris and his friend - thanks for breaking the trail, guys! The part from the saddle to the summit is well snowed in, the snow is hard - great conditions, wonderfully steep towards the end - much easier climbing than in November when it was all rock...

At 10.30 I am at the summit hut - views, weather absolutely gorgeous!! This is beyong my imagination. I leave at 11.

I glissade down the MR gully, back at the tent around 12, back on the trail at 2pm. Everything goes fine, except for the Lone Pine Creek gully, snow is soft from the day long scorching sun and with the heavy pack I am postholing even with snowshoes on... At trailhead at 4, at the car at 6. I subsequently meet Steve and Bill in Lone Pine, they had similarly frustrating experience in the LPC gully. Back home at 0.30 - I soooo don't want to go back to work!!

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