Summary and Photos

Butterfly on Daisy off the side of the road.	DAY -3: Aug 28 (Sun) *Stanford --> Tioga Pass* NOTES: Josh, Paul, & I (we would meet Jenny later) traveled by car to Tioga Pass; we camped about 1 mile off road just east of pass
Seagull chasing bugs at Mono Lake (we stopped at Mono Lake on our way to Lone Pine).	DAY -2: Aug 29 (Mon) *Tioga Pass --> Lone Pine* NOTES: After dropping us off in Lone Pine, Josh dropped his car off at Whitney Portal and hitchhiked back to Lone Pine; we camped in park in Lone Pine.
Flower in Bishop.	DAY -1: Aug 30 (Tue) *Lone Pine --> Bishop --> Mammoth Lakes* NOTES: We traveled by buses, from Lone Pine to Bishop and Bishop to Mammoth Lakes ($5-9 each); we met up with Jenny in Mammoth Lakes, and made an impromptu food drop at Red’s Meadow (we would come through there after about 4-5 days of hiking); Jenny dropped her car off at a friend's house in Mammoth Lakes; we camped in Old Shady campground in Mammoth Lakes.
Josh and Paul cooling off in the Upper Lake near our campsite.	DAY 1: Aug 31 (Wed) *Mammoth Lakes --> Tuolomne --> Upper Lake about 600 ft below Donohue Pass* HIKED: 11.4 miles WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds NOTES:We got to Tuolomne by an early-morning YARTS bus, and started our hike from there. Heavy packs!
Josh and Paul playing Yahtzee at Marie Lakes.	DAY 2: Sept 1 (Thu) *Upper Lake --> Marie Lakes, NE of largest lake* HIKED: 6.4 miles (4.4 along JMT); hiked over Donohue Pass (11,056 ft) WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds/bit windy NOTES: I climbed a peak west of camp at Marie Lakes.
Thousand Island Lake with Mt. Ritter in background.	DAY 3: Sept 2 (Fri) *Marie Lakes --> Rosalie Lake* HIKED: 13.2 miles (11.2 along JMT); hiked over Island Pass (10,205 ft) WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds/bit windy NOTES: Josh and Paul caught a fish at Rosalie Lake and threw it back for good karma.
Rainbow Falls near Red’s Meadow.	DAY 4: Sept 3 (Sat) *Rosalie Lake --> Red Cones, just on south side of Crater Lake* HIKED: 15.5 miles (12.8 along JMT) WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds NOTES: We stopped at Red's Meadow store to pick up food drop #1; we took a side trip to Devil's Postpile and Rainbow Falls.
Cooking trout on the fire at Purple Lake.	DAY 5: Sept 4 (Sun) *Red Cones --> Purple Lake* HIKED: 10.8 miles WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds NOTES: Jenny hiked back to Red's Meadow to get a lost handkerchief and met up with us at Purple Lake; Josh and Steph climbed Red Cone Crater to the south of camp to see sunrise on Minarets; Jenny climbed Red Cone Crater on return trip; Josh and Paul caught 2 trout and cooked them on a fire.
Long exposure of the stars at our camp just south of Silver Pass.	DAY 6: Sept 5 (Mon) *Purple Lake --> Lake just south of Silver Pass* HIKED: 8.7 miles; hiked over Silver Pass (10,895 ft) WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds NOTES: I climbed up a ridge to southwest of camp.
Squirrel on trail.	DAY 7: Sept 6 (Tue) *Silver Pass --> on north side of Bear Creek about 0.1 mile down Bear Creek Trail* HIKED: 12.9 miles WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds
Our granite campsite at Marie Lakes. We stayed here 2 nights.	DAY 8: Sept 7 (Wed) *Bear Creek --> west side of Marie Lakes, near middle* HIKED: 6.5 miles WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds except some cirrus in east in afternoon/cold and windy night NOTES: I climbed the ridge to the east of camp and climbed the spire to the west of Mt. Senger; others explored also, although Jenny’s heel was hurting her so she took it easy.
Steph bouldering on our exploration day around Marie Lakes.	DAY 9: Sept 8 (Thu) *rest/explore day at Marie Lakes* HIKED: 0 miles WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds except some cumulus around sunset NOTES: Josh and I explored to the west of Marie Lake, scrambling up a prominent class 3-4 ridge system.
Our food resupply at the Muir Trail Ranch. Heavy packs again!	DAY 10: Sept 9 (Fri) *Marie Lakes --> east side of Piute Creek just off trail* HIKED: 11 miles (10.2 along JMT); hiked over Seldon Pass (10,880 ft) WEATHER: cumulus clouds/brief rain at ranch NOTES: We picked up our food drop at Muir Trail Ranch; also we bought some fuel and sent emails.
Big Dipper and tent in Evolution Lake basin. This was one of the first times we used the tent, since it was beginning to get colder at night. Click here to be directed to my webpage devoted to my night photography.	DAY 11: Sept 10 (Sat) *Piute Creek --> SW side of Evolution Lake* HIKED: 11 miles WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds except a few cirrus
Looking back from Muir Pass.	DAY 12: Sept 11 (Sun) *Evolution Lake --> unnamed lake 0.5 mile east along trail from Helen Lake, just after Muir Pass* HIKED: 7.8 miles; hiked over Muir Pass (11,955 ft) WEATHER: sunny but cool NOTES: I climbed Mt. Solomons (13,034ft) SW of Muir Pass.
Lunch break and bath time at a stream.	DAY 13: Sept 12 (Mon) *unnamed lake --> Deer Meadow* HIKED: 12 miles WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds
Evening light near our camp just south of Mather Pass.	DAY 14: Sept 13 (Tue) *Deer Meadow --> Lake east of Mather Pass* HIKED: 7.5 miles (7 along JMT); hiked over Mather Pass (12,100 ft) WEATHER: sunny/hot/cumulus clouds in adternoon NOTES: I explored around the lake in the evening; Josh and Paul caught 2 fish and cooked them on the stove.
Mile-long shadows on our climb of Split Mtn.	DAY 15: Sept 14 (Wed) *Lake after Mather Pass --> North end of Lake Marjorie* HIKED: 7.5 miles WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds NOTES: Josh and I did a morning climb of Split Mtn (14,058ft) east of Mather Pass (2h up, 1.5h down); I explored cool geologic area east of Lake Marjorie in the evening.
Sunrise colors at Lake Marjorie.	DAY 16: Sept 15 (Thu) *Lake Marjorie --> Dollar Lake* HIKED: 12.8 miles; hiked over Pinchot Pass (12,130 ft) WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds
Our camp at Bubbs Creek. The last time we would be low enough to have a fire.	DAY 17: Sept 16 (Fri) *Dollar Lake --> Bubbs Creek, about 1.5 miles from Road’s End junction* HIKED: 10.4 miles; hiked over Glen Pass (11,978 ft) WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds NOTES: Paul and I hiked 1 hour to Rae Lakes in the dark to see sunrise at 6:30am.
Forrester Pass.	DAY 18: Sept 17 (Sat) *Bubbs Creek --> Lake about 4.2 miles south of Forrester Pass, just off trail* HIKED: 10.3 miles; hiked over Forrester Pass (13,180 ft) WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds until some cirrus in evening to south
Looking towards Mt. Whitney, just before Guitar Lake.	DAY 19: Sept 18 (Sun) *Lake after Forrester Pass --> Guitar Lake just west of Mt. Whitney* HIKED: 12.7 miles WEATHER: sunny/hot/cirrus cloud build-up in west around sunset NOTES: A ranger told us a storm might hit the area within 36 hours, so we decided to do early morning moonlight climb of Mt. Whitney the next day.
The four of us on the summit of Whitney (from left to right: Jenny, Paul, Steph, Josh, (bear))..	DAY 20: Sept 19 (Mon) *Guitar Lake --> summit of Mt. Whitney (14,498ft) --> Consultation Lake east of Mt. Whitney* HIKED: 11 miles (5.5 along JMT); hiked over Trail Crest Pass (13,650 ft) WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds/cold on top of Whitney but not too windy NOTES: We all woke up at 2am to summit Whitney (14,498ft) in the moonlight and see sunrise from the top; we got to camp at around noon and relaxed for rest of the day
Morning snow at Consultation Lake. It was ironic to end in the cold and snow, since we had had warm sunny weather the entire hike.	DAY 21: Sept 20 (Tue) *Consultation Lake --> car at Whitney Portal* HIKED: 5.5 miles WEATHER: rain below 10,000ft, snow above/no sun/mild temperatures NOTES: We woke up to a snowstorm at 2:30am; hiked out at 7:30am; got to car at 10:30am; stopped for lunch at bakery in Bishop; got back to Stanford by 9pm.