Finally got around to high grading the last day of our hike. A little bit of a travelogue, but I tried to high grade it to the photos with more artistic merit, so please, C&C if you have any.

our route for the first half of the day- most people approach from the east, we came from the west, had an additional 300 feet to go compared to the people coming from Trail Camp, plus, we had to carry our full packs up to the ridge. Had a lot of fun going this way though. I think I'm missing a switchback, trail was hard to see from this angle.
1)


then we had to descend to trail camp, I kind of hate going down hill.

but first, along the ridge, first time the clouds cleared.
2)



close enough to see the summit hut
3)


Looking back along Whitney ridge (gravity defying lake on the right was where the day started
4)


5) 5 Days of backpacking and all I got was this photo? View from the summit


6) looking back southish, heading back to the trail junction


7) Clouds clear to the west a bit


8) I hate people sometimes. trail still life. after 3 nights sleeping above 11k, or rather, not sleeping, I was saddened to realize I had at least mild AMS, sleeping 3 hours a night, eating very little, carrying a full pack up to Whitney ridge, I got kinda sick on the summit, and I still managed to pack out my wag bag, but there were at least a dozen bags left along the ridge trail. wtf?



9) View from ~the middle of the 99 switchbacks on the eastern escarpment. Lake at the bottom is probably at about 12,200 feet. Whitney summit hut is a tiny little spec on the far skyline upper left.



10) Sky Pilot flowers, only thing growing in the talus.


11) Sunset at Trail camp. These clouds are why we didn't sleep on the summit, but they never came over the Sierra. Before I compressed this for sharing you could see a man's silhouette by the lake, getting water.


12) Storm was over Death Valley I think, or Saline valley,


13) Next morning in camp.

world's most adorable baby marmots needed a faster shutter speed





rest of the hike out was just merciless slog downhill to the trailhead, dusty conditions already ruled in the valley ahead of us, and no photos of the day really worth showing.

Ok, one shot from the last day, just to show what a 180 the weather took. Keeler needle is the point that looks the highest, Whitney is off to the right. I tried to do a star trail photo overnight, but I had two intervalometers fail on me :(
I need to try out Magic Lantern. It needs to live on the flash card in the camera, right? So I have to have it installled on every flash card I use?

I was fascinated by these. It looks like it was quite a trip. I particularly like the sixth one.

I am in awe of your trip - making the summit (and back down again) and still having the energy for beautiful photos. The annotated route on the first image really gave me a sense of your climb.

I think #3, 4, and 11 are my favorite shots. Love the sky pilot flowers and the marmots too. Thanks for sharing both your story and your photos.

--- Denise

Love.

Outstanding!

Now that looks like a lot of dedication to get the shots!

These are very nice. Thanks for sharing this trip. Beautiful... rock & cloud, sunsets..... a treeless world. Love them all, but #11 has great color.

Originally Posted by Cornflake I was fascinated by these. It looks like it was quite a trip. I particularly like the sixth one.

The 'low' clouds coming over the ridge were quite fascinating. We had rain all around us for 2-3 days, but never on us. It sprinkled enough once for me to put on my rain gear, but I guess my statistically outlying no-rain streak in the Sierras can be considered to continue.

Originally Posted by Andy

Originally Posted by denisegoldberg I am in awe of your trip - making the summit (and back down again) and still having the energy for beautiful photos. The annotated route on the first image really gave me a sense of your climb. I think #3, 4, and 11 are my favorite shots. Love the sky pilot flowers and the marmots too. Thanks for sharing both your story and your photos. --- Denise

thanks, for 11, I was glad to have a good view from near camp, I wasn't in the mood to wander far.

Originally Posted by anonymouscuban Love.

Originally Posted by dave6253 Outstanding!

Originally Posted by rwells Now that looks like a lot of dedication to get the shots!

dedication or insanity. We didn't see many people other than a group of boyscouts doing the reverse of our hike, until the last day. Everyone that passed me going up while I was going dow, while I had my 5d and 70-200 f/4 (not even the f/2.8) on my side, made some comment about carrying that gear. There was a guy with a 1dmIII and more gear than me though.

Originally Posted by bristlecone These are very nice. Thanks for sharing this trip. Beautiful... rock & cloud, sunsets..... a treeless world. Love them all, but #11 has great color.

thanks, can you see the man in 11? I think I need to post that with some rendering questions in the digital darkroom.

Very well documented and photographed, especially considering you were dealing with altitude sickness. Nice work

Love the moody images with the clouds!

Thanks for sharing your trip with us, it was most enjoyable to "see" this trip through your eye's. I think those marmots are very cute also.

#10 and #11 are my personal favorites...love the colors!

I did my "Death March" about 10 years ago. Nice series of photos!