hmmmm...
My favorites: Rae Lakes, the top of each and every pass, marmotts, pikkas, deer, the rabbit that soothed my worries about being lost, nearly every lake, sunrises, sunsets, all the people I met, working through pain...and coming out on the other side, Vermillion.... the good vegetarian pasta the cook made me and the shower! In fact, people who work there are soooo nice! The look on people's faces when I answered where I started from! Every meadow. My tent. My down matt (I was actually warm for once in my life while backpacking!) The hike out of Muir Ranch next to the San Jauquine (sp?) river...gorgeous! The top of Whitney...even the trail from Trail Crest to the top(hard as it was on my lungs). Blue skies, gray skies, mountains for miles, being enclosed by mountains...and knowing the only way out...is up! oh...and the weight loss! I am half the woman...and hope to keep some of that off! Of course...running out of food and also not really ever consuming enough calories to replace the output may mean that those 15 lbs will be back. sigh. ooohhh...I really was struck by the fire damage near Red's Meadow. It was very stark, intense, and beautiful...all at once. I took some amazing...artistic photos there.

The rythmn of life...hike, rest/eat, hike, set up camp, eat, sleep, wake, pack up camp...hike.

My not so favorites: The descent from Muir Pass (beautiful to look at, but painful on the ankles!) The descent from Whitney...how many switchbacks was that? 97? Someone counted more than 100. I was woken up at Trail Camp by someone shouting about coffee while holding a french press...so weird following quiet mornings for days. Not so sure about hiking in hail...adventuresome...but cold. Could have skipped Muir Ranch...but glad for the resupply service. Bear canisters...yuck! But it made a great laundry basin! The solar recharger...worthless...erased my music! Flies. They were super annoying in a few spots...but not so bad given what mosquitoes could have been like in a non-drought year.