Successful Summit II

11/6/20 The following week after my scouting trip, I did the full C2C just in time before the first snowstorm of the season. I had to start at 3:15am in order to make sure to be back in time for the tram down. 12 hours round trip including about 30min on top. 22 miles and 10,700' gain. What a day!

1 3:15am at the Art Museum. I stayed the night at a motel across the street and had an easy walk to the trailhead. It's already almost 75 degrees though!	2 I was worried about following the trail in the dark, but it wasn't too bad. The scouting trip the previous week definitely helped.	3 The Palm Springs skyline.	4 Sunrise just before 5:30am. I haven't seen anyone on the the trail yet.
5 Almost halfway.	6 The little blue dot is the top of the tram still a few thousand feet above.	7 A beautiful early morning. I'm starting to pass a few groups now that must have started much earlier than me. All but one were only headed to Long Valley though.	8 I had been down this part of the trail in the dark, but never up it. Definitely a different look this time of day.
9 Made it to Rescue Box #2.	10 Starting to get close to the ridge with the moon still visible above.	11 I always love this rock.	12 Made it to Long Valley in exactly 6 hours, about 30min faster than last week, and only about 30min slower than my best time.
13 Always nice up here. This would be under 6" of snow the following day!	14 A buck strikes a majestic pose for me.	15 Made it to the Hut.	16 Summitted! It was crowded and cold on top. Only two other groups did C2C today, and I was the only solo party. I stayed for about 30 minutes and then headed back down.
17 Always hard to believe you start waaayyy down there.	18 More deer on the way down.	19 View from the tram station as I wait for the one-way ride down and then an Uber back to the car. Almost exactly 12 hours for the full C2C, and probably a little over 11 hours of actual moving time. A big item successfully checked off my to-do list for the season!