Working my way over to Williamson I start to get really tired of talus hopping. This is ridiculous! The west face of Williamson is a giant scree slope and not fun at all. I settle in for a long bit of grunt work and it doesn't let up until the very top. The last 80 feet gets fun, then you emerge onto the summit plateau. Wow. I just stop and stare. Wow. I bet you could land an airplane up here! The last entry in the register is by Ruth, who writes in pencil only one word, "Wow!" I laugh. It's 1:25 p.m.

Going down is fast. I jump and run and skid and jump and before long am boulder-hopping north toward Shepherd Pass trail. A tent suddenly appears before me where there was none just a couple hours before. I'm feeling lonely having seen no one this entire trip so I stop for a short visit. The guys are from San Jose and cheer me up quite a bit. They are as surprised to see me as I am to see them.

I run a lot of the trail back to the car and arrive just before dark, 7:23 p.m., exactly 16 hours after I left. Paul has been busy. He's gotten me a Whitney Trail permit and a motel room in Lone Pine. I am really happy about the motel room even if I'll only be there six hours or so.

In my sleep Paul is saying "Wake up! The alarm didn't go off!" I wake up and glance at the clock. It blinks 3:05. "I know Paul, it's set for 3:30." "Oh." I pass out.

Up at 3:30 a.m., out the door at 3:38, at Whitney Portal trail at 3:53 and I'm hiking.

I must be really weird as this is my favorite part of the entire mountain tour. I like the people and the bits of conversation shared along the way. The Whitney Trail is pretty amazing. I passed at least 20 people in the first couple of hours who had started before 4 a.m. It's pretty much a party. (Kind of like the West Buttress of Denali if you've ever been there.) Anyway, I'm having a lot of fun and feel great after the motel room.

— Jack McBroom, MountainZone.com Contributor