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Fishing shirt? On a mountain?

Nice job. With the weather that blew in, what, about a week ago - ice warnings and delayed park opening - I'm surprised you got a nice day to summit.

People hike it all the time in the dark. If you camp at pine springs, you can watch them climbing up before dawn or down after dark, as you can see their head lamps zig zagging down the blackness of the mountain side. They go up to catch the sunrise or stay for sunset at the peak. It helps if you've hiked it before in daylight I suppose.

I've caught some weird weather in the park, including one hike where it was 34F and sleeting and freezing mist when I left the pine springs campground and when I broke through the cloud layer at about 7800 feet on my way to the peak it was sunny and in the mid to upper 50's at altitude. The first park of the hike I had ice formed on my hair. Near the top of the mountain I had to stop to remove most of my clothing including my long underwear layer because I was sweating myself out.

On the way back down I had to layer up again as below the clouds the temp stayed on the low 30's with ice on everything.

I've also been caught by a lightning storm coming down from the peak, and by a freak "blizzard" while camped that the campground overnight with high winds and 2" of snow.

11-9-24. Beautiful day; windy and a bit chilly on the summit. My fourth trip to the top (first in 1986), my daughter's first. Took us a total of 10 hours (including time on the summit) because the old man is slooooow.

MouthBQ98 said:

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People hike it all the time in the dark. If you camp at pine springs, you can watch them climbing up before dawn or down after dark, as you can see their head lamps zig zagging down the blackness of the mountain side. They go up to catch the sunrise or stay for sunset at the peak. It helps if you've hiked it before in daylight I suppose.

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Yeah, when we hiked it we started up before 8am, and maybe an hour in a dude was coming down. In flip flops. Apparently he had started up around 3 am to catch the sunrise at the summit.

Yeah, it's not a problem if you have some experience or are prepared. The couple I was referring to had a light jacket and no daypacks and the sun was not far from going behind the ridge. I doubt they had lights other than their phone, but maybe they did. Either way, for most people it isn't going to be an easy hike in the dark.

There was some slush in the forest part of the trail but no bad ice or anything that was hard to cross. Sounds like we got lucky in that regard.

Some of the leaves were still changing but not as many in McKittrick Canyon. Saw six deer at the grotto/Hunter Line Shack. They built it in the right location.

Too hot when we were there in June.

My son and I did it with his Trail Life troop in spring of '23. Started at 0200 to make the peak before sunrise. Wish I could post pics. The shadow cast by the monument stretches all the way out to the horizon.

I think it's easier in the dark because you can't see far enough ahead of you to get discouraged. And coming down is actually harder than going up. At least at my age.

It's a worthwhile hike that everyone should do. Just pack plenty of water and calories.

We camped in Whites City, NM just a few miles from Carlsbad Caverns. We were able to be at the highest point in Texas one day and the lowest point in New Mexico the next.

If you're feeling really adventurous, you can take the Old Guano Trail from the campground to the visitor center.

And the back of El Capitan as the sun comes up is quite the view.

Oh, and if you're c/o about '05 or earlier, trekking poles will save you a lot of grief on the descent. You're welcome.

We camped midway and summited pre-dawn. The hike at night is surreal.