Today was surprisingly easy - After another record breaking cold night (don’t worry, I do get some sleep at those nights), we got up and took our time again, waiting for the sun to warm us a bit. My shoes were frozen. Not figuratively. But literally rock solid, cold as ice, frozen. That’s what you get when you put wet shoes outside, in freezing temperatures. I postponed putting them on until the last minute, and even then, it was a pain. Yair had to wrestle with his, in order to get his foot inside. I recalled how it took me hours to thaw my shoes back on the AT, and wasn’t looking forward to the cold feet day. What I didn’t take into account was how warm it is now, compared to the cold days I had back then on the AT. My shoes thawed within an hour, and I was happy again.

We woke up at around 6:00, and already every one else were gone. Almost every body on the camp ground were heading up to mount Whitney, and they wanted an early start. Because of the cold, we had a bit if a late start ourselves, since we waited for the sun to rise over the enclosing cliffs, and warm us a bit. Idan’s foot was hurting, but he was hiking like a pro, and leaving us both behind on the climbs. It was really impressive.

A day that started great, and ended not so good.

Last night, Yair analyzed my cold nights problem, suggesting that maybe it’s because I have a short sleeping pad, and a quilt. The bit where my quilt gets off the pad is open underneath, and the heat escapes from inside.

After another chilly night (hang on tight, it’s going to be that way for several weeks now) we got up and started packing our stuff. Happy Pants was already gone. After worrying about water so much last evening, Yair and Idan decided they had enough water on them, and didn’t go down to find the stream and get more water. I had plenty on me anyway.