Very nice; I always appreciate people taking the time to share (I am terribly lazy about write-ups)
Do you remember any fragrance of the wildflowers? (I believe that the blue flowers are the legendary Sky Pilots known for only growing at high altitude)
I would definitely give it another shot over two days, because the onus will be off of the start times/tramping in the dark. I really enjoyed passing on the pre-dawn shlep with the headlight + I only felt irritated on the way down, rather than exhausted (I worried about some of the faces on the day hikers)
Tonight is "Super" Moon (30% extra big and bright) so I guess that a night tramp would be pretty fun under those circumstances.
Another local hike for you would be to do Warren Lake (from the Castle Peak PCT trailhead) It is a brutal 15 mi round trip that has hideous amounts of altitude loss and gain (I accidentally found out about it when I ran into a guy training for Whitney, and he suggested it)
I am fortunate to not suffer the appetite problems that some have at altitude, but I do forget to eat and start to fade before I realize it, so the eating once an hour is a great idea.
I am shocked reading about the lake and Trail Camp. Really? I guess people really do $hi+ where the eat (or drink in this case) Unbelievable to think that people would trash their water supply.
