That's good to know snacking bear. I've heard that before but until you try it you don't know the specifics of how to work the system. As much as I harp on the weather, I would rather experience Mt Whitney with snow on the ground then just plain old rock - at least from a photographic side : ) Even though it was icy in the morning and we need microspikes going up, by the time we were coming down all the ice was gone and most of the people we ran into coming up at that point did not have them on. Still makes me more comfortable knowing that I have them and may not need them - then needing them and not having them. 2 years ago when we went in October it was gushing water as we went up to trail camp, since we turned around and came down the next morning it was like walking on a solid ice cube all the way back to the car, I slipped 3 times, each time glad to have my big ass bag to break my fall. : )
