Whatever happened to setting realistic turn around times? Summit fever, not trail conditions, is the culprit here.
If you start at midnight and still can't return to the trailhead by sunset, then you don't belong on the mountain. Undertrained eager beavers will invent ways to die in the backcountry.
Not only is this an incredibly insensitive post, it doesn't even make sense. If you start at midnight (as thousand do each year), you're already hiking in the dark for five or six hours. Imagine, if you can, that your family were grieving and read a post like this.
And for the last time, the SAR team recognized this area of the trail needed improvement, and stated doing it on their own. Inyo has recognized this area of the trail needs improvement and intends to do more. If you think adding rocks to a trail where deaths have occurred is a violation the Wilderness Act, then sue. Good luck.
Peace out.
