Summited on Friday the 13th. Set up camp at Cottonwood Lakes TH on Thursday. Tore down camp at dusk and left because the other campers were so loud I couldn't sleep. Drove to Portal and slept in car around 8:30PM. Started hike at 3:00AM. Trail was in excellent condition, the ice was there at the cables but there was room using the rock steps next to the cables. Small uphill snow patch still there near the summit, but no prob. Mountain Forecast said low 30's wind chill so I lugged my warm winter jacket and gloves and beanie up there for nothing.. summit temps were so warm I didn't need gloves or fleece. Beautiful, clear cloudless day; watched a surprise B-day party with hats and a cake, we all sang.. then right after that a woman put on an inflatable T-Rex costume that was about 7 feet tall and we all took pictures with it. A very surreal day on the summit for Friday the 13th! On the way down the cables were oozing with ice flow, it had even reached the rock steps next to the cables, had to pick steps very carefully to get past it. Otherwise a perfect day, I set a personal record going up (7hrs 50min) and going down (4hrs 30 min) with almost 2 hrs on the summit. Zero AMS once again. All of those San Gorgonio trips really made a difference!
