Joe
I'm glad your leg is better. I was worried you'd get some nasty infection with a deep puncture like that.
You'll be amazed at the "view from the top" of the bowl.
Our first summit was straight up - the first "steep" pic on the post above. On our way up we thought, "we should try glissading back down this way"...it would have been our first glissade. After summiting, we walked back to the edge where we came up and almost had a heart attack at how steep it actually was. We ended up hiking down the ridge to the tree line and plunge stepped (to our knees at times) all the way back to the hut. The bowl is a tough hike in winter, but you have traction and stabilization with the right equipment...in summer conditions, not so much. I think I'd stick to the trail!
As for Whitney, I'm looking forward to next year.
Hope to see you on the trail soon!
