WE MADE IT!!! well only to Reds Meadow but we got a shower and went up to the resort and got a cheeseburger for supper and bought some snacks for the next 6 days. The hike was mostly down hill today so not too bad. We made pretty good time. Left at 8am and got to Reds around 4:45p. The last couple of miles we just flew, both of us were craving a cheeseburger and a shower. The water for the showers are pumped in from hot springs...a little too hot for my liking, but using soap and being clean was well worth the scalding. 
We had the chance to hike through Devils Postpile on our way to Reds. Here's a little info that I got on Devils Postpile. "Fewer than 100,000 years ago, basalt lava erupted two miles upstream from today's postpile. The lava flowed into the valley and pooled to a depth of 400 feet. The mass of molten lava then began to cool uniformly from top to bottom. 
As it cooled and contracted, stresses built up in the basalt rock causing it to fracture. Each crack branched when it reached a length of about 10 inches, joining other cracks to form a pattern on the surface of the flow. Under ideal conditions, surface cracks deepened to create the vertical, hexagonal columns you see today.
Some 10,000 years ago a glacier flowed down the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River and overrode the Postpile formation. The moving ice quarried away one side of the postpile, exposing a sheer wall of columns 60 feet high. Evidence of the glacier - the polishing and scratches of glacial ice - remains atop the postpile." In my words, it's a awesome rock/lava formation and should be seen by the naked eye. Rainbow falls is also in this area, but Mugs and I decided that cheeseburgers/showers were more important then hiking another 2 miles to the falls. Plus after being on the trail for 6 days, we really don't smell the best.
As it cooled and contracted, stresses built up in the basalt rock causing it to fracture. Each crack branched when it reached a length of about 10 inches, joining other cracks to form a pattern on the surface of the flow. Under ideal conditions, surface cracks deepened to create the vertical, hexagonal columns you see today.
Some 10,000 years ago a glacier flowed down the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River and overrode the Postpile formation. The moving ice quarried away one side of the postpile, exposing a sheer wall of columns 60 feet high. Evidence of the glacier - the polishing and scratches of glacial ice - remains atop the postpile." In my words, it's a awesome rock/lava formation and should be seen by the naked eye. Rainbow falls is also in this area, but Mugs and I decided that cheeseburgers/showers were more important then hiking another 2 miles to the falls. Plus after being on the trail for 6 days, we really don't smell the best.
After looking at our itinerary, the rest of our days will be 10+ miles, but we are a day ahead of schedule. We are still shooting for lake Edison, VVR, for Saturday with a layover day on Sunday, but Mugs and I talked about it and I think we are going to sleep in on sunday and do a short hike Sunday night. This way we will still have some extra time to play with and possibly take it easy or cut down on mileage by hiking an extra day. We have an extra day at the end if we need it (coming off Whitney on the 26th) but I still want to summit on the 25th. Of course I'm also the one who wants to push it and try to get done on the 24th but logically thinking that won;t happen because after 10-12 hours of hiking my feet hurt and I'm also not the fastest hiker.
Pictures:
1: Garnet Lake with Mt. Banner in background
2: Devils Postpile
3: More of Devils Postpile in black and white
4: Bad Mugsy!
mileage: 13.4/58.7
elevation: 9680 ft to 7715 ft +0/ - 1970 ft
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