Driving up Monday, September 12. Snow on Mt. Gibbs from the Tioga Road. (I got rain that evening at the Onion Valley ... plus reports of snow from hikers coming out.)

Day 1 - Tuesday, September 13. A still-clean-shaven me shot by two ladies at the trailhead. (Don't worry: this is the only picture of me on this trip.)

Up I go. The Subaru is at the lower left.

Pinus balfouriana ssp. austrina. Foxtail pines were common lower down.

Gilbert Lake and the crest above.

Penstemon newberryi.

Aquilegia formosa (with Monardella behind).

Heart Lake (of course). Seems to be the year for Heart Lakes.

Rounding Big Pothole Lake. Leftover dusting of snow above.

At Kearsarge Pass. This tower of rock cubes was just south.

Heading down: Bullfrog Lake and Mt. Bago.

Getting close to the Kearsarge Lakes.

Camp on the 3rd Kearsarge Lake.

The third Kearsarge Lake. The Kearsarge Pinnacles rise directly from it. That's the flank of University Peak at the left. Camp is at the near left, up the hill.

Underwater granite slabs.

Low clouds started coming in around 5. By 5:30 most everything below (and above) the lake was gone. Rain began about 7 and went to 9.

Day 2 - Wednesday, September 14. A bright, blue, and frosty morning.

Bullfrog Lake with East Vidette looming below.

On the JMT: the view up Bubbs Creek,past East Vidette, and toward Center Mountain.

Charlotte Dome and the meadow just below Charlotte Lake.

Above Charlotte Lake, the JMT enters a rocky canyon. This is the lower tarn on that south-side approach to Glen Pass, with its unstable-looking wall.

A view of the tarn from above.

Erigeron sp. and heather near the stream that comes down from the pass.

Erysimum capitatum (Sierra Wallflower) in nearby rocks

Most of the trail was steep and rocky.