Badger Pass; Day Two

Woke up around 7am.  We both slept fine, the tent was on a clear patch so the pine needles and dirt kept the tent floor much warmer than if we were on snow.  Our sleeping bags are rated for 20 degrees and I put two bottles of hot water in mine, while Jim had two hand warmers in his.  Once up I had hot water going for oatmeal and Jim's backcountry pour over coffee.  The design of the coffee filter looked good on paper, but in practice we had to micro manage it so the paper supports used to keep the filter over the cup didn't break.  My feet felt like they were swimming in my boots, even with the laces as tight as I could get them.  I decided to try wearing both my day socks, and sleeping socks.  The extra socks took up the needed space and my feet felt much better.  I still put moleskin on both in an attempt to keep blisters from forming.

We only packed what we needed for day hiking since we were camping in the same spot tonight.  Bernd was heading to Camp 4 for the night so he decided to hike up the ridge further and enjoy the view for a few hours before he left.  

Mark, Jim, Bernd

We were at Washburn Point by 10:30, easy hiking since it was all downhill.  The viewing area had a large snow free patch so we stopped and enjoyed the view.

Mark

Jim adjusting his pack

We continued the decent to Glacier Point, reaching our lunch spot around noon.

Jim enjoying lunch at Glacier Point

One of the bathrooms was open for hikers so I took advantage of that!  Very nice of the Ranger to point that out when we picked up the permit.  As we hiked up the road we decided to summit Sentinel Dome.  The park service runs a cat up the service road to the base of the climb, so we just followed the trail.  I've hiked it in the summer and it can be challenging, but with the snow cover it made the walk up it very easy.  We didn't even put on snowshoes.  We reached the top around 1:45.  The 360 degree views were amazing, better than Glacier Point.  

Jim nearing the top of Sentinel Dome

After snacking on my lunch leftovers (crackers/hummus) we headed back to camp.  Once we left the groomed trail we wore snowshoes.  I saw Bernd's footprint over our snowshoes so I know he followed us out.  The hike back to camp seemed so easy compared to the hike on day one.  We had a few hours till dinner so I checked my phone and had service!  I sent some text photos to let everyone know I was having fun and even had a phone call with Sydney.  Things were going great.

Around 5:30 I heated up water for for our dinners and poured it into the canisters.  Then I started to make water but the sun was setting and wind was picking up.  At one point it blew my ground pad and I had to chase after it.  I decided to melt snow in the tent, protected from the wind.  After moving everything into the tent I noticed the wind had blown out the JetBoil flame.  I don't know how long it was out but I think for several minutes (maybe 10 minutes).  I had water for my breakfast shake, and dinner water was already complete, so I packed up everything and would melt water for breakfast.  

Strava stopped working when I took a photo of Jim near Glacier Point, it losses GPS and doesn't automatically connect when you take a photo and I forgot to open the app before putting my phone away.  So I missed a lot of the hike for the day.  We estimate the total miles at 7.5 for the day and elevation gain of 2,000.