Camp Schurman

Hit the trail 4/5/12 from White River Campground at 4:30pm W/ tent and sleeping bag. Made it to Glacier Basin campsite at 6:20. On the way to Glacier Basin I encountered snow about 2 miles in. I set the tent up on snow along with 8 or 9 other campers. Very nice night with large moon radiating light onto the mountain. 4/6/12 woke-up around 5:00am, orgainized and started hiking at 6:00am. Stopped for coffee drink and a bite after an hour of hiking. Absolutely a righteous morning. Continued hiking up to the 7000ft level when I heard someone calling my name. It was Tina who couldn't camp the night before but managed to leave from home early, early and busted a move to catch-up. We continued the march up to Camp Schurman as the temperature increased. Snow was still hard enough to walk on and crampons were very beneficial. At Camp Curtis lunch was needed. By 11:15am we were at Schurman. I counted 16 tents set-up. Looking up towards the summit you could see almost one long line of climbers descending the mountain. It was a perfect day. An hour later we began the descent. Now, the snow was getting a bit soft and we were happy to have gotten an early start. On the way down there were numerous hiking parties heading up. Even though the snow was soft we were able to slide down the steep portions which was very fun even though I accidently did a couple 360's and few roll-overs. Later on I overhead some people talking about some crazy sap rolling down the mountain. I could only grin. Finally, made it to the tent, packed-up and hiked the 3.1 miles and got back to the car about 4:30 and drank a cold one. This hike is approximately 10 miles and 5000 ft. of gain. Most people agree it is tougher than Camp Mier.