I started at 1:23 a.m. Tuesday morning. The original plan was to begin around 4-5 a.m., but after a restless night I decided to stop fighting it and just get up and go.
I reached the summit of Mt. Whitney in almost exactly the same time as last year-about 4 hours and 10 minutes. Like last year, day one felt smooth overall. I crossed Forester and Glen Passes and reached Woods Creek around 7:00 p.m. Wanting to maximize daylight, I continued climbing toward Pinchot Pass until about 8:30 p.m., where I took my first 1.5-hour nap.
My biggest lesson from last year was that sleep deprivation is powerful. This time, the goal was to listen to my body before hallucinations set in and take shorter, more efficient naps (Germans love efficiency).
After waking up, I tagged Pinchot Pass in the dark. I started getting sleepy again on the descent, so I took another 1-hour nap before climbing Mather Pass, reaching the summit in the early morning.
Just like last year, Muir Pass felt like a long, all day long, hot slog. Around Rae Lakes I also ran into a very cute bear hiking northbound. He clearly wasn't chasing an FKT, though - he slowed me down quite a bit before I could safely get around him.
At the base of Muir Pass I took another 1-hour nap before climbing toward Selden Pass. Similar to the previous night, I squeezed in another quick 30-minute nap just below the pass.
By sunset on day three I reached one of the lakes after Devil's Postpile. I had been nervous about night three because of the accumulated sleep deprivation, and for good reason. I was incredibly sleepy all night. Despite my hallucination friends, Rachel and Kevin, repeatedly encouraging me to lie down for a nap, I pushed through and reached the top of Donohue Pass right at sunrise. From there, my only goal was simple: don't lie down, just get to the finish.
I had several moments where I was nearly falling asleep while walking, but eventually reached the final high point at Sierra High Camp before the long descent into Yosemite Valley. I couldn't resist stopping for a quick dance party at the exact spot where, last year, I hallucinated, wandered off trail, and ended up taking a four-hour nap.
The descent into Yosemite Valley was brutally hot, temperatures were around 100°F. Moving quickly in the heat was incredibly challenging, but one unexpected benefit was having the usually crowded trails almost entirely to myself.
I reached the Happy Isles trailhead in 3 days, 16 hours, and 36 minutes.