15.6 miles R/T
3150 ft elevation gain
4.5 hours up, and 4.5 hours down. What’s that all about? Probably mostly due to all the clambering over rocks.

Prediction for the day was rain and probably thunderstorms at 3:30. Made it to the trailhead at 9 am. Our initial plan was to climb Mt Phelps and turn around when the weather turned. But at the turn off to Phelps the weather was overcast, without rain or wind, so we decided to keep going at least as far as Indian Falls. Then, onwards from there when the weather held.

We pressed on towards Marcy. Stewards within an hour of the summit told us the t-storms were no longer called for. The ‘mountain goats’ and Uncle Rich were at the peak by 1 PM: Windy, foggy, no more than 60 degrees. The ‘steady’ group came a half-hour later. The steward at the top told us there would be 50 people up that day. (500 / day on nice summer days!)