As if by magic, I've arrived at the valley floor. No need to bore you with the gory details of the GS. One note of interest to those who might actually be insane enough to try this route in the other direction: There's no water access while you're climbing that gnarly, endless set of switchbacks. Ya drinks what ya carries. That's it.

This scene caught my interest when I realized these two full-sized trees had been happily growing in the shallow layer of soil that accumulated over a slab of granite. How they got so tall before a big wind peeled them off like an old scab (sick!) is a mystery.