After a leisurely breakfast at Outpost Camp, the crew packed up for the last time and began the short hike - about 3 miles - to Whitney Portal, showers, and pizza.  I don't know what it is about hiking that makes pizza sounds soooooo good.  Anyway. I digress.  The trail is now mostly in the trees, and easy going compared to what we have been through.  The crew (Tom, Gary, Marshall, Kurt, Hal, and Paul.  JD manning the camera.) has a great view of Whitney Portal.  We can see the road leading up from Lone Pine, the desert beyond, and Whitney Portal parking lot where John's Tortoise... er, I mean Taurus is parked.

It was just after this photo was taken that Hal began his "awareness" experiment.  After six mind-numbing days on the trail, Hal wanted to see how many rocks he could pile up on Tom's pack before he realized something was up.  (editor's note: I suspect there was also some sort of MIT vs. Cal Tech superiority thing going on as well.)  Anyway I digress, several small rocks were deposited on Tom's pack frame as he made his way down mountain.  They promptly fell off, so larger rocks were used.  I think Hal was able to accumulate maybe 10 lbs. on top of Tom's pack before one large chunk fell off with a thump... the jig was up... experiment over... friendship ended... ice age begins.