10 miles of hiking • 2750' elevation gain •
Took some friends and Acorn Jr to McNeil Point. The ridge between the point and Bald Mt. was windy and chilly. Conditions were perfect atop the point, though. Went up the climbers trail to McNeil and took the established trail back. On the way back the party got separated and the remaining three of us unexpectedly came back to the trailhead and the other two were not there and had been ahead of us. We waited nearly an hour and I went back up the trail to find them, planning to go to the 5 way junction and then on around Bald Mt. Caught them on Bald Mt. and one had been stung numerous times while trying to relieve themselves above the trail! The remaining two of us went to retrieve her bag that had been dropped during the melee. The bag was swarming with ground wasps and I had to use a 10+ foot stick to retrieve it (done by retreating five times before pushing it down the hill to successfully avoid getting stung). An unexpectedly long day!
