We just returned from a 7 day trip in the eastern Sierra this past Friday evening, my first longer trip in several years (since my discovery of BPL). I'm older and less fit now, but at least that was somewhat mitigated by the lighter weight of my pack these days. I weighed my pack on returning (minus water) and it was approx 19 lbs (a bit of leftover food, and a number of extra items for plantar fasciitis or to try out). I'm guessing my base weight was more like 16 pounds. So I am nowhere near UL, but much lighter than years ago.
I'd spent the week before the backpack trip in Mammoth Lakes, dayhiking with a group of retirees (aged 52-90) that I hike with weekly in the Bay Area. Once a year, they come to the eastern Sierra for a week and dayhike. These people inspire me – they have amazing collective experience in the mountains, and are just really fun folks! Here's a picture of the 90-year old Rudy (center) and Marion on the right (83) at the end of the first day's hike. They took a shorter route than some of us, "only" 5 miles/1000 ft gain at 10,000 ft altitude – not bad for the first day up there at that age. I hope if and when I reach that age, I can remember my own name, let alone hike!
The day hikes at 9000 or 10000 ft altitude (8-10 miles, ~1500 ft gain) helped me get acclimated for the backpacking trip. At the end of the week my better half and a friend picked me up from the campground in Mammoth Lakes, and the three of us drove down to Pine Creek and started our trip. It was also useful to be up there that week to assess the Aspen fire and its potential effect on our trip; the beginning of the week was terribly smoky/hazy in the afternoons/evenings around 8000 ft, but I was able to see that conditions did improve and were even better in the high country and further south where we backpacked. A week earlier, we'd been worried the trip would have to be relocated due to smoke.
Looking back down towards the trailhead early on 
Day 1: We left the Pine Creek trailhead mid-day, climbing up to camp at Honeymoon Lake. The climb up was not easy for me, but we went pretty slowly so I was able to enjoy the incredible scenery. On the way up we met an older couple who recommended a lovely site at the far end of the lake – we ended up enjoying it so much that we returned to it at the end of the trip rather than try another spot at the lake. There were a few mosquitoes there (~10,400) but they didn't seem terribly interested in biting.
Evening view of Honeymoon Lake from our campsite 
Day 2: we went up the trail over Pine Creek pass and camped at Lake Elba – a really pretty lake. It froze that night, but we didn't feel the cold even though the Squall 2 stayed zipped open all night due to the lack of mosquitoes.
Day 3: we took the trail up to Star Lake, then went cross-country into Humphreys Basin, passing by lower Desolation Lake and ending up at lower Golden Trout Lake. It was colder still that night; my small squirt bottle for cleaning froze, but not larger containers such as water bottles.
Looking back towards Lake Elba and Moon Lakes 
Alpenglow on Mt. Humphreys, as seen from Upper Golden Trout Lake 
Fourth day: we followed the trail down Piute Canyon to Hutchinson Meadow, then up towards Merriam Lake, camping near a small tarn just below the lake. The surrounding peaks made it perhaps the loveliest campsite of the trip. I was extremely cold that night; I had to put on my Capilene bottoms and DriClime jacket in my Versalite bag in order to not be too chilly to sleep. But it warmed up very quickly once the sun started coming up.
Panorama of the peaks surrounding our Merriam campsite – this really doesn't do justice to how expansive and awe-inspiring this view was. 
Fifth day: we took a quick jaunt up to Merriam Lake, which was lovely – but we were happy that we'd camped in the slightly lower spot with better vistas. Then we went back down to the main trail and continued up over Pine Creek pass back to Honeymoon Lake. There we reclaimed our old campsite, took a brief swim in the lake and I felt inspired for the first time on the trip to take out my el cheapo Hong Kong "tenkara" rod. Previous nights I was either too tired, we had too much dinner already, or (at Upper Golden Trout) the sun was in the wrong place and I would've had to go get my hiking poles for a stream crossing to get to a better position.
The result (well, the prettiest one): 
Sixth day: we dayhiked up through Granite Park to Italy Pass. Passed by a Granite Park was some of the prettiest country we saw, with lovely meadows and tarns, lots of nice granite formations in the foreground, and scenic peaks in the background. We passed by an older fellow who was on his way from the Pine Creek trailhead over Italy pass that day with a full pack, over 5000 feet gain (he had done Shepherd Pass on a trip a couple of weeks ago and was still complaining of being tired from that one!). On our way down we encountered him again, just below the pass.
The pass itself was more barren but still beautiful. Looking down on Jumble Lake:
Day 7: We packed up, took a last glance at the view from our campsite, and headed back down to the car, encountering on the way another fellow probably 10+ years older than us who had driven down from Sacramento, was hiking up to Italy Pass (and presumably over), all the same day. Sigh. Sometimes it's hard to remember that backpacking is NOT a competitive sport; it's so easy to feel inferior to someone who is able to do so much more than myself! Luckily, the beauty around me quickly reminds me that it's about getting out and enjoying myself, not necessarily about how many miles or feet I do.
Another interesting sight on the way down, this couple was going up as we descended! (I wondered if the dogs got groomed every morning on the trail):
Overall, the Humphreys basin area looked pretty dry; I realized that the pictures we'd seen that drew us to choose this area were all done earlier in the season, or in a wetter year. But the beauty of the peaks ringing the large basin more than made up for any lack of greenery or wildflowers. And it was refreshing to not have to worry about mosquitoes, probably for the first time for me in the last 15 years or so!
This trip was an opportunity to get my plantar fasciitis-recovering feet back out there, to try out a few new pieces of equipment, and take a longer trip for the first time since retirement. I ended up deciding at the last moment to take my light boots rather than trail runners, and I think this was best for me; they fit better with less slippage, especially going downhill, so my footing felt more secure. I had alternated between the two during the preceding dayhike week, and my feet felt better after the days with boots. This may change over the long haul, and I still intend to dayhike around home with the runners. Happily, I found that the alternate insoles and night splint I brought for potential plantar fasciitis symptoms were not needeed.
Things I learned on this trip:
1) I will probably never achieve true UL weight in the Sierra, since I need so much warmth to be comfortable.
2) Down booties ALWAYS need to come to the Sierras with me.
3) I need to significantly reduce and organize my toiletries/emergency kit. It was too hard to find stuff, particularly to pull stuff out at night that needed to be protected from varmints.
4) I would have been a much happier camper had I brought my customary large squirt bottle for washing up. I brought a very tiny one, but since I did not swim as much as expected, the larger one would have been very useful for me. As it was, I often just wiped off with a bandanna dipped into the lake, which was not nearly as satisfying as a good wash and rinse away from the water.
5) If we return to that area, we will probably not take hard canisters, but use Ursacks. (Disclaimer: This is NOT a recommendation for anyone else!) We own a Bearvault 500, an old Garcia, and an Ursack, and took all 3 for this trip. The ranger told me when I picked up the permit that they recommend canisters, not for bears, but for the marmots. We never saw signs of bear, and our only invasion was through the top of the Ursack the first night by mice, who chewed through the plastic of a small bag of nuts. We'd forgotten to put the pot lid upside down in the top of the Ursack to keep them out, a trick that worked perfectly the rest of the trip (we know it worked because the second day there were mice droppings in the lid, but no signs of intrusion below that.)
6) The Vivobarefoot Ultra Pures I brought along to test as camp/stream crossing shoes worked really well, with good traction on wet mossy rocks. Though stream crossing shoes were never needed on this trip (some would argue never period), I'm glad I tested them in lakes (and they made getting in and out much easier on my feet than barefoot).
7) My NeoAir Xlite may not be long/warm enough for me; I was planning on selling my Xtherm to our friend who borrowed it for the trip, but after the coldest nights I was wishing I was using that one. It will go on my next trip instead of the Xlite.
8) The Thorlo hiking socks I brought (the ones I've used for years) were better for most things than the Wright socks I also brought, though the Wright socks felt good the very last day after my heels had been somewhat abraded on the climb up to Italy pass. So maybe future trips I will bring one pair of Wrights and two of the Thorlos (I brought two of each this time, not sure which I'd prefer).
9) For $10, the el cheapo "tenkara" performed OK for me, certainly better than expected.
