We met at the Gregory lot around 11:30am and headed up Gregory at a casual pace and soon bumped into Tim and then George who was not far behind as they were finishing up their final lap. We chatted for a while, almost talking them into a fourth lap, but they needed to get home unfortunately. Homie and I continued on and opted for Long Canyon since we had a bit of time and I was without Sierra. Long lived up to it's namesake as usual, but I was really enjoying it with the warm sun, fresh snow and the great company of Homie.
Headed to the summit via W. Ridge and made the summit in about 1:03 I think (not including the social stop), spent a few minutes on top, then, against the advice of GZ and FF, took a chance and headed down the front. It was snowy, but it was melting a bit and though caution was necessary, it was not too bad (especially with the gnarly traction the La Sportiva Crosslite 2.0s provide). Not surprisingly, it was a great day out and great to catch up with Homie as it had been a while. The achilles felt pretty good and though I was eager to push harder, I think it was helpful to continue to go easy on it.
Up: Gregory/Long/W. Ridge 1:03
Down: Greenman/Saddle/Amphi 24