Our trip began at White River Campground, headed counter-clockwise. It didn't get off to an auspicious beginning, as we had to ask where the trail was! Hit the trail just after 10:00 am. The first 2 miles were a gradual ascent, a good warm up for what was to come on later days. It was a beautiful morning - sunny, with temps in the 40s. There was still a fair amount of snow on the ground up around Sunrise - apparently, there had been whiteout conditions on Saturday! We weren't sorry we missed out on that. Got some closeup shots of one of the many marmots we would see on the trip. He didn't seem too bothered by us and posed in every position imaginable. The mountain was out and was RIGHT THERE, looming over us. We reached Granite Creek camp around 3:15. Nobody else ever showed up, so we had the place to ourselves. A good first day!