Mt. Whitney from Cottonwood Lakes

“Well, the rangers advised me to scrap my plans for the loop I had planned: Cottonwood Lakes, New Army Pass, Soldier Lakes, Siberian Pass, Big Whitney Meadow, Rocky Basin Lakes, Cottonwood Pass, Horseshoe Meadows.

I am now doing Cottonwood Lakes, New Army Pass, Mt. Whitney!

Any tips from you High Sierra veterans on where to camp along the way? Where is there reliable water? Details and suggestions? Thanks for your help.

John”

“Haven't been in a few years. Went x-country from NAP to Upper Soldier Lake and camped. Second night at Guitar Lake. Seemed to be lots of water. Consider Kearsarge Pass to Whitney.”

“We did Cottonwood Pass to Chicken Spring Lake rather than Cottonwood Lakes and New Army Pass.

Then:

Upper Rock Creek Lake
Guyot Creek
Crabtree
Guitar Lake (upper lake)
Trail Camp

All had water. You could cut a day out of that if you needed to.

Great hike as far as I am concerned.

Kearsarge Pass to Mt. Whitney is more spectacular, but harder and longer. Includes Forester Pass.”

“Edoc and Phil,

Thanks for your input.

I plan to take the Cottonwood Lakes trailhead through the Cottonwood Lakes area (I have backpacked into there before and dayhiked to all of the dozen lakes in the past), then over New Army Pass. Depending upon how I am feeling, I may stop at Long Lake at the foot of the pass or continue on to Soldier Lakes.

I'll follow the trail along Rock Creek, then head north. According to the map and "South Sierra" guide book, the only water on this stretch would be at Guyot Creek until Crabtree Meadow. I am worried about the water since it has been such a dry winter/spring/summer. I guess Crabtree Meadow is the next camp stop to shoot for...or maybe Timberline Lake or Guitar Lake? Not sure about the water. Guess I better call the ranger station again and quiz them.

It looks very dry from Guitar Lake to the summit and also dry on the way out to the portal. Concerned about that. Do I have to carry a couple gallons of water with me up to Trail Crest?

I was referred to a shuttle service guy by the ranger station and called him. He charges $80 for a ride from the portal to Cottonwood Lakes! Do you think it is worth it or should I just hitch for a ride back?

Thanks for your suggestions.

John”

“I think 4 liters to get from Upper Guitar Lake to Trail Camp. I am assuming there is water at Trail Camp.

I am not knowledgeable about shuttles...always did our own shuttles. Sorry.”

“I'd take 2 liters but I don't drink much. There is water in lakes (pretty obvious, DUH), not much snow laying around. I'd hitch unless I was on a
schedule. Consider a basecamp with dayhikes”

“Gem and I were there a couple years (has it been that long?) I'd love to go back to Cottonwood Lakes and hang out and fish for a day or two. You can get golden trout there.”

“I don't if this helps, but here is a route I once did in that area, but we started at Cottonwood Lakes. Seems like the first few days are what you are talking about.

Cottonwood pack station to Symmes Creek

Sat: depart Cottonwood roadhead and proceed up Cottonwood Creek past Golden Trout Camp to South Fork Lakes area for camp (5 miles).

Sun: Ascend basin to New Army Pass for commanding view of Kern Basin and Trench as well as the Owens alley and Sierra Crest. Descent into Rock Creek basin past Rock Creek Lake, down the canyon to the 9600 ft elevation for camp (9.5 miles).

Mon: Ascend the north side of the canyon, cross Guyot Creek to the saddle below Mt. Guyot. Hike to Crabtree Meadow and up the creek to Crabtree lakes for camp (9 miles). Layover day here.

Wed: hike back down Crabtree Creek to the meadow and join John Muir Trail. Proceeding North to Wallace Creek and climb Wallace Creek valley to timberline campsite (9 miles) . Have layover day.

Fri: return to John Muir Trail and hike to Wright Creek hike up the creek to timberline for camp (6 miles).

Sat: cross country over the ridge dividing Wright and Tyndall Creeks until we meet the Shepard Pass Trail. Then proceed over Shepard Pass and descend to Anvil Camp (5 miles.

Sun: Descend the eastern Sierra escarpment to the Symmes Creek roadhead. (7 miles) .”

“Thanks to all of you for your great suggestions and information. I think I will be fine.

I called the ranger station again today on lunch break. He said there is a storm coming towards the mountains, so I better be prepared! How lovely. Don't most people fly off to a distant beach and lay there with a Corona all week? Ha.

He also said the shuttle price sounded high and he hears that from others. He suggested just hitching a ride. I think I'll just try to hitch for free. I am willing to pitch in some bucks for a ride from someone.

Thanks again for your help and tips.

John”

“Idaho Bob - very interesting itinerary...

I hiked from Wright Lakes Basin over the pass you were talking about (Rockwell Pass), over Shepherds Pass to the trailhead in one day...15 miles. Shepherd's Pass Trail in not too good in spots right now from what I understand.”

“That was a great 9 day hike for us (1969), but now I wonder why we didn't shoot up Whitney for a day hike? Now, 38 years later, I have digital copies of all the pictures taken on that trip, and am in email contact with most of the participants.”

“The 6-day backpack was really fun and nice to make all the decisions as I went along.

I actually got up there on that Saturday in 5 hours, much quicker than I expected, to pick up my permit, so I went ahead and started a day early at 3pm. I got about 5.5 miles up to Lake 2 of the Cottonwood Lakes area before the sun went down.

The 2nd day, I went smoked over New Army Pass and down into the Rock Creek watershed. I had heard that a storm was on the way, so I passed my planned 2nd night camping spot of Soldier Lakes and continued on to the Rock Creek last crossing where I found a great place to camp and had it to myself on the rushing creek. That was a 12-mile day. So I was way ahead of schedule at that point.

Then it was up another tough pass, Guyot, and down into the Crabtree Meadows area. I forged on to the upper Crabtree Meadow in the area of the ranger station. I had a fantastic camp spot above the meadow overlooking the meadow and Whitney Creek, plus a view of the mountain range I would be climbing up over. There were several sets of deer, plus marmots and birds of prey in this beautiful area.

Next, I got to Guitar Lake, the normal last camp with water before climbing up the mountain to attain the Mt. Whitney peak, but I got there at 11:30am, so decided to haul up some water and camp up there “somewhere”. Ha. Well, I got up there to Trail Crest and I was very fatigued and tired. With the help of some hikers coming down off Whitney, I located a couple of cleared off spots with rock walls that had been made for wind breaks right on the cliff. I bedded down there with views of nearby and distant ranges, just fantastic views. The wind was howling and it got down to 23 degrees per my gauge. Fortunately, the wind break saved me. I slept without the tent that night.

The next morning, I was the 2nd to summit and it was COLD with STRONG WINDS to say the least. The wind chill was way below zero, that is for sure. I didn’t spend a lot of time out on the peak, but huddled in the shelter there some of the time with others who were showing up to keep from freezing to death. J You could tell from the photo how cold it was. Then I headed down and bypassed Trail Camp and continued on to Outpost Camp, which is much lower. The next morning it was snowing and sleeting with heavy low fog. It was really pretty and exciting, actually. I met some very nice people there. Two guys as well as a couple were just finishing their John Muir Trail journey.

Four guys did my route and I hooked up with them to get a ride back to the original trailhead to pick up my Xterra. We hiked out the last 3.5 miles to the Portal together. We had the proverbial huge cheese burger and fries at the Portal store.

It was quite a trip. The nights progressed from low 30’s to low 20’s and days were not much over the low 50’s to below zero wind chill effect at the top. I am glad I pushed it so I did the peak and over the crest a day before the snow storm hit. I heard they had over a foot of snow on the mountain.

John”