Questions on Kearsarge to Cottonwood

[Wandering Daisy]

Not very scenic at the Crabtree RS campground. Your pack should be light at this point so I would camp up by Guitar Lake (but not actually at the lake). If weather is poor, then Crabtree RS a good choice. Trail actually wades across creek below RS. The 7.5 map shows staying on the east side. I did that last year and wished I would have waded across. There really is NOT a trail on the east side. Crabtree Meadow was really swampy last year. The most used trail to Crabtree Lakes drops to the creek at about 10,900 and this is NOT shown on the map. I do not know if the old trail that stays high still is visible.

North of Forrester Pass I would not go higher than timberline (the "N" in CANYON on the 7.5 min map). Campsite in trees here if you jump across the creek.

Day 3 really long. But you have contingency built in with layover in Keweah Basin.

The trail drops to middle Crabtree Lake. You then have to go back up. Better to stay high and traverse the northeast shore on the 3500 contour.

[kpeter]

Not very scenic at the Crabtree RS campground. Your pack should be light at this point so I would camp up by Guitar Lake (but not actually at the lake). If weather is poor, then Crabtree RS a good choice. Trail actually wades across creek below RS. The 7.5 map shows staying on the east side. I did that last year and wished I would have waded across. There really is NOT a trail on the east side. Crabtree Meadow was really swampy last year. The most used trail to Crabtree Lakes drops to the creek at about 10,900 and this is NOT shown on the map. I do not know if the old trail that stays high still is visible.

North of Forrester Pass I would not go higher than timberline (the "N" in CANYON on the 7.5 min map). Campsite in trees here if you jump across the creek.

Day 3 really long. But you have contingency built in with layover in Keweah Basin.

The trail drops to middle Crabtree Lake. You then have to go back up. Better to stay high and traverse the northeast shore on the 3500 contour.

Thank you so much, WD, this is really helpful. Maybe on Day 3 I only make it to the Kern and not all the way to Junction Meadow, but that would probably be good enough to stay on schedule. I'm trying to preserve as much time in Kaweah Basin as I can. Anyway, that day it is all downhill after Forester on good trail, is it not? I lose 5000 feet that day, whew. How is the quality of the Tyndall Creek cutoff? Obviously the JMT and HST legs I'm not worried about.

Would you recommend camping at lower Crabtree or middle Crabtree on day 7? It sounds as if you recommend skirting around middle Crabtree--not sure if that also might mean that the camping there is not so good.

And in deference to just about all the advice above, I really will try to extend this to 11 days if at all possible. The longer the better, but I have real doubts about my ability to fit enough food.

[Wandering Daisy]

Camping at middle Crabtree is fine, just no trees. OK if weather not very windy or stormy. There is a sandy beach at the end of the trail where it drops down. Both lakes are very scenic. There also is a lot of nice camping on the bench at 3500 along the inlet stream (two small ponds) before it drops to the middle lake. Not a lot of flat ground at the middle lake. Wonderful meadows with great views on the bench above. It gets quite rocky as you go upstream to the upper lake. Kind of cliffy too. I will try to look up a few photos to post of these campsites. Camps at Lower Crabtree are back in timber so you do not get direct views of the lake. But it is just a short walk to the shoreline where you get a nice view.

Not to discourage you, but the route up to the lower Picket Lake is not easy. There are several routes. One is described in Arnot's book. I actually stayed on the trail and crossed the Kern Keweah at 9655, then headed up almost due south, hitting the shoulder northwest of the lake about 60 feet above and dropping to the lake. The map does a poor job of shown the complexity of the route - it is interconneced ledges and slabs. All a bit exposed. I have never tried Aront's route. You may want to read other's approach for the meet-up we had up there. Any rate, IF you decide NOT to go up there, you could gain a day and from Wallace Creek, do a long day-hike up to Wallace and Wales Lake, or even backpack up there. I think Wales Lake is fantastic; Wallace Lake is also scenic with good fishing. There is a somewhat hard-to-find use-trail up to Wallace Lake. But it is a fair distance.

There is really little reason to drop to Junction Meadow unless you are absolutely committed to going up to Keweah Basin. Otherwise stay on the PCT and spend the equivelent time at Wallace and Wales Lakes.

You may also want to call FS about the crossing at Junction Meadow. Evidently it was washed out and loaded with debris last year. I waded it fine for the meet-up, but I heard it is more tricky now with a lot of downed timber. There are bear boxes at Junction Meadow. I suppose you could stash some food there to lighten your pack.

I do not know if you are affected, but I tend to have trouble visualizing the topography on those metric maps. I am much more used to the standard 40-foot contoure 7.5 minute maps. The metric maps smooth out a lot of the detail.

Merge27_Lower Crabtree Lake.jpg

Merge28_Middle Crabtree Lake.jpg

7579_Above Middle Crabtree Lake_small.jpg

[kpeter]

For getting up to Pickett, I was relying on Bluewater's map, photographs, and reports on the old meet-up thread.
http://highsierratopix.com/community/vi ... &start=220

As for the intervals, I've been using Cal Topo which allows you to switch back and forth between the various formats which I find useful. For example, looking at Crabtree lakes

https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=36.5476 ... o=r&n=0.25

Click on MapBuilder and I can see the trail on the west side of Whitney Creek but click on 7.5 and I can't. You can also click the 40 foot interval box over on the right to add more contours. On 7.5 it shows meters (which I hate) but has better coloration, on "Forest Service" it is back to feet. I find "slope angle shading" to be useful and the "Hybrid Satellite" is only useful when you zoom way in, in which case you can see boulders and trees and have a clearer idea of what the ground cover is like. You get the best of all worlds.

[kpeter]

Thank you all for the advice. I will be beginning this trip on Monday. Been going to the Y for a month doing cardio and leg weights to get in shape. Hopefully it will go smoothly. I am sticking with the the Kearsarge--Forester--Tyndall--Junction Meadow--Kaweah Basin--Guitar--Whitney--Crabtree Lakes--Crabtree Pass--New Army Pass--Cottonwood Lakes--Horseshoe Meadow route, and planning on 10-11 days, 1 or 2 of which will be layovers in Kaweah Basin. Will give you all a report when finished in mid August.\n\nI am hoping that I will be far enough south to miss the worst of the smoke, late enough to miss most of the mosquitoes, but not so late to miss all the water and flowers. I also hope my pack will weigh 5 lbs, that Forester Pass will have shrunk by a thousand feet, and that I will see no more than three people while I am on the JMT and HST.

[maiathebee]

I'm curious about your trip too! I'm planning a much less ambitious trip also out of Kearsarge mid-August that will include Center Basin, Junction Pass, Shepherd's Pass, Wright Lakes Basin, Bighorn Plateau, then over to Milestone Basin and back out over Forester, and I'm hoping for alllllll the same things as you :P