TR: Cottonwood Lakes to Mt. Whitney ~ 6/21 - 6/23
Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 11:18 pm
Hello all. I took a friend on his first backpacking trip last week and it turned out to be a lot of fun.
We started by sleeping at the Portal Wednesday night to try and get acclimated. A local shuttle driver arrived at the Portal store Thursday morning and after having some of their huge pancakes he took us over to the Horseshoe Meadows trail head. We got a late start but by 12:45 we made it to the first Cottonwood Lake. I was surprised to see most other hikers wearing long pants and long sleeve shirts in the 85 degree heat.
I was out of shape after taking the winter off and I was feeling the altitude on the way up NAP. Diamox didn't do much for the head pounding, shortness of breath etc. Once on top I felt much better and we hung out with a small group of guys and talked trail for a while. They had come up from Rock Creek and mentioned one of their guys threw up on the way over CP the day before.
We camped at Soldier Lake. I cowboy camped (quilt/bivy) and although it was 25 degrees that night I had the best nights sleep I have ever had in the wilderness.
The next morning we got an early(ish) start and made our way to Guitar Lake via the PCT. The meadows along Rock Creek were beautiful, but it was already feeling very dry and it looked like spring had already happened.
The hike up Guyout Pass was a breeze compared to the day before and by late afternoon we made it to the west side of Whitney. There was a group of three PCT hikers already camped at the tarn above Guitar Lake and they offered to let us share the limited camping spots. We had packed an extra day’s worth of food and they were grateful to accept all of our unwanted food weight. These guys were all just out of college and heading to Mammoth without a resupply.
I helped Jay setup the SMD Gatewood Cape for some wind protection. I watched the stars and slept outside again, behind one of the stone windbreaks.
I woke up to the sunrise overlooking Guitar Lake, grabbed my camera right away. My small point & shoot doesn't do a good job of capturing these low light conditions.
After some coffee and oatmeal using my weathered Caldera Keg we were off to Whitney. We met the PCT hikers on the way up, they had already been to the top for sunrise and were chasing the sun down the mountain. Those guys were fast, averaging 24 miles/day.
Conditions were great and there was only a small remnant of the snow field near the top. It was extremely windy with clear skies. Much better than last year when it snowed in September on the way up.
For this being his first backpacking trip Jay did a great job. I outfitted him with all my extra lightweight gear and he was already in great shape. The last few miles down were a little bit of a sufferfest but we made it back to the Portal store just in time for a cheeseburger.
We started by sleeping at the Portal Wednesday night to try and get acclimated. A local shuttle driver arrived at the Portal store Thursday morning and after having some of their huge pancakes he took us over to the Horseshoe Meadows trail head. We got a late start but by 12:45 we made it to the first Cottonwood Lake. I was surprised to see most other hikers wearing long pants and long sleeve shirts in the 85 degree heat.
I was out of shape after taking the winter off and I was feeling the altitude on the way up NAP. Diamox didn't do much for the head pounding, shortness of breath etc. Once on top I felt much better and we hung out with a small group of guys and talked trail for a while. They had come up from Rock Creek and mentioned one of their guys threw up on the way over CP the day before.
We camped at Soldier Lake. I cowboy camped (quilt/bivy) and although it was 25 degrees that night I had the best nights sleep I have ever had in the wilderness.
The next morning we got an early(ish) start and made our way to Guitar Lake via the PCT. The meadows along Rock Creek were beautiful, but it was already feeling very dry and it looked like spring had already happened.
The hike up Guyout Pass was a breeze compared to the day before and by late afternoon we made it to the west side of Whitney. There was a group of three PCT hikers already camped at the tarn above Guitar Lake and they offered to let us share the limited camping spots. We had packed an extra day’s worth of food and they were grateful to accept all of our unwanted food weight. These guys were all just out of college and heading to Mammoth without a resupply.
I helped Jay setup the SMD Gatewood Cape for some wind protection. I watched the stars and slept outside again, behind one of the stone windbreaks.
I woke up to the sunrise overlooking Guitar Lake, grabbed my camera right away. My small point & shoot doesn't do a good job of capturing these low light conditions.
After some coffee and oatmeal using my weathered Caldera Keg we were off to Whitney. We met the PCT hikers on the way up, they had already been to the top for sunrise and were chasing the sun down the mountain. Those guys were fast, averaging 24 miles/day.
Conditions were great and there was only a small remnant of the snow field near the top. It was extremely windy with clear skies. Much better than last year when it snowed in September on the way up.
For this being his first backpacking trip Jay did a great job. I outfitted him with all my extra lightweight gear and he was already in great shape. The last few miles down were a little bit of a sufferfest but we made it back to the Portal store just in time for a cheeseburger.