Trip Advice July 3-10

[Wandering Daisy]

There ARE creek crossings on the way to Miter Basin! You have to cross Rock Creek and the outlet from the lake under Major General (I think it is called Soldier Lake) if you want to access the lower west side of the basin (hikes to Primrose or Erin Lake). I have done this trip early season and both have to be waded at high flows. You may have to cross the outlet of Sky Blue Lake. Usually you can find rocks to hop. The dry camping is on the southeast side of the lake. There are also several creek crossings on the Cottonwood Lakes side. None are trip stoppers, but be prepared to wade.

[GunnyJC]

Now that we are less than 2 weeks out I am wondering what are the possibilities of being able to reach Lower Soldier Lake & climb Mt Langley via the Cottonwood Pass trail without having to contend with too much snow that weekend? I don't mind a little bit of snow here and there, just don't want to deal with a bunch of post-holing. I actually think snow camping is fun so no issues there. I am trying to decide if we should even try going up into that area at all or just head south towards the Rocky Basin Lakes area from the get go. I really wanted to give my 2 nephews their 1st taste of a high alpine environment, but that just may not be a viable option due to the snow.

Also what kind of High & low temps will we be seeing? I am am thinking highs likely in the 80's and lows possible in the 20's? Thanks for you opinions in advance on this.

Gunny

[quentinc]

Gunny, I'm a certified fanatic, so I was out there again this weekend. The now is melting FAST! The trail was way easier than last week. I think you'll still have some snow on the 4th, but it won't be bad.

As for creeks -- I could rock hop across both Rock Creek and the other outlet stream WD mentioned. If you come up the Miter Basin Trail (as opposed to going in from Soldier Lake, which I vastly prefer) you will have to deal with that stream. Oddly enough, you'd also have to wade to go across the Siberian Outpost (good to know in case you're sent to a Gulag).

Temperatures: last weekend it went down to 20, but this weekend I'm not even sure it got down to freezing. The days were lovely. (Seriously, you aren't really thinking 80's at 11,000 feet?)

Finally, I would skip Rocky Basin Lakes (unless you're x-c' from the Boreal Plateau). Big Whitney Meadow looked like a swamp from the PCT.

[papercup]

Resurrecting this thread for any last minute advice y'all might have.

It looks like we're going with Cottonwood Pass, although I remain a bit tempted by the Tuolumne / Donahue / Thousand Island option. From what I've seen here and elsewhere, it looks like there should be plenty of places to explore-- Cirque Peak, Langley, Miter Basin, Boreal Plateau, etc. Maybe even Crabtree and Whitney, although that seems like it might be getting greedy with nature.

If anybody feels like sharing any tips-- places not to miss, places to avoid, great campsites, recent snow/water experiences in the area-- I would be appreciative.

Thanks for being a great resource, HST. If I get any useful info out of the trip, I'll report back in two weeks.