High Sierra Topix

I'm planning a trip out of Lone Pine from Cottonwood trailhead to Mt. Whitney. Anybody been there recently? Any places in between I should see or avoid? I'm looking for a 5-6 day hike.

Thanks!

This round of storms will probably be enough to close and lock the gate leading up the Horseshoe Meadows Rd. - effectively denying you access to the Cottonwood trailhead.

I shoulda been more clear. This trip is next summer. There's not nearly enough eskimo in my blood to try it now!

You must go to the Miter Basin. Not to be missed. Spectacular!

I took a trip out of Cottonwood at the end of September, didn't go all the way to Whitney but the pics should give you a pretty good idea of what its like. http://www.slide.com/r/5wrQCiQx4z_BeByAi-JD3R4KjGdKh2bX

Great pictures, trav.

Is that great beach on one of the Crabtree Lakes?

Thanks- its the biggest of the Crabtree Lakes, right below Mt. Chamberlin. Really a great area!

Did this hike twice, with only a Miter Basin variation on one…but I was doing them both as primarily fishing trips. Thus it took me a bit longer as I stopped a lot at all lakes. Basically it went something like this.
Day 1 – The Portal – acclimation and a burger.
Day 2 – Shuttle (~$80) up to Horseshoe…hiked first day to South Fork Lake. (There are no fish there – FYI.)
Day 3 – Visited the Cottonwoods for Goldens - (plenty), also a brief stop at Long – more Goldens, and camped at High Lake.
Day 4 – Over NAP to Lower Soldier – Great campsites, fires permitted, and a bear box…spotty fishing though and this is where the trips differ. One trip took the lower route…Guyot Creek (sp?) to Crabtree Meadows…just to visit first hand the famous outdoor crapper…nice – (worth it!). The other, up into the Basin and camped at Sky-Blue. Here are some serious fish but hard to land…the Basin is indeed a magical place, but the sand hill/ talus field over the pass is a bit of a mother.
Day 6 – Short (layover) day from the Meadows to Lower Crabtree Lake…great fishing at a large lake…camped there primarily for the evening rise.. The other trip also ended up staying at Lower Crabtree after the pass, but at the far (upper) side of the lake – on the beach.
Day 7 – Guitar and Hitchcock Lakes for thousands of spectacular Goldens.
Day 8 – Summit and down to Consultation for (you guessed it) more fishing…many skinny fish here.
Day 9 – Back to the Portal – another Portal Burger!…grabbed the car, a hotel room in Lone Pine, with great New Yorks and a bottle of wine at the Merry-Go-Round.

Recommend either trip highly.

Nice slideshow, Trav!

I did this route solo in mid-Sept of 2007. This is a wonderful way to do Mt. Whitney. I took 6 days and camped at:

Cottonwood Lakes #2
Rock Creek Crossing
Upper Crab Tree Meadow
Trail Crest (there are a couple of cleared pads)
Outpost Camp

It was really cool to camp at about 13,500 by Trail Crest. The views and sunset were outstanding from up there. I was the 2nd one up on Mt. Whitney that morning. It was in the 20s with strong winds ... very cold. I just beat an early winter snow storm as it hit overnight while at Outpost Camp. I had decided to risk it and not line up a shuttle ride service which seemed expensive to me. Hitched a ride back over to Cottonwood Lakes trailhead with 4 nice backpacker guys whom I had met the last night at Outpost. Everything worked out perfectly.

Here is a slide show of my trip if you want to take a look.

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/560825319nzyUGg

John