Day 21 - August 1

Last day!  About 10 miles from Soldier Lake, over Cottonwood Pass, and out to civilization.

Mixed feelings today.  Life on the trail has become a comfortable way of life.  Every day a new adventure.  Our group has gotten along very well; I'll miss them all.  I'm not really missing any of the comforts of home; well - maybe a flush toilet where I don't have to dig a hole in the granite first thing in the morning.  I'm not craving any particular food, except maybe a crunchy salad.

It never did rain last night.  I was up during the night to a bright full moon still quite high in the sky, illuminating the lake and the hill behind it.  So beautiful........  I slept really well.  Up early again and on the trail by about 6:30.  Some nice reflections in Soldier Lake before we left.

It was nice and warm today from the get-go.  Alex was in the lead and, for a change, his pace was a saunter (for him); a comfortable pace for me.  As a result of this reduced pace the group never got too spread out.  A nice touch for the end of the trip.  And - we stopped more often than usual to really savour this last day.  It was a beautiful walk - not too hot, not too cold, mostly sunny with a bit of cloud.  We started out on the Siberian Pass Trail which, after 1.8 miles, took us back to the PCT.  We spent a lot of time this morning traversing the mountain rather than going up or down.  Lots of dead trees today for my coffee-table book.  They're too big, though, for my little camera......

Shortly after rejoining the PCT we left Sequoia National Park and were back into Inyo National Forest, the Golden Trout Wilderness area this time.

We had lots of views off to the right down to some large meadows, Big Whitney Meadow according to the map.  They were mostly just dry, but some had a bit of greenery in them.

Some miscellaneous trail shots.........

We had one more pass to conquer today - Cottonwood Pass.  Can't say I was particularly looking forward to it.  So - imagine my surprise when we stopped for a break at a high point before the pass and looked down on it.  Woohoo!  But first - down a bit to Chicken Spring Lake.

And the view to Cottonwood Pass.......

A final group shot at Cottonwood Pass, thanks to Mike K., and one more of me in familiar clothing.

So - that makes it an even dozen passes.......  Donohue, Island, Silver, Selden, Muir, Mather, Pinchot, Glen, Forester, Trail Crest, Guyot, Cottonwood.  Some tougher than others, but all beautiful!

After the pass the downhill began in earnest.  Down, down, down.........

It was about 4 miles from the pass to the parking lot.  Through the trees and watching my feet, so nothing in the way of pictures.  We were met the in the parking lot by Marsha and her "Discover Yosemite" bus.  Cold beverages and one more lunch provided by Katie & Alex.  I wasn't craving any particular food so much as I didn't want to see certain foods for a while - snack mixes and cheeses mostly.  The bus ride to Lone Pine took about an hour and dropped about 6000 feet on a really winding, switchbacking road.  The temperature in Lone Pine was 102F; thank goodness for the coolness at elevation!

A wonderful trip.  I would highly recommend it if you ever get the chance.............

Stats for the day:  about 10 miles, 1180 feet up, 2020 feet down.  Elevation at the trailhead - about 9900'.  Elevation in Lone Pine - about 3700'.

Day 20 - July 31

We're officially off the John Muir Trail today.  We'll be on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) for most of today and tomorrow.  We hiked about 11 miles today from Crabtree Meadow to Soldier Lakes.

It rained off and on during the night.  The last time I heard it was at 4:30 and since we were due to get up at 5, I thought for sure we'd be packing up in the rain - yuck!  But - luck was with us and it stopped before 5.  It continued to hold off and we could see some openings in the sky; enough to see the moon setting through the trees.  We had a few other noises during the night as well.  I heard coyotes twice, and Alex said that he heard a mountain lion as well.  Breakfast took a long time to prepare - polenta, sausage and cheese.  Not my favourite foods and I couldn't stomach very much of it.  Between that and waking up a lot during the night, I didn't feel that great today.  The temperature was cool and the skies threatening when we left but again it didn't amount to anything.

We started the day with some downhill, but soon enough were climbing towards yet another pass - Guyot Pass (10,760') today.  We were up there by about 10 and then it was followed by a steep downhill of about 1500'.  We regrouped where we crossed Rock Creek and we had a bit of a mutiny there.  The guides had planned to have lunch further down the trail, but nobody was moving.  I know I was pooped all day.  And speaking of poop - lots of horse poop on the trail.  It seemed like every 20 feet in places.  And the smell of it made me feel nauseous.  The poop situation got a bit better after we left the PCT onto the Army Pass Trail shortly after the Rock Creek crossing.  The terrain was a lot like walking on beach sand all day - ugh!  We saw lots of large trees today (Foxtail Fir & pine), many of them dead but still standing.  Lots of trees to add to my "Dead Trees of the JMT" book.  Their root systems are so shallow for their size that this must contribute to their demise.  There was no underbrush or grass whatsoever - very stark!  Once we got below 10,000', though, we did start to see a bit of ground vegetation again.

Finally out of the starkness once we're further along the Army Pass trail.

We started hearing thunder about 3 during our rest stop at a little lake. 

Time to hustle into camp and get set up for the night before the impending thunderstorm hits.  It was still sunny when we got in.  We had time to get everything done although the skies were looking pretty nasty about 5:30.  In the end it didn't rain but I was still in the tent by 8.  There are not a lot of campsites along this route so this one was getting a bit crowded.  We weren't the first in nor were we the last.  It ended up being a beautiful evening by the lake.  Our last night in the tents.  Our dinner treat was "Bananas Foster" - bananas heated up with butter, brown sugar, chocolate & rum.  Conversation turned to highlights of the trip - food & otherwise.

      

Stats for the day:  about 11 miles, 2240 feet up, 1880 feet down.  Elevation at camp roughly 10,500'.

Day 19 - July 30

Summit Day!!  From Guitar Lake, up 3000' to the top of Mount Whitney, back to the Guitar Lake campsite for lunch and then on to camp at Crabtree Meadow.

I had a great sleep last night and was ready to go when we got the wake-up call at 3AM.  The temperature was certainly pleasant for this elevation and time of day - about 10C in the tent.  And - the skies were pretty clear.  Yay!  Hot drinks at 3:30 with a goal to be on our way by 4:30.  Here's our view at that time of day.........

As we emerged from our tents we could see many headlamps already on their way up at various stages of the ascent.  We certainly weren't first off the mark this morning!  They were strung out along the switchbacks and traverses and also up high on the ridge.  It gave us a pretty good indication of where the route was.  The ones up high just looked like stars in the sky.  The (almost) full moon was shining directly on Whitney - very cool!  No real breakfast this morning.  Everyone was given three Clif Mojo bars to get them through the trip up to the summit and back down.  I had one for breakfast and tucked the other two in my pack.  We got away just before 4:30 and the moon was gradually setting.  It cast a lovely glow on Guitar Lake as we started to climb.  Too bad my photographic skills are so limited; it would have been a beautiful picture.  Maybe Mike was able to capture it......  Before long the moon set entirely and we were at our darkest point.  It was short lived, however.  I was able to turn my headlamp off by about 5:30.  The views kept getting better and better as both we and sun climbed up higher and higher.

As you can see from the pictures above, we were not directly in sunlight on the ascent.  The sun was behind the mountain, which kept us in the shade for most of the climb - always a good thing as I generate enough heat on my own!  It was lovely to see the sun gradually illuminate the surrounding mountains and lakes.  I stopped once (at about 1000' up) to have another bar and admire the scenery.  At this altitude it was difficult to eat and breathe enough to walk at the same time.  The whole group took a break at Trail Crest (about 2000' up).  Trail Crest is the junction with Whitney Portal Trail.  It is the most direct route up the mountain for day hikers.  The elevation gain from the trailhead to the summit is over 6000'.  The route is just shy of 11 miles one way.  Certainly a very long and strenuous day.  We're not taking that route down.  Apparently commercial trips are prohibited from using it.  Sounds like we're the winners, though.  We can leave our camp at Guitar Lake and travel up Whitney with day packs.  It will take us two more days to get out, but we get to see more of the Pacific Crest Trail and not have to deal with the steep descent of the Whitney Portal route.

The temps were pretty darned nice.  I was in shorts all the way up, and just put on an extra layer on my torso near the top.  Here's a good view of Guitar Lake on the right - so named because of its shape.

There were great hunks of fractured rocks all the way up and some areas where you could see through them down either side of the mountain.

There was lots of traffic on the trail going both up and down.  Although it was a bit scrambly in places near the top, it was one of the easiest summits I've ever done (if you exclude the 18 days it took to get here!).  The trail was in great shape and there was nothing technical about it.  I went slow and steady and felt great the whole way up.  There was some talk the night before about some people maybe staying behind in camp - sore feet, general fatigue, crappy weather, etc.  Instead, everyone was up for the attempt at the summit and everyone made it - so glad for them all!

Unlike the small areas at the top of some of the recent passes we have done, there was lots of room to roam at the top of Whitney.  There is a hut for warming & emergencies, lots of rocks to climb on at the highest point (14,505' or 14,496', depending on which source you believe), and about 4 different geological survey metal disks.  There is some cell reception up there so there were lots of people talking on their phones and texting - which just didn't seem right!  BTW - Mount Whitney is officially the end of the JMT.  While on top of Mount Whitney we could see smoke from a couple of distant forest fires.  We were fortunate to be so early in the season.  Notes and pictures that I saw from later in August showed heavy smoke and difficult breathing conditions along the trail.

 It was cold and windy up there, so I put on 4 layers to stay warm - tshirt, fleece, puffy & raincoat plus rain pants, toque and gloves.  Ah - that's better!  The clouds are starting to build, though.  Maybe that storm is going to move in.   

Great views all around!

The rocks at the top, and some along the trail, are interestingly sculpted - by water, sand, wind.  Their surfaces are sometimes something you would more often see in a canyon.

I was up by about 8AM and we left to go down about 8:40.  More time (and breath) for pictures and play along the way...........

A good view of Guitar Lake (where we'll have lunch at last night's camp)

Miscellaneous views on the way down..............

All in all, a successful day.  We made it back to Guitar Lake in time for lunch.  Rain was looking more and more like a certainty, and in fact it did rain a bit during lunch.  The temperature had cooled off and it looked like impending rain to the west, our direction of travel.  It rained on & off as we retraced our steps down to Timberline Lake and beyond.  Nothing major, though, as we hiked about 5 miles down the trail from Guitar Lake.  We set up camp at Crabtree Meadow just as it started to rain again.  On and off for a while more - a good excuse to crawl in the tent early after a wonderful but tiring day.  

Stats for the day:  about 15 miles, 3000 feet up and 4080 feet down.  Elevation at camp about 10,500'.