Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Cottonwood Pass June 2

This was only a scouting trip. I wanted to see the condition of Cottonwood Pass. After losing and then finding the trail again several times, finally quit just about 100 feet from the pass, at about 11,100 feet. The snow was melting rapidly and I didn't feel like bringing down the ledge on top of me.

<a href="http://www.hikeofyourlife.com/belowcottonwoodpass.JPG">Cottonwood Pass</a>




There is patchy snow at Horseshoe Meadow. I camped out at Cottonwood walk-in, it was quite pleasant, the low Thursday morning was only 43 degrees!

Not a bad day of hiking considering iffy conditions and the fact that I don't have any real snow hiking experience and even if I had had crampons, ice axe, snow shoes and the like, I still wouldn't have attempted to get up much higher than I did.

However, I did take some good photos, including this one of our beloved Portal Store owner:



<a href="http://www.hikeofyourlife.com/dougthompson.JPG">High Res of Doug</a>


Note the photo Doug is standing by...look familiar?

Anyway, my weeklong hike beginning with Cottonwood Pass starts in three weeks, I think most of that stuff will clear by then, it's going away quickly.

For a couple more photos of Horseshoe Meadow, including a view of the meadow from just below Cottonwood Pass, <a href="http://www.hikeofyourlife.com/cottonwood.html">visit here.</a>

And by all means have fun.

I started out for Kern Hot Springs in Kern Canyon May 21, but only got as far as Rattlesnake Creek, an impossible swift whitewater crossing. The only snow I saw was way above like on Red Point or far Harrison Pass. I wondered what the conditions were like way up there on the Kern Plateau, so now I know from these pictures here. There was no snow to speak of on my trail, but water and flooded trails were everywhere (some good wet crossings) and the major streams were churned up and debris filled. A water filter comes in handy in these conditions. It was also in the 100s when I was there. Heat wave. Even so, all was beautiful.

-Doyle
Sierra Trails
www.sierra-trails.com

Hike, great pictures.

One note: On your site, with the expanded pics, you identify a peak as Cirque Peak, which I actually think is Trailmaster Peak (to the right of the pass). I think that is Cirque peak poking up right behind it, to it's right.

Forgot my map so I was going from memory...Cirque is around there somewhere. Wasn't till today when I looked up the height of the peak (12,900) that I realized the one I was looking at wasn't the right one.

Anyway, I have a bunch more great photos (including wonderful panoramas of three or four pix merged together) so I'll make the fix in the next couple days. Can't wait to get up there for the six-day hike later this month.

From Cottonwood pass the ridge extends upward and northward until it gets to Cirque peak. (The picture Ken refers to is a very nice one by the way.) There are a few bumps on the way until it gets to Cirque peak. As Ken surmised, you would need to follow the ridge further up and to the right to get to Cirque peak.

Take a look at in this photo album, page 2 picture #2 "Ridge we came up from the Cirque Lake area" which was taken near Cirque peak looking south toward Cottonwood pass.

<a href="http://client.webshots.com/album/245796641FGNWzn"> Cirque Peak photo album </a>

You can see the bump area in the right edge of your photo.

<a href="http://client.webshots.com/photo/245796641/245801345xlCABt"> specific picture</a>

hope the link works now

Kash, your link does not appear to work (get a message that I am not the owner)