Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Trip Report, Cottonwood Pass to Whitney Summit

I took a group of Boy Scouts (ages 12 and 13) and another adult up this route on June 22-25. It was a great trip, with excellent weather, incredible scenery, and a great time for all. Here's the report:

Got a shuttle from High Sierra Transportation on Friday morning from Whitney Portal to Cottonwood Pass Trailhead. They did a great job for us---right on time, and a pleasant conversation with Blair's wife (I forgot her name)during the drive over.

We hiked to an unamed lake in the Rock Creek area, about 1-2 miles past the Soldier Lakes junction. A beautiful campsite in a meadow, and a great evening. Since we all left from sea level on Friday morning, everyone in the group was feeling the effects of the altitude, but we managed OK.

The next day, Saturday, we hiked up and over Guyot Pass and down to Guitar Lake. This was a mixed hike. Personally, I hated the Guyot Pass part of the hike. This thing kept going and going. It seemed like it would never end. I think we were all still feeling the effects of the altitude, so that made it feel extra long. Super hot on this part of the hike, and the dip in Guitar Lake was a welcome reward for making it this far for the day.

Sunday was a layover day, relaxing and enjoying Guitar Lake.

Monday morning, we got up at 12:30 AM (what were we thinking?) and cruised up the backside to Trail Crest, dropped our packs, and managed to be the first up to the Whitney Summit for a beautiful sunrise.

Unfortunately, there was a TON of trash at Trail Crest junction with the trail up Guitar Lake. Empty Gatorade bottles, paper, etc. That was too bad. We took some of it with us, but couldn't fit it all in. There was a LOT.

On to the beauty of the hike.

Man was the summit cold!!! After spendning only 3 minutes looking at the view, we rushed into the Hut to try to warm up. We had a lot of layers and were prepared, but it was still cold. We huddled around and rested after our early morning hike. While there, two younger guys made it to the top and joined us in the hut to warm up. They said they started up at 11 PM the night before at Portal, coming up the MMWT.

After warming up, and warming up my camera battery, we took some pics and then hurried down off the summit. We had to warm up and get the blood flowing again, so we cruised back to Trail Crest, gathered our packs, and started the LONG slog back to Whitney Portal. There was a good deal of ice on the switchbacks, but nothing too bad. It looked like it was also melting fast. We went through this section very early, probably at about 7 or 8 AM.

Incredibly, we made it down to Portal by 11:00 AM. We were amazed at all we did before noon!

It was the Scouts' first time up to the summit, and they had a great time.

Unfortunately, my car transmission died on us, and we coasted back to Lone Pine. What a nightmare trying to get a AAA tow back to Orange County. I had a parent drive up to pick up the scouts, but I was stranded in Lone Pine for 24 hours, and had to scratch and beg a tow back. Big thanks to St. Clair towing out of Ridgecrest. They run an honest shop. I can't say much for the local towing shop in Lone Pine (Miller Towing). They were more interested in gouging me for a big repair bill than honoring their towing contract with AAA.

Anyway, a bad ending to a great trip!!!

Congratulation on your trip!

I plan to take the same path to summit in 2 weeks. Do you have information about water source around the trail? I think I might need 4 lites per day. It is possible that I bring 2 lites and refill it every 4 hours or so?

Thanks

There was a ton of water along the trail in most places.

We filled up about 1-2 liters in the mornings, and refilled as needed along the way.

Day One: We started at Cottonwood Pass T/H with about 2 liters each, and didn't need to refill until that night along Rock Creek. We passed Soldier Lakes earlier where you could refill.

Day Two: There were numerous refill spots before heading up Guyot Flat....a number of rivers/streams, near Rock Creek Ranger Station, Guyot Stream, and then later Crabtree Flats, Timberline Lake, Guitar Lake, etc.

Day Three: Layover at Guitar---great swimming, etc.

Day Four: We filled up the night before at Guitar, and headed up early to Trail Crest, so we didn't need a ton of water so early in the morning. We started hiking at about 12:30 AM. Cold, but obviously no sun....Anyway, we took about 2 liters up to Trail Crest, and amazingly, this lasted us until Whitney Portal. We were too tired to stop and refill along the MMWT, so just kept going until the end! But there are obviously a lot of refill places along the MMWT---Trail Camp, Outpost, Mirror, a lot of streams along the way, too.

Hope this helps.

It helps!

What time do you start at the morning? I plan to start at 5AM, is it bright enough to walk without flash light?

Thanks a lot!

Just Another Mile and others,

When and where are the permit checked in Cottonwood Pass?

The reason I am asking is that we have a group of 10, some will arrive late, we won't be able to meet at the trial head, we will only meet at the campsite near Rock Creek ranger station at first night. Is this going to be a problem? Or we find a way to give the second group the permits before they enter the trial head? Any suggestions?

Thanks

There is no "place" where permits are checked, rather, rangers who are on patrol may check you at any point. You might want to make a xerox of your permit for your other members, if you are going to be separated, and leave on your windshield for your friends. Or when you pick up your permit, ask them how to handle that. It shouldn't be a problem.

I'm not actually sure that the 5am start is needed for this hike, other than the Whitney Summit day. Getting good, and enough, sleep, is certainly a major performance factor. While I find that I wake when it is getting light, and like to move early, many don't. The days are long, and there is no reason to get an alpine start for the first couple of days.

I agree with Ken about the early start. It depends on what you like. We started at Cottonwood Pass (after shuttles, etc) at about 10:30 AM, and made it fine to Rock Creek area and the unnamed lake by about 5 or 6 PM. Still plenty of light to relax and do dinner that night.

As for Rangers, we didn't see one until we hit Guitar Lake on Saturday night. He was the only one we saw the whole trip. I would agree with copying your permit and leaving it on your car for other members of your group. You should be OK with that.

Just Another Mile and Ken,

Thanks for the advice. Will handle the permits per your suggestion.

The main reason for early start is that we might have better chance of stay away from afternoon thunderstorm (according to the book I read) and give us more time for hiking since we are all first timer for Mt. Whitney.

How is the weather in Cottonwood Pass? Is the thunderstorm going to be the issue on the whole way up or just for summit day?

Thanks again!

Weather on Cottonwood Pass is like elsewhere in the Sierra....local, and changable from day to day. However, you can generally see approaching storms. Also, it is only something like three miles to the pass, so you ought to be able to do that in a couple of hours, and while I wouldn't want to be on a high pass in a storm, you ought to be off by noon, even with a 10am start. Otherwise, the only time to be worried about afternoon storms, is Whitney summit day.