Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Fall Alternatives to Whitney Trail

Hello, I am new to the forum and was hoping for some help. I will be in San Diego next week on business and am planning on driving up for a day or two of hiking. I have hiked in the area previously, including Mt. Whitney via the Mt. Whitney portal trial and am moderately familiar with the terrain and the hiking.
I understand that winter conditions have commenced in the area, particularly at higher altitudes. I won't have my ice axe or crampons with me on this trip and will be hiking solo so Mt. Whitney and other higher altitude scrambles (Mt. Langley via Old Army Pass, Lone Pine Peak etc.) appear to be a poor choice given my circumstances.
I was hoping for some alternative day hikes in the nearby area. I was considering the following hikes: Cottonwood Lakes, Meysan Lake, Kearsarge Pass or Big Pine Lakes. Big Pine is as far North as I want to go. I want to keep it a day hike, but a long/strenous day requiring an alpine start is fine.
Does anyone have any thoughts on the above hikes or know of other alternatives suitable for my situation?

Thanks for your help! I hope my topic isn't straying too far from the Whitney Portal trailhead discussions!

I am looking forward to visiting the area again.

-Chris Newport

send me an e-mail - I will offer some options

White Mountains would be a good 14'er you could still bag this time of year. You have many options out thier. Maybe you could pick up a day hiking guide for the southern sierra.

Meysan to Lone Pine Peak is doable in a day if you are an in shape hiker, so is Cirque Peak via Cottonwood Pass.

I have done Cirque in June with a some ice and snow on the pass and the climbout of Chicken Spring Lake without using either ice axe or crampons. The conditions now and until the first big dump will be a lot better. Cottonwood Pass will be open when New Army and Army Passes are closed or highly exposed.

Since you'll be in San diego, another alternative for consideration that is much closer than Central Sierra is Mt San Jacinto (10,000+ ft) If you take the Devils Slide trail from Humber park in Idyllwild (1.5 to 2 hour drive form SD depending on where you start) You can get quite a workout (~16 mile RT) and not have to deal with any snow or ice (just yet). The scenery is spectacular,and the trees are all turning colors right now. Here's a link

http://haughey.com/peakreport/subpages/sanjacinto.htm

Enjoy.

Corazon525's suggestion of Mt. San Jacinto is a good idea. IT has one of the better summit views. Here's a link to the State Park's website. It includes maps under the "Brochures" link on the left side of the page:

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=636

Since its your first time, another option to get up San Jacinto is the Palm Springs Tramway. Its a scenic tram ride up to 8500 ft, then 5.5 miles / 2-3 hours from there along great trail to the summit. The Tramway is at the north end of the City of Palm Springs, where Hwy 111 comes into the City. TAke Interstate 10 east from Riverside, then head 10 miles down Hwy 111 to Palm Springs - turn right at the first light (uphill). Cost is around $21, but its worth it for a first timer. Shouldn't be any snow problems on the trail either.

Tramway hours/info is at www.pstramway.com

Thanks for the suggestions. Mt. San Jacinto looks like a great alternative. Another advantage of Idyllwild: I don't have to spend the night somewhere on 395.