We (group of 12) just returned from Whitney. Our route began at Horseshoe Meadow trailhead - we stayed at the walk-in campground by the Cottonwood Lakes and New Army Pass trailhead. We camped at the following:
7/1 - High Lake
7/2 - Sky Blue Lake
7/3 - Upper Crabtree Lake
7/4 - Trail Camp
Weather was very nice - warmer than my last trip at this same time of year four years ago. We only had the impact of smoke from the wildfires on one day - the morning we hiked over New Army Pass.
We went over three passes - New Army, Crabtree and Discovery Pinnacle on our route. All three are clear of snow except for a few minor snowfield crossings here and there.
Summit on July 4 was outstanding. Clear skies, windy of course but temperature was fine with a fleece and windbreaker. I expected to see even more people that day but it wasn't any different than my prior trip (non-holiday Friday). There were still plenty of sites at Trailcamp when we arrived from our descent in the early evening.
The sandhill up to Discovery Pinnacle was just as difficult as I remembered. It took us 2 1/2 to 3 hours (the younger part of our crowd did it very close to 2 hours) to ascend from the west end of Upper Crabtree lake. Our approach is to follow the slab from the outlet end of the lake westward as it climb several hundred feet up to what appears to be the top of the ridge - we didn't ascend to the top of the ridge and then we turned hard right to head northeast up into and through the area of boulders and sand/loose scree. Eventually you emerge from the boulder field into the upper area of a sand hill with rocks rather than boulders that is immediately below the Pinnacle. We probably still had at least another several hundred feet to climb but it is much easier at that point as the grade is not quite as steep. Anyone considering this particular part of the route we took should understand that the ascent up this hill involves some very difficult climbing in the boulder areas - I'm no expert on rating but I would guess some of it is light class 3 involving the use of hands to assist with pulling you up on larger steps upward occasionally. Most of all this ascent takes quite a bit out of you - your legs can be quite spent when you get to Trailcrest and drop your pack to head for the summit. The payoff of this route is that you see VERY FEW people on the route until you drop down from Discovery Pinnacle onto the main trail.
Although the mileage is not too long, we have found this route to be a great challenge for the 16-17 year old scouts that we take on it and the distance we traveled with the passes involved each day were about the limit of what the 40-50 year old adults were prepared to handle.
If anyone has any questions, let me know. This board has been a tremendous resource to me in planning our trip. Thanks to everyone who has shared their knowledge and tips.
Curt
