Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board crabtree pass

How is the route finding from sky blue lake to crabtree pass? I will be taking my first solo multi day trip and I was thinking about cutting through miter basin instead of going around through guyot. I am starting at the cottonwood lakes trailhead and exiting at the portal. I have heard it is more scenic and secluded. If anyone has any pics or tips please share. Thanks.

mrtbones

Was going to do the same trip a few years ago and had to pull out due to injury. From all the research that I did, it seemed very straight forward in the route finding. Basically going from bowl to bowl and over Sky Blue Pass??? Nothing that a map and compass and some common sense could not figure out. Have fun!!!

Hi Great day trip first time we did it we had to climb onto the ridge of Hitchcock to find out where we were and made it back to the Portal about 2 AM, Of course the group included three climbers and two surveyors and our exit route was Arc Pass.

Map skills will save you alot of time and not going up the sand slope past upper crabtree lake, head down and around and take the trail by Guitar Lake/JMT route.

Another short cut is take New Army pass to Little Solider Lake and at the south end of the Lake look for a saddle about 150' gain and follow a faint trail to Skyblue Lake , this avoids loss of elevation and the distance to Rock Creek after Skyblue you must bear left quickly to avoid getting into the wrong drainage.

Go as lite as you can, this trip has some class 2/3 bouldering and steep sections of travel. Best trip in the Southern Sierra if not the entire Sieera. Thanks Doug

mrtbones

I have done it both ways. 2 years ago a entered from Horse shoe Meadows and worked my up to a camp at Sky Blue Lake (first night at high lake) and we day hiked over Crab Tree Pass up Discovery Pinnacle to Mt Whitney and then back to Sky Blue. I did this with my 10 year old daughter and it was about 12 hours round trip not pushing hard. The climb to Discovery Pinnacle is very do able with day packs and will take about 2 hours. We then went back out through the Cottonwood Lakes and back to Horse Shoe Meadows. The advantage of this is all you need is an overnight permit for the New Army pass or Cottonwood Pass trailheads. If I did this again I would push up to Lake 12129 or Crabtree Lake as a base camp to make the summit day shorter

This last trip I wanted to exit via the North Fork drainage so we did a loop that also avoided the permit issues and we only needed a trailhead overnight from the Horse Shoe Area. This time we hiked to a spring that is just over the New Army pass the first night and then pushed all the way to Crab Tree Lake which is just on the other side of Crab Tree Pass. This put us at the base of the climb to Discovery Pinnacle for the morning climb to Whitney. With full packs 35#-40# it took us 3 hours to complete the 2,000' climb to discovery pinnacle. It was slow and difficult
but we took a slow staedy pace and we did fine. The first half is much harder than the last half. Once you crest the ridge the slope flattens out and you can move much more easily. We left out packs at trail crest and used day packs to summit Whitney and then we went down to Hitchcock lakes. This was about a 10-11 hour day with a good hour on top. We then went up the Artic Lakes and over the Whitney Russell pass to Upper Boy Scout. Then you can exit easily in 4 hours.

The easiest route would be day 1: High Lake, day 2: Crab Tree Lake, day 3: day hike Whitney and back to Crab Tree Lake, Day 4: Any one of the Cootonwood Lakes, Day 5: back to trail head.

I posted this trip report with pictures last year.

TRIP REPORT 8/10-8/19
Here is short recap of a long and wonderful trip around the Mt. Whitney area. Pictures are available on the link at the bottom.

My Cousing Ronald and I left the bay area Friday afternoon and headed for Lone Pine. We spent Friday night at Horse Shoe Meadows to start our aclimation. We picked up our permits on Saturday and went back to Horseshoe.

as a side note I have never seen the Horse Shoe area so over crowded. There was one group of 3-4 families (15+people) that where stayin there for a 5 days! and another group 12+ women that were there for 3 days! none of these groups had any plans to head out overnight. It was my impression that the campground was for hikers heading out with permits but I may be wrong. This lead to people sleeping anywhere they could get a bag or tent and there was no hope of finding room in the bear box's. No toilet paper int he restrooms, etc. If this keeps up it will end up just like the portal with Bears knowing there is plenty of prepackaged food available laying around and food in cars.

Anyway, In the morning we headed out to take the Rockwell variation from the end of Horse Show Meadows up the right drainage and on up to Cirque Peak. After summitting we headed down to New Army Pass and camped at the spring that is on the West side.

The next day we went past Soldier Lake and crossed over to the Miter Basin and headed up to Sky Blue Lake and on up and over Crab Tree Pass to Crab Tree lake. Long day but that put us close to Whitney for a summit trip the next day.

We worked our way up to Discovery Pinnacle (3 hours with full packs up loose scree) lots of fun! We then dropped onto the main trail and left our packs at Trail Crest. We hiked to the summit and back to our packs and this was most enjoyable to not have our full packs. The weather was great and we spent about an hour on top. Then it was back to our packs and down to Hitchcock Lakes.

We slept in and then I fished for our breakfast (eggs and trout taste great)we left about 11:00am for the artic Lakes and over the Whitney Russel Col. We hiked down to Upper Boy Scout Lakes and camped.

The next day was to be the highlight of the trip as we were going to go up the Rockwell variation above Boy Scout Lake and then take the East Ridge to the summit of Russell. What a great alpine route with nice exposure and increadable views. This has to be my favorite summit route to date. I felt what it must have been like for John Muir to explore the High Sierras.
On the way down I did a quick trip up Mt Carllison(sp?)and then back to camp at Upper Boy Scout.

The last day I fished for Breakfast again and then we hiked out to the Portal for a burger and a beer.

This was a great way to see a lot of country and do a loop around Mt. Whitney. If you dont mind cross country travel and carrying your pack up scree feilds and over mountain passes I highly recommend this route.

http://www.flickr.com/gp/9069940@N04/74Gn8V

I really like the sound of your first trip using Sky Blue Lake as a drop spot and day packing up to Whitney and back. Would you happen to have any maps of the trail? I am using topo software to create maps of the area, but it is hard to determine the route over Discovery Pinnacle. Once you are at the first crabtree lake is it pretty obvious which way over Discovery Pinnacle? After going up Discovery Pinnacle do access the MWT or the JMT or does it meet up right at Trail Crest? Would you happen to have any pics of the Discovery Pinnacle area? Sorry for all the questions and thanks.

mrtbones,

Once you go over crab tree pass it is a very straight forward route to Discovery Pinnacle. You will drop down to Crab Tree Lake and hike around the right side of the lake. From the far side of the lake you head up and right and there are many climber trails throught the sand & scree to follow. When you near the top Discovery Pinnacle will be on your left and the main Whitney trail and trail crest are just a few hundred feet below you. I used Paul Richins Jr. book "Mount Whitney - the complete trailhead to summit hiking guide" which shows this route on a map when planning my trip and should provide all the info you need.

If you go to my flicker site through the link above and go to my sets you will see an album from my 2005 trip with my daughter titled "Mt Whitney with Megan Aug 2005".

This trip documents the trip to Mt Whitney & Back from Horse Shoe Meadows. Note that we did not take New Army pass choosing to climb Cirque Peak instead (with Bob R as our Guide!)
.

On page 3 picture P1010034

shows the sand hill.

P1010026

is view down from the top of crab tree pass and your path is around the lake on the right side then up past the snow in the middle of the picture and then angle right towards the upper right corner of the picture.

P1010063

is the look back from the far side of Crab Tree Lake to Crab Tree Pass.

P1010066

is the other side of Crab Tree Pass as you head towards Mt Whitney from the Miter Basin.

P1010060

is from trail crest looking back to the south and if you look close at the top of the picture in the clouds is Discovery Pinnacle which shows you how close the main trail is to the Pinnacle.

This is the route I took for my first trip to Whitney. You won't be disappointed. As far as getting from Sky Blue Lake up to the large no name lake(lake 12129) due north of Sky Blue it's not to bad. You had asked about maps, so the first thing to do would be to get one. I suggest the Mt. Whitney Zone Trail Map from Tom Harrison Maps (www.tomharrisonmaps.com)(sorry I have'nt learned how to add links here) The map lays it out pretty well.
From the outlet of Sky Blue go around the right shore, if you go around the left shore you'll run into a vertical wall. Once around the lake, you'll come to the lake's "inlet stream" where water may or may not be flowing. This is easily seen on the map. From here you have two options. You could go north in a straight shot up to the large lake. Taking this route, you'll have to climb a series of ledges. I think the highest was about 10 feet. There are lots of little cairns to lead you this way and that. Just keep climbing, you'll eventually top out at the lake. This is the way we came back, meaning we climbed down the ledges from lake 12129 to Sky Blue. Option 2, the route we took from Sky Blue to lake 12129 goes like this. From the "inlet" traverse left and up following the wet rocks. Orient yourself with the map and aim for the lake shaped a little like Africa due west of lake 12129. From the lake shaped like Africa, head due east over a slight rise to lake 12129. To me this would be the easy way.
From lake 12129 to Crabtree Pass the route is unmistakable, just use the map and follow the use trails.
If you are going to carry a full pack up the big scree slope to Discovery Pinnacle I strongly urge you to make your camp before at Crabtree Lake. There are places to put up a tent at the eastern end below Crabtree Pass or on the flat slabs at the western end of the lake. This will make for an easier day. We camped at lake 12129 and day hiked to Whitney and back.
What are the dates of your trip and your itinerary. I am planning to do the same route again the middle of sept. solo. Also, I have two satellite photos from Mytopo.com showing everything from Lower Soldier Lake up to Discovery Pinnacle. You can even see the trail and switchbacks. These are no better than a map as far as a navigation tool, but you get to see the lakes and their orientation to one another. If you like I can mail these to you to use in planning your trip or to take with you. Just mail back when yor're done. Go to my profile and email me if you want to use these. If I don't hear from you have a great trip. Post a trip report when you get back.
John

Is the Tom Harrison Maps going to be any different than the TopoZone maps? The topozone map shows the trail all the way to Soldier Lake, after that it shows nothing. It doesn't have much detail on the location of crabtree pass and doesn't show anything of discovery pinnacle. Should I go with the tom harrison map instead?

mrtbones

The trail from Lower Soldier Lake up the Rock Creek drainage through Miter Basin is an unmaintained trail and is not shown on the Tom Harrison Maps either. Prominent landmarks such as most of the lakes, Joe Devel Peak, MT. Pickering, Mt. Newcomb, The Miter, Crabtree Pass, Discovery Pinnacle, Trail Crest, MT Mallory, Mt. LeConte, and Mt. Langley are shown. 8.95 from Tom Harrison maps. You should'nt have any trouble hiking from Lower Soldier Lake to Sky Blue Lake. Follow the inlet stream into Lower Soldier Lake north/northeast steadily gaining elevation. There will be use trails to follow. Aim for the obvious gap. You will top out at a small tarn. From the tarn just angle left downhill into Rock Creek drainage and follow the use trails up the creek. The unmistakeable shape of The Miter will soon come into view. Use it to navigate by. You really can't get turned around in this area. keep the peaks of Joe Devel, Mt. Pickering, and Mt. Newcomb on your left and Mt. Langley, Mt. LeConte, and Mt. Mallory on your right. Again, what is the date of your trip and let me know if you want the satellite photos. John

Here is a trail report from Soldier lake to Crabtree pass and down to Upper Crabtree lakes.

http://www.stowell.org/whitney99/Day3/whitney99day3main.htm

Here are couple of pictures from one of our trips in the area...between Sky Blue Lake and Crabtree pass...starting here

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1225906332061435028cSrLYw

And here

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1225911790061435028aqGZPy

Route finding is easy...just swing up on the west left side above Sky Blue Lake and work your way through boulders and the like to Crabtree pass.

I was in the Miter Basin on 04 and have wanted to go back and maybe summit from Sky Blue - Two more trips planned for this year - Maybe next year
But this thread has me looking at the map - can't help noticing that the hike from Crabtree Pass down to the lake and back up the sand hill is elevation lost and then re-gained - Looks as though it might be possible to contour a bit from the pass and pick up the route somewhere to the north of the un-named lake (12,100 on my topo program)
Anyone try this and/or have any pics looking from Crabtree Pass toward Discovery Pinacle ??
I know the maps give us an indication but you never know what the final terrain is - could be sand, or talas or a bolder field
Thanks to all those with such a wealth of knowledge willing to share.
Dave

Thanks for all the pics, it looks pretty straight forward. I will be going 8th through 12th of September. Well, I think this is the route I will be taking. It saves me the trouble of finding a ride back to my car at horseshoe meadows. Thanks again for all the great info and pictures.

mrtbones

John, I would definately like to see the satalite photos.

You can see a satellite map on-line with Google Maps:

Sky Blue Lake

Be sure to try both the terrain and satellite options, the zoom in/out, and click and drag the map to move around.

I'm surprised that Kashcraft didn't mention it, but he's perfected a route that loses very little altitude from Crabtree Pass to Discovery Pinnacle by traversing across the sand hill. The photo of his route is here: http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2867068520061435028fsvNLe. Look through the subsequent photos in that album as well to get a very good view of the entire route. I didn't know about this when I summitted or I would've tried it. It took me about 2.5 hrs to climb the sand hill with a day pack - it's a pain (step up, slide back), but very doable. I camped the previous night at lake 12129 (not alot of flat space, but enough for a couple of tents), summitted, returned and packed out to the base of Sky Blue Lake, then back out via Cottonwood Pass the next day. The first day was from the trailhead to Soldier Lake via New Army Pass; second day from Soldier Lake to lake 12129, so the whole trip was fairly easily done in four days.

I know Kent well. Although he loves his new route up the sand hill, he knows it is not for everyone.

Here is the link to his write up on the options from Crabtree pass to the top of Discovery pinnacle & trail crest.

http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/49311/page/11#Post49311

Here's yet another set of pictures for you... from a trip I did through miter basin back in 2005. Our trip was altered by an early storm but it was still very fun.

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/469191488VfuyOF

-Brent

Wow
What a great bunch of info
This was exactly what I was hoping for -
I'll be planning this route for next year for sure -
I did try to search the forum for info on this - didn't get anywhere near the info that you have all added to this thread - maybe I didn't approach the search from the right trailhead--
Anyway - thanks to all for the info
Dave

mrtbones If you would still like to use my satelite photos, email me and let me know where to send them. catpappyman@yahoo.com. They are 30x24 inches. Great to look at. John