Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Cottonwood Lakes to Whitney Itinerary Suggestions

There is a group of 4 that hopes to summit whitney this next week. We are going to be at the ranger station before 11 on Saturday and hopefully get wilderness permits to enter through the Cottonwood lakes trail on Sunday and get a trail crest exit permit for Thursday (5 days, four nights backpacking). We will spend Saturday night either at the Portal campground or Horseshoe Meadows to acclimate. I am interested in fishing during the trip. Any suggestions for destinations and camp spots would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks

Here was my itinerary two years ago.
Day 1 - Start at Horseshoe Meadows, hike to Cottonwood Lakes, up and over New Army Pass, then down the other side to Solder Lake to camp for the night. A long day (12.5 miles), but Solder Lake was real nice.
Day 2 - This day was also long, about 10.5 miles. The big climb was going up Guyot Pass, then down to Crabtree Meadows.
Day 3 - A much shorter day, going from Crabtree Meadows, past Timberline Lake (no camping here) to Guitar Lake for the night.
Day 4 - The challenging day. Left Guitar Lake with 7 quarts (15 pounds) of water, and headed up the JMT where it joints the MMWT just beyond Trail Crest. from here, it is 1.9 miles to the summit of Whitney where I spent my fourth night. I slept outside the cabin, and pitched my tent by one of the stone windbreak shelters behind the cabin. The sunset was awesome!
Day 5 - Woke up pre-dawn to enjoy the sunrise then some of the best alpenglow. After that, it was 11 miles down to the Portal to a well-deserved shower, some cold beers, and a Mooseburger with fries.
Whitney Mike

5 Days makes for at least one very long day. With fishing in mind here goes...

Day #1...NAP Trailhead to Cottonwood Lake #3 going over Army Pass the following day...about 6 miles.

Day #2...CL #3 to Lower Rock Creek...Stay in a stand of tree just as you reach Rock Creek, the hard tents sites between 3 or 4 trees...about 9 miles.

Day #3...Lower Rock Creek to Guitar Lake...About 10 miles

Day #4...Guitar Lake to Lone Pine Lake...About 13 miles, there are a lot of fish in that lake

Day #5...LPL to Burger Fries and a Beer...3 miles.

There are a couple of various for day #1, NAP to South Fork Lakes via the South Fork Lake Trail, consult the Cirque Peak Quad for location...hand a left about 180' after the first stream crossing...4.5 miles

NAP to Long Lake...I can't remember if I've seen people fishing here or not...about 5 miles, using the South Fork Trail with some cross-country trail through the South Fork Lakes Basin.

NAP to Soldier Lake, as mentioned the first response. Going over either Army or New Army Passes...about 11-12 miles

Army Pass to Lower Rock Creek...which sets up easier following days...but you will be beat after this marathon...about 16 miles

I did this very trip in the summer of 2007 and had a great time. I did the trip in four days, but really regretted not taking an extra day. We did the tarns above Guitar Lake to the summit of Whitney, and back to the Portal all in one day. WAY too much for a single day! If I had to do it again, I'd do it like this:

Day 1: Cottonwood Lakes trailhead to Long Lake
Day 2: Long Lake over New Army Pass to Rock Creek ford
Day 3: Rock Creek ford to Guitar Lake tarns
Day 4: Tarns to Whitney summit, then on to Trail Camp
Day 5: Trail Camp to Whitney Portal

If you'd like to fish, you may want to stay at Guitar Lake instead of the tarns, I don't think there are any fish in the tarns.

I would definitely recommend staying at the campgrounds in Horseshoe Meadows instead of Whitney Portal, much quieter, and 1600+ feet higher! Besides, you're right there at the trailhead when you wake up so you're ready to get on the trail right away.

Oh, and one other thing, highly recommend that you do the car shuttle BEFORE the hike, not after (assuming you only have one vehicle). If you've got two vehicles, you're set.

I couldn't imagine trying to figure a way to hitchhike back to Horseshoe Meadows to pick up my car after a long slog down the Whitney trail. All you want to do is eat, shower and sleep when you're done.

We just did:

1) park at the Portal. Hitch over to Horseshoe Meadows, hike up to Trail Pass, then to Chicken Spring Lake - 8 miles

2)Chicken Spring Lake to Guyot Creek (really nice camping area) - 11 miles

3)Guyot Creek to Guitar Lake - 8.5 miles; lots of time to fish in Crabtree Meadows streams - LOTS of trout.

4) Guitar Lake to Mt. Whitney to Trail Camp - tough 10 miles

5) Trail Camp to Whitney Portal - 6 miles (just in time to still get the best, biggest breakfast I ever had).

I am planning on this hike next year.

Can you summit Langley and Muir within the 5 days as well? It seems there were some tough hiking days from Cottonwood to Whitney, but the area is worth it.

What type of permits does a person need for this type of trip? What is the recommendation for transportation from Whitney Portal to trailhead for Cottonwood Lakes?

Thanks for any advice you can give!

Langley and Muir are doable in five days, if you are in very good shape and capable of big long days.

You need Cottonwood Lake/NAP Entry Permit and Trail Crest Exit Permit for this trip.

We've always used two cars for these point to point trips. However, there is a lot of traffic between Whitney Portal and Horseshoe Meadow during the summer. So, you most like will be able to thumb a ride over there to retrieve a vehicle.

Thanks so much for the advice! I can't wait!

We just did this trip a few weeks ago. A lot of good suggestions previously mentioned here but a lot depends on abilites and personal preference. As to fishing, we caught a bunch of Golden's in Rock Creek and even more at Crabtree Meadow. Really pretty fish.

A couple of suggestions if you can swing it:

Start hiking the afternoon you get your permits - If you go over cottonwood pass you can make chicken spring lake (4.5 miles - no fish) and camp there or if you are planning on new army pass, you can make long lake (about 6 miles - some fish). Neither of these are overly challenging and will make your second day a lot easier.

We arranged a shuttle prior to our hike, parking our cars at Whitney Portal with Bob Ennis shuttling us over to horseshoe. It was about $120 for 6 of us with gear but it saved a lot of shuttling around at the end of the hike, when you really do not feel like driving back up the switchbacks to horseshoe meadow.

We just completed this route last week and had an incredible trip. Our group came up from sea-level and the experience/ability ranged from from Jeff M with his tireless, 8 year-old "dynamo" daughter to myself at the senior/slow end of the pack. This trip was my 60th birthday present to myself and I have to say I am now totally spoiled for Main Trail! Our pace was very reasonable for our group with generally about 7 mile days.
Sunday, July 5th was arrival day. Day-Hiked out of WP to the E-ledges. Returned and camped over at Cottonwood lakes TH.

Monday: Hiked from CL TH to High Lake and avoided any bugs as it is above the trees. This also put us close to the start of the ascent to New Army Pass. We had the lake all to ourselves.

Tuesday: Jeff M helped us up over the snowbank at the top of NAP. (See his pictures under a previous post from "sbslowpoke". We enjoyed a leisurely lunch and then we bid Jeff and his daughter a farewell as they returned towards Cottonwood and the remaining six of us pushed on. We headed down into the Rock Creek drainage which became more and more verdant and beautiful. We camped at the Lower Rock Creek Crossing. Few bugs, but really not too bad.

Wednesday: We headed up the trail to Guyot "Pass", which was a bit of a puff for those of us who didn't do all their homework! Then headed down the other side towards Crabtree Meadow which was another jaw-dropping scene. Though we were tired we eschewed the campsites at the lower meadow and pushed on the extra mile or so to the Ranger Station. Here we found another beautiful meadow camp-site that we had all to ourselves as well as piped spring water (Ask Ranger Rob) and the luxury of the "Out" (there IS no "house").

Thursday: This was our "easy" day in preparation for the big Summit day to come. We hiked the three miles up to Guitar Lake and camped in the lee of the west facing rocks near the broad end of the lake. The departing tenants of that spot were some English folks who reported squirrely winds and no "mozzies", but to be prepared for bl**dy cold next morning on the sun-less ascent towards Trail-crest. Ranger Rob had reported that weather was supposed to be clear for a couple of days and so we delayed our intended summit start from 4a.m. "beat the thunderstorms" to 5a.m. We filled our water vessels at the head of the incoming Whitney creek that night in readiness for our early start. 4 litres each to get us up and over to the 23rd swithback on the East side. We knew of the Tarns a bit higher up the trail, but as we weren't filtering (cheers to Bob R.)and we weren't sure of the quality of the Tarns water we decided to carry the extra. In retrospect, I would probably have carried a pump and used it as I deemed necessary only at doubtful water sources. There were numerous run-off trickles available in case of emergency throughout our next day. Our pump probably weighs about the same as a 1/2 litre of water, and our group could have collectively saved considerable weight by shaving a litre or so each of our wet stuff. Of course those trickles may dry up!

Friday: Not bad. I think we got on the trail by 5:15. The group requested that I lead up the hill to Trail-crest. (Slow guy in front!) I'd been up the MMWT a few times before, but this time we had a bit more elevation to gain from Guitar lake and I was carrying 45 lbs. It was easier than I dared hope! Very cold as we gained elevation and started to get a bit of the wind. At the junction with the Main trail we repacked water and snacks into our summit packs. The younger folks headed for the summit and I trailed along behind at my own pace, but still reached the summit about 11:00. My twelve year-old faithfully stayed behind to offer the old guy encouragement! This was his 3rd Whitney summit. Da*n am I proud of this kid! We had a nice long lunch break on the summit then headed down to Trail-camp. The East side of TC snowbank was no problem, but the top few feet of the cables were still a bit icy and became my scary part of the trip.
Having said that, maybe the "crowds" and abandoned wag-bags at TC were scarier! (But that's another thread).

Saturday: Back down to WP. As a side note, I think it's cruel how long you have to go after first seeing the WP road far below, to when you actually get to sink your teeth into the well-earned Burger!

My apologies that a simple answer to an itinerary suggestion turned into a rather long-winded trip report...
Next year from Onion Valley??

Thank you for all your input. Looking forward to the trip. All packed up and ready to head out in the morning. Hopefully get our permits tomorrow morning and hit the trail Sunday. Final plan is:

1 TH to Soldier Lakes
2 Soldier to Crabtree Meadows (sounds like good fishing!)
3 Crabtree to Guitar
4 Guitar to Summit to camp @ Trail Camp/Outpost/Lone Pine Lake (play by ear)
5 Out to the Portal store for beers and a good meal.

I will let you know how it goes. Thanks again for all your input, it is greatly appreciated.

We are doing this very trip next week - at least one of the many variations listed here. Can't wait! I'll post details when back.

dtsurfman - Sounds like you have a good trip planned. Just remember, that first day to Solder Lake is a long day, so start early. I might suggest to spend your fourth night at Trail Camp. After going up from Guitar Lake to where the JMT joins the MMWT, I assume you'll leave your packs at the junction (many people do), and just take a small daypack to the summit (still 1.9 miles away. From the summit, it's 5 miles down to Trail Camp, a 10.5 mile day. No matter what you end up doing, enjoy th trip, I know I sure did. When you come out at the Portal, those cold beers and the Mooseburger with fries will taste great. Whitney Mike

Great Trip! We had hail, thunder and lightning everyday. The first day we had to stop at Long Lake instead of Soldier Lakes. The lightning was going off on New Army pass. We ended up doing this itinerary:

1 Cottonwood trailhead to Long lake

2 Long lake to Rock Creek

3 Rock Creek to Crabtree Meadows...Set up tent-Hail and thunder till 4 pm. Packed up and dried off and headed to Guitar Lake. (This was my toughest day)

4. Guitar Lake to Summit Whitney (Woke up at 430 left @ 6 am) From Summit all the way back to the Portal for Mooseburgers and beers. We made it by 4 pm with about 45 minutes on the summit.

Thanks for your input, it was an incredible trip. You can check my pics at

Whitney Photos

We are planning kind of the same trip but looking to do it in three days:

1: New Army Pass Trailhead to Lower Rock Creek Crossing via the South Fork Trail
2:Lower Rock Creek Crossing to The Tarns above Guitar Lake
3:The Tarns above Guitar Lake to Whitney Portal

Thoughts here?

Rlee,

I would say you could be some what ambitious, but I do not know how old you are and what shape you are in.

My wife and I did the same trip a few years ago when we were in our early sixties about two weeks after we climbed several other 13K/14K peaks. We did the trip in six days at a relaxed pace:

1: Trailhead to about one mile above Golden Trout Camp. (To acclimatize – we slept about 10 hours that night.)
2: Over Army Pass and camped near Soldier Lake
3: Guyot Creek
4: Guitar Lake
5: Consultation Lake

We had also planned for two possible layover days for bad weather, but did not need them because we had the “magic weather”. On day three and four we passed some people, much younger than us, who had started this trip on the same day we did. They were suffering altitude effects or were just plain tired from lack of training and were taking a layover day. Two large groups passed us above Guyot Creek and a lot of their members complained bitterly to my wife about their three day schedule had turned their trip into a “hike from hell” and wished they were going at our pace. In fairness, there were people who roared passed us like we were standing still, so pace is an individual thing and something you will determine on this absolutely beautiful route.

RLee, I started from Cottonwood Lakes trailhead last Friday beginning in the late afternoon and exited from Whitney Portal Monday afternoon. I would strongly suggest starting a day earlier and getting to Cottonwood Lakes to reduce your mileage over the next three days. The total is around 44 miles if you summit and it is difficult to take in all of the beauty if you are tired and only looking at where you are going to place your next step.