Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board The dreaded sand hill route

Hi: I thought it might be nice to summarize the trip up the Dreaded Sand Hill, which one climbs between Crabtree Pass and Discovery Pinnacle.

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2153554920061435028ktypaq

A great way to access Mt. Whitney is from the Horseshoe Meadows area. If one is interested in a trail, one can hike through lower Rock Creek, Guyot Pass, Crabtree Meadows and up the west side of Mt. Whitney. Although I have not gone that way, I hear it is a very nice route.

An alternative is to start at Horseshoe Meadows (using either New Army Pass or Cottonwood pass) and hike to Soldier Lake. From there hike cross country through the scenic Miter Basin, past Sky Blue Lake to Crabtree pass. At Crabtree pass one can either climb the Dreaded Sand Hill to Discover Pinnacle,

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1225909381061435028sjwqkn

or follow the Crabtree basin down to Crabtree Meadows to merge with the trail coming up the west side of Mt. Whitney....as was done in this trip report.

http://www.abovecalifornia.com/routes/intro.php?id=2

Route up the Dreaded Sand Hill:

1) Standard route is to drop all the way down to the upper Crabtree Lake and then climb straight up the sand hill....one step up and 1/2 step back etc. Written reports have placed it as a miserable 4 hours up to Discovery Pinnacle plateau.

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1225908506061435028NFLtdh

2) Or preferred alternative....stay at the same elevation as Crabtree Pass and work through the cliff band...some climbing but avoids much of the loose sand areas. Bob R. told me you could not stay on the top of the ridge from McAdie to Discovery Pinnacle, but it was also unnecessary to drop all the way to the lake.

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2867068520061435028fsvNLe

I will summarize this route.

Start at the right side of Crabtree pass (if you are coming up from Sky Blue Lake). This is on the east side. Work your way around the Cirque beginning with the large boulders that make up the western/ Northwestern base of Mt. McAdie.

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2338870870061435028tXILhc

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2294053090061435028BVAPUe

You can not stay exactly level with Crabtree pass, due to the makeup of the large boulders. You either need to climb up about 100-200 feet toward Mt. McAdie as you work your way around or you need to drop down about 50 feet. If you take one of these two options the climbing is not difficult. The traverse over or under or through these large boulders doesn't last long...maybe 500 hundred feet or so.

This is a picture of the route, looking back from the edge of the Discovery Pinnacle Plateau

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2369719370061435028zSDNpG

Next you skirt around the eastern edge of the cirque....drawing a line across the cirque which skirts under the rock bands that extend down.

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2468501000061435028gOQSKq

As you approach to northeast corner of the cirque, you reach the eastern edge of the cliff bands. Head for this point.

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2363673090061435028PbZDNw

This is where your climb begins.

Follow this route up through the cliff band

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2160477340061435028SiofEH

Enter the cliff band and walk mostly level about 50-75 feet. Then climb up to the right here....the climb up is only about 20 feet. It is class three on good rock. If you have a backpack you might with to climb without it and lift the backpack up with a short rope. We did not not but it would be safer to climb without a large bulky backpack.

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2456896480061435028LggLDF

Once to the top of the climb through the lower cliff band walk mostly level to the west (left) again for 50 - 100 feet or so. From there you can climb up through the upper cliff band....which climb doesn't last long before it opens up. This is also class three with good hand holds. Same rule applies to heavy backpacks, which would be difficult to climb with.

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2517701700061435028zzRfhu

Once through the more difficult climbing of the upper cliff band, continue to head upward through scattered rocks until you get to this point.

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2074340730061435028RlSiTh

This is where you head diagonalB to the plateau that extends out from Discovery Pinnacle. We used an arch to head up to the large snowfield below the rock wall area, following the base of the snowfield until it connects with the ridge coming up from the left. It is to your advantage to come out on the ridge as high as possible.

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2479568580061435028GFKVtK

Once you reach the plateau, head toward the highest point, Discovery Pinnacle.

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2143974950061435028zeWgAK

That is where you drop down to the Mt. Whitney trail...on the right side (east) of Discovery Pinnacle.

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2784665560061435028WFaXHL

Best wishes and good climbing.

Thanks for the info Kent. That's good to know. I think when I did my big Whitney Loop I dropped down too far and lost some time route-finding. I'll try to stay higher next time.

I still need to do Newcomb, Chamberlin, Joe Devel, and Pickering. Haven't really decided whether it's better to hit those by coming up the Whitney Trail and over Crabtree Pass or from Horseshoe Mdws.

I'm taking a group of 12 older teenagers (16-17 year olds) and several adults on this route next month. The youth all are experienced backpackers and in good shape. Two of us did this Whitney route several years ago. We dropped down to the lake and rather than going straight up the sand hill we climbed westward more traversing up and then coming back east to get up to discovery pinnacle. At the time we looked at the dreaded hill and decided we must have misunderstood how to get up to the pinnacle and so we took the traverse route. It took us quite some time and almost caused us to bail out on summitting Whitney. Now that I understand that one can more directly head straight up the sand hill, how difficult/dangerous is that ascent up the sand hill. Would we be better off trying your alternate route of staying up higher after coming over Crabtree Pass and skirting along below the ridge as you describe? We will likely be camping at upper Crabtree lake so we would have to ascend back up towards the pass to take the alternate route. Anyone with experience that has gone up the sand hill - I would love to hear your thoughts. We are willing to take on the challenge - I'm more concerned with whether one feels unsafe in attacking the hill head on - I understand that it's one step forward and lose a half step back as you go up but curious if you would be concerned with losing footing entirely and sliding falling going up the hill?

Kent, that is just outstanding documentation. I've got to get up there sometime. Climbing a sandhill is just not on my agenda anymore.

Sangster,

As I understand it, your outfit is considering camping at Upper Crabtree Lake after reaching Crabtree Pass. You might consider the following alternative:
(1) Camp at the tarn between Lake 12129 and Crabtree Pass (as you come from the south) rather than at Upper Crabtree Lake to the north. (Since you are a large group you might need to create some campsites there or camp at a lake a bit to the south.)
(1) In the morning scramble to the top of Crabtree Pass and then climb on to Discovery Pinnacle by the route shown clearly in Kashcraft's fine note.

From the point of safety, I would remind your teens that it is somehat loose up there, so be careful moving over big rocks (possibly unstable) and avoid knocking rocks on each other.

In my opinion the hassle of having to ascend to Discovery Pinnacle from Crabtree Pass is greatly diminished by the splendor of the Miter Basin.

Sounds like a great adventure for these luckly kids. They will always be grateful for your guidance. Jim

PS: I actually have done this route before. I believe Bob Rockwell educated me about it.