Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board NAP, Crabtree Pass, Sand Hill July 3-4

Hiked from Horseshoe Meadow to Mt Whitney July 3-4 aided by favorable weather.

(1) The trail ascending New Army Pass is now ENTIRELY snow free.

(2) Rock Creek is still running strong, but the Miter Basin is drying fast.

(3) A small snow field lingers on the approach to the very top of Crabtree Pass. The descent path from the Pass to the Upper Crabtree Lake is snow free.

(4) BEWARE: From the bottom of Crabtree Pass, the only reasonable way to get near the outlet of Upper Crabtree Lake (where many begin climbing the Sand Hill to Discovery Pinnacle) is to move counterclockwise around the Lake. This involves crossing a steep snow field running into the Lake.

(5) The Sand Hill has no snow.

(6) The Main Trail (including the Cable area) is now snow free.

(7) Enjoyed a great fire works show in Independence in the evening. Later, while passing through Big Pine, a smaller fire works show continued, as a fire truck blasted down the 395 to deal with a significant grass fire that started adjacent to the Big Pine fire works staging area.

Jim