Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Some Conditions Reports...06.26&29.2023

Here are a few photos from a hike up to Cottonwood Pass on Monday...






Cottonwood Pass...



If you zoom in, you can see the conditions on Langley...



Cottonwood/Trail Passes Trailhead...


I was heading to Lone Pine this morning, but the wind (seemingly NW) was blowing already, so I headed up towards Kennedy Meadows to have a look at the Sherman Pass Road...Turns out it was open, so I rode around to Kernville and Isabella for lunch...

There is a LOT of sand and (even worse) pine needles on the road right now...I was surprised at the amount of snow at the Pass...

The North Fork of the Kern is wild...lots of kayaks still sitting on top of vehicles (probably smart)...

Lake Isabella is beautiful again and is so full you can see still water just below Kernville...AMAZING SIGHT...



Sherman Pass Overlook...


Sherman Pass Overlook...Olancha Peak looked dry...it's quite a ways north to the continuous snow...

Richard, so how were the boot tracks up to Cottonwood Pass? Snow on the trail?

I have a permit for July 8 over Cottonwood Pass, but I am thinking of Trail Pass instead.

For a free hamburger at the Portal, can you visit Trail Pass in the next week or so.

Thanks

Paul

Since most of the PCT hikers were heading over Mulkey, that would probably be the easiest...There were a couple of guys from Bishop heading over Trail Pass to the Kern and then Olancha and back...

I don't have any idea what Trail Pass looks like, but a guess would be it will be easier than Cottonwood Pass and I don't know if 2 weeks will be enough to get rid of that cornice on top of Cottonwood...

For a hamburger. I'll do a Mulkey -> Trail Passes Loop...maybe Sunday...that is...if cam get across the meadow stream...without getting wet...

Ah, you can be bought!!!

Actually, I was up at Horseshoe Meadows on Tuesday with my dog. I must say, the creek is quite impressive right now.

My game plan would be my normal hike up over Trail Pass, through Mulkey, Tunnel Meadow and ending up at Little Whitney Meadows. From there, a hike over to Rocky Lakes Basin (maybe Funsten Lake). Over the ridge to Siberian Basin and out.

Thanks Richard again.

Paul

I just looked up the elevation of Sherman Pass...~9200'

There was still snow in the forest at that level...and there was definitely a lot of snow in the forest on the way up to Cottonwood...(almost all hard=packed)

Paul - I'm planning a 14 day Trail Pass - Little Whitney - Funston Lake - Siberian Outpost - Miter Basin trek in mid - July as part of my 80th birthday achievement. Can't go as fast or as far, but I can still go. Can you please report on the trail conditions (if there is still a trail) between Little Whitney and Rocky Basin Lakes? I've not done that route before. Considering either that route or following Golden Trout Creek back to Big Whitney Meadow.
Thanks,
Booger

Booger, there has been a change of plans. I was scheduled to head up on Sunday, but apparently, I totally forgot that my son is running the Siskiyou Out and Back 100k (Ashland, OR) on Saturday. I plan on watching him and therefore I am going to postpone my hike to the following weekend which would be July 23.

I am not sure of your hike dates, I may run into you.

Oh, and happy 80th birthday.

paul

Since I'm flying my small homebuilt airplane from PA to CA the real schedule will depend on the weather across the country. Small airplanes don't like storms and can't climb above them..
If all goes well, I'm heading over Trail Pass 19 Jul and will wander adown to Little Whitney shortly thereafter. Since I don't have a firm plan, agenda or clue, a lot will depend on what captures my interest on the way.
Freedom of the mountains!