Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Whitney to Crabtree Pass for first-timer

I'm planning a trip to Whitney this summer and have read alot about traveling through the Miter Basin to Crabtree Pass, then up the dreaded sand hill to Discovery Pinnacle. Why not go the other way? I am contemplating Whitney Portal to Trail Camp to spend the night, then summit Whitney and descend to the south, down the dreaded sand hill, up to crabtree pass, and on to Sky Blue Lake. Any reason this is not a good idea? Thanks in advance!

The short answer is most people start at Horseshoe Meadow and travel to Mt. Whitney (either up Miter Basin or on the trail through Guyot pass & Crabtree Meadows to the west side of Mt Whitney) to have an option when permits are hard to get. It is also a nice experience, when compared to the crowded Mt. Whitney trail. There are many less people and Miter Basin is cross country...that is for sure.

Going South works fine, and has a big advantage....going down the dreaded sand hill. The difficulty is getting an overnight permit for the Mt. Whitney trail, not in going south though the Miter basin.

There might be some emotional advantage to end up at Mt. Whitney last....when compared to starting with the big prize first and then adding on other stuff afterwards.

Personally, I love the Miter basin...with or without Mt. Whitney.

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/225902303LpAqHk

Thanks for the info. I plan to put in for a permit in February. Hopefully I can draw one night as I plan to do Whitney midweek, then get out of the more crowded area and head south. I appreciate your input on the emotional factor of having the "big prize" at the end, but for me the big prize likely will be the back country of the Miter Basin. Any other input on a north to south route would be greatly appreciated (i.e. camping spots, best fishing, etc).
Thanks!

ahh! This is a great trip! I've done it twice (in the summer of course), north to south.

The first time, we camped at Trail Camp, left camp at 7am, summited Whitney, then made it to Sky Blue Lake at 6pm. The next day hiked out to Horseshoe Meadows, via Old Army Pass. The second time, also camped at Trail Camp, left camp at 5am, summited, then made it to Soldier Lake at 6pm. I would say I'm average in backpacking speed (I know many who are faster and many who are slower).

Places to camp: (1) at the bottom of the sand hill there is a beautiful, serene lake. You could camp there - it looked as though others have. I think this is often referred to as "Upper Crabtree Lake". (2) not many places to camp until you reach "Huge Blue Lake" (the large lake north of Sky Blue Lake), and then of course (3) Sky Blue Lake is nice (north end looked better to me). Just south of Sky Blue (4) at the bottom of the drop there are a couple trees and I see people camp there. There is a little waterfall from the Sky Blue drainage. (5) Soldier Lake is pretty nice too, but the water is more filthy and there are many more people there.

Enjoy!

Thanks for the info! That is pretty much what I had in mind...can't wait for the trip!