Well, after almost a year of planning we finally headed out on our epic adventure on Sunday 9/14. We arrived in Lone Pine around 11am and picked up our Permits. Then it was over to the Portal to drop a car and check out the main trail. we hiked about a mile up just to get a reference point for when we were coming down.
Around 2pm we headed over to Horseshoe Meadow and the Cottonwood Pass TH. It was an uneventful afternoon. We hiked around the meadow a little and then down the trail about a mile or 2 just to see what was in store for us the next day.
Monday morning at 8am we were off. Our first day had us camping at Chicken Spring Lake. We arrived around noon and spent the rest of the afternoon fishing and hiking around the lake. (there are NO fish in Chicken Spring Lake).
Tuesday morning and we were up and on our way by 8 again. We were headed to Rock Creek crossing, about an 8 mile day. Beautiful views all day and overall a very enjoyable hike. Other than the cowboy looking for his lost horse in the Meadow near Rock Creek it was a very relaxing day. That afternoon we got a little rain, sleet and snow. We fished the creeks but again...caught nothing.
Wednesday morning we were up and out of camp by 7:30. We didn't sleep all that well because of the cold ( low 20's would be my guess) We were headed to Uppeer Crabtree Meadow and this was probably the most enjoyable day hiking. We ran into a few other hikers. Most were doing the High Sierra trail from Crescent Meadow in Sequoia. Overall it was a great day, we did manage to see more deer than people, and we saw 7 people. That night as we sat there drinking our Captian Morgans and Jack Daniels we talked about how easy the next day would be. We were only supposed to hike to Guitar Lake ( 2 miles) then up to Whitney the next day. So much for that plan.
Thursday morning came way to early and with a meradow full of frost. Everything in Crabtree Meadow was covered in a fine white dusting of ice.. That was enough for us. Along with the difficulty sleeping above 10k, the cold was really keeping us from getting any good rest ( despite my 20 degree Marmot Pounder Plus bag) we decided that we would go ahead and Summit on this day, a day early, and hope it was warmer on the east side.
We reached Guitar lake by 10:30am and we had a quick lunch and filtered 4 liters for the hike up and over. By the time we reached Trail Crest I was done. I was not going to make the Summit. The only problem was that my hiking partner was about a 1/4 mile ahead and I couldn't catch up to tell him I wasn't going to make it. Well I finally did catch him....at the Summit. By this time I was already pretty spent and concerned about the hike down. We spent about a half hour on top with a handful of dayhikers and then we were off. We left the Summit at about 3.
By 4:30 we had picked up our packs at Trail Crest and were on our way down the switchbacks. About an hour into the hike down my partner blurts out " if we make it all the way down tonight I'll pay for the hotel". Say no more....we doubled our pace, passed a ton if not all the day hikers coming down and arrived at the portal at 7:40....20 minutes after they stop serving burgers. Oh well....we bought our $18 6pack and sat right there out in front of the store and drank them all.
By about 8:30 we were loading up the car and headed to Lone Pine to find a room for the night.
I just want to say to those of you who are regulars on this board... Thank you for all your advice. I really could not have done this trip with out your input. From info on where to fish...( thanks fish395) to the comments about boots, it was all great info.
I've already been asked to lead a trip again next summer. This time I'm considering the High Sierra trail. I'd rather hike 70 miles on the west side, than walk up the main trail. You guys who do the east side are just plain Crazy. Keep it up!
