Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Fishing and trail tips for Crabtree Lakes

I plan on doing some fishing in late July at lower and middle Crabtree Lakes. My daughter freaks when we leave established trails but she also is excited about the fishing prospects of these lakes. It is in my best interest to calm her fears and keep her happy on these week long journeys. She's 15 and I'm hoping to really get her into backpacking on this first multi night trip for her.

Is there a use trail from Crabtree meadows to these lakes? Where does it start? We'll be spincasting with lures and fly and bubble setups. Tackle advice and techniques would be greatly appreciated. Any primo campspots on these lakes? We hope to hit Hitchcock lakes as well on the way out to the portal.

Good news. There's a pretty well established trail as far as the Upper Crabtree Lake. There's no sign anymore, but it starts on the small rocky ridge (moraine) at the meadow about 1/2 mile below the Crabtree Ranger Station. Cross the meadow and Whitney Creek from the trail to the tiny meadow/lake/marsh on the other side. On the left is a moraine and the trail starts where it meets the meadow. Nothing at all difficult the whole way to the lakes. Standard trail. Excellent fishing if you hit it right.

Have a good trip,

George

As I recall from 25 years ago the terrain was pretty easy.

I was camped at Lower Crabtree Meadow. Leaving about 6:00 am I hiked up the trail to summit Whitney. Then on the way down I scrambled up Keeler Needle, Mt. Muir, and Discovery Pinnacle. From Discovery it was a very easy stroll down to Upper Crabtree Lake and all the way down to camp. I think easier than following the JMT from Whitney.

In hindsight being 16 and well acclimated must have given me plenty of energy. My companion on the trip only made it to the junction with the main trail before turning back- and I got to camp 2 hours before him. I had spent 26 of the previous 36 days backpacking in the Sierra. Now 27 years later I don't think I would have such an easy day of it.

Thanks George! That's our layover day before Whitney and we are looking forward to it. I ran into a bunch of old guys at trail crest last year that had a blast there. It may have been the bottle of booze that they found in the Crabtree bear box. They were having a grand old time.

Jim - I am always amazed when I retrace some of the hikes I did when I was 16. I can't do them anymore. I didn't know I was such a stud then. Thank God for hiking poles.

Yes and no. That trip was probably the height of my backpacking conditioning. That summer I did a 5 day trip ending on a Sunday, then the following Saturday did a 16 day trip, then the following Saturday started the 10 day trip that included my little day hike of Whitney. Actually the trip ended up being 9 days as I ended up hiking all the way from the JMT near Wallace Creek, over Shepherd Pass to the Symmes Creek trailhead- then as it was only 5:00 pm and my ride wouldn't arrive until the next day I walked to Independence. I still rank that as the hardest day of hiking I've ever done- especially considering I did the last 10 miles without water.

Anyhow though I spent a lot of time in the mountains that summer, my pack wasn't as light as it could have been and average daily mileage was probably right about 10. This past summer at 43 I did the JMT in 15 days at an average mileage of 15 per day. Because of my lighter pack (partly due to resupplies at Tuolumne and MTR), most days felt more like day hikes than grueling backpack trips.

Back to the topic at hand- I'm considering hiking from Horseshoe Meadows to Whitney via some off-trail routes including the Crabtree Lakes/Discovery Pinnacle section, then taking the High Sierra Trail to Sequoia. It depends partly on snow cover as this trip would start July 3 or 5.

Jim

The weight thing makes hiking today so much more enjoyable. I can remember lugging 70 pound packs when I was 20 and most of it was cross country stuff. Our camps were pretty nice I must say but now my 35 pound pack is a way better option.

Sadly we are always in our best shape when hiking season ends after those long trips. I turn 50 in 3 months and for the 1st time I have joined a gym because "hiking into shape" hurts too much. 10 pounds to go and I'm ready to go.

Sounds like some good hiking options for you this summer. How to you get so much time off? I'm planning on the HST trail next summer because it takes me that long to get the time off work and all the logistics. I remember my college days we'd be sitting around drinking beer on a Friday night and someone would say let's go backpacking. We'd grab a salami, cheese and a bag of rolls and hit the trail and hope to catch a few fish for dinner. There were no such things as trail quotas.

It wasn't ME!!! I know better than the leave something like that behind, unless it's on a summit somewhere...



Oh, I hear ya there. Got a bit spanked today, will start the weights on Monday...