At 14,495 feet Mount Whitney is the high point of the lower forty-eight states and the goal of many. If you didn’t get your permit application for the main trail in by February, and don’t want to attempt a more technical ascent up the Mountaineers Route, this on-trail option may be for you.

The route from Cottonwood crosses over the Sierra Crest at the Cottonwood Pass, eventually drops west to the Kern River and then loops east to Guitar Lake below the western slopes of the peak. We like this route for a number of reasons:

• It is beautiful with high alpine lakes and expansive views.
• There are far fewer people than on the regular Whitney Trail.
• This route offers a fine hike in its own right and the summit as a bonus.
• To make it a truly relaxing trip we can utilize the services of Cottonwood Pack Station to carry equipment while we hike with a day-pack. This also enables us to take along a few extra luxuries and make a complete vacation.

Yes, it does take a little longer to climb this way, but then we believe that it is the journey that is important rather than the goal and this offers a very fine journey indeed.

The Climb

Day 1
We’ll meet at the Cottonwood/Golden Trout Walk-in Campground (this is near the Cottonwood Lakes trailhead) at 7:30am on the morning of the start of the trip unless other arrangements are made prior. You should have had a good breakfast and other than final packing be more or less ready to go. We’ll do a quick pack check and distribute group gear. The campground is some 45 minutes from Lone Pine so you need to have checked and double-checked your gear since there will be no opportunity for “last minute” shopping for forgotten items. We plan to leave the campground (9,950’) early since the first day is a long one. We take the trail across Cottonwood Pass (11,000 feet) and then make a long contour entering Sequoia Kings National Park, and continuing to the headwaters of Rock Creek. This is about a 9-10 mile day for hikers. If using pack stock we have to go further for a 13 mile day.

Day 2
We drop down Rock Creek before climbing up onto the wide open spaces of Guyot Flat. Staying above treeline we climb and contour around into Crabtree Meadows. We now turn towards Mt. Whitney and climbing steadily we get to camp at Guitar Lake (11,460’). This is a big 13 mile day for hikers, but those with pack support have a 9-10 mile trip.

Day 3
We are not too far from the summit but we allow all day for the ascent to the summit and the return. There are numerous switchbacks up to Trailcrest (13,550’) where we meet others coming up from the other side. The summit seems within grasp but the thin air limits our ability to move speedily, and with slow but steadily progress before long we will be on top and enjoying the highest point outside of Alaska. After summit photos and relaxing on top we retrace our steps to camp and a celebratory dinner.

Day 4
We retrace our steps back to Rock Creek.

Day 5
We retrace our steps back to the road head

Notes

You can also get our unpublished SMC Guide to Whitney here.

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