Title: July 16, 2013 - Guitar Lake
Hike Info:
Trail: John Muir Trail
Starting location: Tyndale Frog Ponds
Destination: Guitar Lake
Travel Time: 9:05 (1.19 mph)
Moving Time: 5:09 (2.10 mph)
Maximum Elevation: 11,559'
Description:
Usual morning routine. Got on the trail around
7:40. But we have re-arranged our packs a bit. I am carrying the bear canister Sherri was carrying with the idea that it might make going up to
Whitney a bit faster and easier. With us down to less than a week's food, this should not be too bad. I can feel the weight, but not as bad as I expected.
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| Bighorn Plateau |
We start our first climb of the day, up to 11,400'. This is the pond we debated about going to last night on
Bighorn Plateau. The pond itself is almost perfectly circular, and there looks like the water would be easy to filter. The view is fabulous from there. The place gives a clear view of the upper
Kern drainage. And there in lies the problem. The campsite would have been very exposed, to wind, sun or any kind of weather. While it was a beautiful morning, we are still glad we stayed close to the frog ponds.
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| Whitney with Hut |
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| Towards the Wallace Drainage |
Once over the plateau, we start to descend into
Wright and
Wallace Creeks, where there are good campsites. We even get a good view Whitney, with the hut on top. We take a break at the three mile mark, at Wright's Creek. Nice place to stop and camp. The hiking group from Orange County catches up to us here and passes us.
After crossing Wallace, we start a major climb up to the ridge which will bring us down into
Crabtree Meadows. This is navigated pretty well, with some rests along the way. Chris and Steve catch up to us, and pass us in this section. We go into
Sandy Meadow, where the map shows a creek. But every ravine is dried up. So we stop for lunch and just enjoy a view of the meadow.
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| Timberline Lake |
Then it is on to Crabtree. By now the sun is high overhead, without the benefit of a filtering cloud. We are a bit hot when we pull into Crabtree. The trail does not run next to the creek, so we need to be content with looking down at it. We eventually have a second lunch beside the trail. Then go on for a half of a mile, when the trail pulls beside Crabtree Creek. There is a nice little spot where we drop our packs, filter water and take a short nap. There is a "No Camping" sign, but nothing about "No Stopping". George catches up to us here.
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| Guitar Lake |
At
Timberline Lake, we take a few pictures, and meet the Crabtree Ranger, Greg P. friendly fellow. Then it is off to
Guitar Lake. This will be our launch point for Whitney tomorrow. In the meantime, it is a thousand foot climb from Crabtree to Guitar and we are feeling it. With the sun beating down on us, it is even penetrating our clothes. But we make it there. Not as many people as Sherri expected, still we search a bit for a site, finally finding one on the east side of the lake.
(36.57165, -118.3125)
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| We ordered a room with a view |
Sherri is pretty tired. I think the altitude is getting to her. We are at 11,500'. She does fix dinner and we eat well, with the thought of possibly going out tomorrow. It is early to bed, watching a Dr. Who episode.
| Breakfast |
Lunch |
Dinner |
Snacks |
| Oatmeal
and add-ins, such as dried peaches, strawberries, nuts, granola.
Tang. |
Peanut Butter and Nutella on crackers |
Beef and Cabbage Wrap |
Clif Bar, Jelly Bellies, CytoMax, Propel, GORP, Bank Balls |
1The supplied figures above come from either the book
John Muir Trail: The essential guide to hiking America's most famous trail by
Elizabeth Wenk or from topo maps. My GPS did record the full track on this day, but it is substantially different than the books. I am inclined to believe the books on the mileage. But I think that I am under counting the elevation rise because the book does not have the top of the ridges.
Distance: 9.48 miles
Elevation Rise: 2,221'
Maximum Elevation: 11,558'
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| Range to the south |
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| Gary and Whitney |
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| Mountains to the west |
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