June 1st, 2022 by Jon
We woke up and knew today was going to be a very long day. We were headed to Crabtree Meadows, just a few miles off-trail. I plan to leave as much gear there as I can, and then I will climb Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the continental United States at 14,505 feet. Singsong hasn’t ever really felt the desire to climb it, so she plans to stay down at the meadow and hang out during the day.
We packed quickly, we knew Wilco and Stealth had probably made it all the way to meadows last night since they left a little earlier, while Biscuit, Raccoon, and Missle Toe had left a little later so they may have only made it part of the way there. We had bars for breakfast and then marched off at a furious pace to catch them before they started their Mt. Whitney hike so that I could join them. The trail climbed steeply, and we finished it in about 15 minutes, bringing us back to 11,000 feet before heading down to another sandy valley filled with large pines and little else.
We crossed the valley, then climbed a small ridge before descending a rocky trail that eventually gave way to grass. We walked along a flat trail before turning a corner around a huge rock pile, and there in front of us was the Lower Crabtree Meadow with Whitney Creek lazily winding through it. We walked along the edge, crossed the creek by jumping across some rocks, then left the PCT (headed north) and began heading east, walking up along Whitney Creek. We followed the trail and were amazed by the amount of water flowing in the creek. We continued walking, and eventually the trail brought us up to Upper Crabtree Meadow. There were probably 25 tents set up on the edge of the meadow under the trees so that we wouldn’t damage the grass. We found our friends who had indeed camped 2 miles away, and when they woke up, their stuff was covered in frost, so they had everything laid out in the sun to dry.
It was about 8:30, and they told us Wilco was heading out at 9:00 to head up the mountain. We all planned to join him besides Singsong. We set up our tent, putting as much stuff inside as we could that I wouldn’t need, and then filled water from the creek. Stealth left a little early because she wanted the extra time to get up there, and then Wilco, Biscuit, Raccoon, Missile Toe, and I all left together to begin our long climb. From Crabtree Meadows, it’s a 16-mile round trip, and it’s an all-day hike because of how steep it is.
The trail followed Whitney Creek for about a mile through a tree-covered forest. The trail generally tracked uphill, and many of the small climbs had built-in stairs that you had to step up onto to walk the trail. We eventually reached the edge of the tree line and walked along a small path, smooshed between a sheer granite wall and Timberline Lake. The fish were jumping like crazy as we walked by. We continued climbing rocky stairs as the trail quickly climbed in elevation. At this point, we were higher than 11,000 feet, and we had to stop a lot more often, probably every quarter of a mile, for a quick break to try and catch our breath. We climbed from a small flat grassy area to a small flat grassy area separated by walls of rock that we would climb.
After another mile or so, we came to Guitar Lake, a famous last flat spot before the serious climb to Whitney began. It’s shaped like a guitar, hence the name. John Muir Trail hikers are allowed to camp here, but PCT hikers cannot. We took a break there for a while, snacking, drinking water, and talking with plenty of hikers who were on their way down, who said it was amazing and totally worth it. After the lake, the switchbacks came mercilessly. They were very steep, had huge steps to climb, and continued for a long time. First, there was a series of shorter, steep switchbacks, then came the longer, slightly less steep switchbacks. We had to stop at basically every other switchback because it was so hard. The views were incredible already, though. We could see the entire valley we had just climbed and where the tree line ended down below.
After another few miles of struggle, we came to the trail junction 2 miles from the top. At this junction, you could either head east out of the Whitney Portal, west back towards Crabtree Meadows, where we came from, or north to head up a ridge towards the summit. We stayed there for another 20 minutes to eat more and try to stay warm. There is usually a lot of wind up on top of the mountain, but today there was thankfully very little. Good thing too, because it was still pretty cold. The last 2 miles of the trail are less steep, but you cross loose, rocky scree with steep drop-offs on either side of the ridge you are on. We followed a ledge to get around a bowl, crossed a small snow section, and then climbed the last steep backside of Whitney before arriving at the emergency shelter/hut.
When I started planning for a PCT hike back in 2018, climbing Mt. Whitney was a huge highlight that I had been looking forward to. Getting to the top after completing the hardest hike I had ever done, and seeing the views from the top, truly met every expectation I had. I teared up even when I read the trail completion sign. It felt absolutely amazing. Soon, the rest of our group arrived, and we high-fived and congratulated each other. We took turns taking pictures with some signs left at the top, and then got a few together. We all brought the little mini liqueur bottles up as well and drank a shot on top of the mountain. It was epic.
We stayed for a while, enjoyed the view, and talked with other hikers who looked as exhausted and happy as we were. It took us 5 hours to climb the 8 miles, and it was 3:00 when we decided to head back down. Seabiscuit and I went first, and we FLEW down that mountain. We were both getting cold and hungry, and we definitely wanted to get back to camp. We made it back to Guitar Lake by 5:00, took a quick break, and then got to camp by about 5:45.
I basically collapsed back at camp, and Singsong handed me a hydrating dinner, which was incredibly kind of her. The rest of the evening was spent zoning out, drinking fluids, and then we went to bed early, very tired and very happy. Singsong said she had a great day down at the meadow; she napped, read a book, explored the meadow a bit, and talked with hikers we knew who were coming and going through the meadow. Andrew spent the day fishing at different alpine lakes above the meadow where we were camped and joined us for dinner. He caught a ton of fish but released them all. He had great photos of the lakes and of golden trout that were about 6-10 inches long. It was very cool.
Tomorrow we plan to do a short day, partly because we’ve done two long days, partly to set up for an early ascent over Forester Pass to make sure the ice is solid. It’s an easier and safer crossing than doing it later in the day when the snow gets soft and slippery. It’s the highest point on the PCT, so we’ve been joking that it will be all downhill from there!
