[pct-l] Lone Pine to Ashland - Hike Whitney or not?

[Gary Wright]

On Jan 1, 2012, at 7:24 PM, Anthony Curnow wrote:
>> From what I gather, it's about 70 odd km from Lone Pine to Independence
> (not including the extra 35km return to Independence itself for resupply).
> 
> How far is the Whitney summit off this trail, and is it possible to base
> camp sort of lower, leave the gear while we summit, then head back down to
> the main trail all in under a day?


You don't indicate what trailhead you'll be starting at.  I'd recommend
starting at Horseshoe Meadows.  It is about 25 km from the trailhead to
Crabtree Meadows, which is on the west side of Whitney.  This would be
instead of entering from Whitney Portal, where permitting procedures
might be much more difficult.  A long-distance permit for the PCT from
the PCTA (+500 miles) isn't valid for entering at Whitney portal.

Anyway, there is a bear box at Crabtree so you can leave your food
there as well as any gear you don't need on the summit.  Take your
pack and what you'll need for the day and hike to the summit and then
back to Crabtree Meadows.  The next day you continue on via the PCT
towards Forester pass.

Here is a little diagram, not to scale!.  The '===' lines are roads,
The '|' lines are the PCT and the '-' lines are side trails from the PCT.

This diagram won't look right unless you are reading this with a
monospace font (i.e. Courier).

^ To Canada
|
|
+ Glenn Pass
|
|
|
+--- Kearsarge Pass ------- Onion Valley ===========  Independence
|
|
+ Forester Pass
|
|                    Whitney
|                      |
+-Crabtree Meadows ----+--------- Whitney Portal =====  Lone Pine
|                                                 =
|                                                 =
|                                                 =
+ Horseshoe Meadows ===============================
|
|
V To Mexico


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