Saturday morning dawned clear and cool over me, but Mt Whitney was barely visible through the clouds. While driving out, a couple PCT hikers were hitching into town so I picked them up and gave a ride to the laundromat. I did not recommend the Whitney Portal Hostel for a $5 shower..... At the visitor center, I drew number 2 in the lottery so I marched right in and got a permit for Cottonwood Lakes. The forecast posted outside said 30 percent chance of snow in the afternoon and temperatures around 50 degrees up high. I knew there had been some snow earlier in the week, in fact the two hikers I met had bailed for four days because of it. I had been to the basin once before on a acclimation hike and thought it would be cool to explore more, since there are a bunch of lakes in the area. On the drive up, I saw the same two people hitching so I gave them a ride to the Cottonwood Pass trailhead and then I parked at Cottonwood Meadows. If you've ever been to this trail, it's pretty unremarkable for the first few miles, with the exception of the southern terminus of the John Muir Wilderness. About the time I got there, a few scattered snowflakes were drifting around, never more than a few in sight at any time. Since it was already past noon I figured things would be great for me - although in the Sierras one never knows for sure.
Finally reaching the basin is great, the trail goes from forest to a giant meadow at a relatively steep headwall so the view opens up in grand fashion. Once there, I took the trail toward Muir Lake, which I knew was in the trees. This route is pretty indistinct, along the way I caught up with a guy using GPS to stay on the trail. It's better than some of the deer tracks down here, if you stop and look around you can find the trail again - I was expecting it to be more defined given the popularity of the region. I spent a cool afternoon setting up camp, having a snack and hanging out by the lakeshore. If the sun was behind the clouds it was cold and windy, if the sun was out it was comfortably warm enough so that I kept removing and replacing my jacket. Toward dusk it started getting much colder, I talked to the other guy there and mentioned that I would probably end up wearing everything I brought while sleeping that night. Turned out to be almost true, as I wore three shirts and a windbreaker, put my feet inside my down jacket and wore gloves while snuggled up in the tent. For a while the frogs were making so much noise I couldn't sleep and then they suddenly stopped when it began to snow lightly around 11pm. I woke up a couple times and shook snow off the tent so it wouldn't sag on me, and in the morning waited what seemed forever for the sunlight to melt some of the ice off. It was still cold out, when I wiped off the tent with my bandanna it froze within five minutes. Of course that's the perfect time for hot chocolate, and one of my water bottles was not totally frozen.
I packed up camp later and headed back to the trail, which at this time was impossible to find. I knew the basic direction I had to take, and glimpses of Cirque Peak through the trees helped ensure I was still on the right track. When I got back to the meadow, I recognized where the trail was supposed to be and wandered through some very muddy spots to find my way back. I walked up toward Mt Langley, stopping at the un-named lake before #4 and #5 (not like those are real creative names either). Finding a good spot to set up, I hung around for a couple hours there, testing more backpack food and watching clouds move overhead. When they began to sink down over the saddle below Langley, I decided to bail rather than spend another frigid afternoon and night up in the high country.
Walking out took a very very long time, while I really enjoy being in the Sierras this time all I could think was "where is the damn parking lot". I got a few snowflakes on the walk again, and by the time I reached Lone Pine a couple hours later the mountains were completely covered in dark clouds, so I think leaving was good for me. Anyway, since I didn't see everything it's an excuse to go back again someday.
A few pics here:
