Saltydog;
I have been reading some of your posts - I can't seem to get "in" to the Whitney Portal Store site to post a reply there, so I registered here... :P
... anyway, I am planning a group trip from Crescent Meadows to Lone Pine; July 13-24. (We are also summitting Eagle Scout Peak, which overlooks Precipice Lake, adjacent to Kahweah Gap - if the snowpack permits us...)
We're a BSA troop, 6 boys, 4 adults. Most of us have been backpacking before (Philmont, etc), but for some of the boys, this is going to be a new-level of experience.
I hiked through this area via Mineral King->Monarch->Glacier Pass->Blackrock->5-lakes->Big Arroyo last year. In early August. So, no snow to speak of, really, (other than a nasty bit off the shadowed northeast side of Glacier Pass) - but I had heard of a lot of other groups whose July trips were canceled due to late snow in 2010... and the situation seems even worse this summer.
You had asked, in another posting, about food storage, and bear boxes . . . the NPS said that the bear boxes at Hamilton lakes campground were damaged, so I wouldn't rely on those. I've done hikes where we carried two bearvaults per person, (and inevitably, we ate less than half of what we thought we were going to!). There's no easy answer for this, other than, probably, go on a few long trips, bring too much food, and figure out how much food you're really going to need for the next time.
I'd really like to have up-to-the-minute info on snow/trail/creek conditions on HST - especially Kahweah Gap, and west approach to Whitney, and I'll keep scanning this board, I guess. When I come back from the trip, I'll post any info I have - but July 24... I'm certain it will be a moot point by then.
I do really appreciate the information that I have heard so far, so thank you to the dedicated and helpful folks who have posted their reports.
