I'm in the planning stages of my next backpack: Starting at Mineral King on Sunday, July 13, exiting at Whitney Portal on Saturday, July 19.
I have friends who will drive me to Mineral King on Saturday evening, where we will spend the night, and then they will climb Sawtooth Peak with me. I am hoping they will haul a few pounds of my weight so I can keep up with them.
Otherwise, they will leave me in the dust.
Here's a
Gmap4 map showing my intended route. You can zoom in and see the topo lines and trails.
Here are the mileages and elevations:
Elev Miles gain/loss
Mineral King 7800 0
Sawtooth Pass 11,700 4.5 +3900
Sawtooth Pk 12,343 -- +600-600 side trip
Columbine Lake 10,970 .8 -700 First campsite?
jct Little 5 Lks trail 9,550 3.4 -1400
jct Soda Creek trail 8,400 1.4 -1150
jct Big Arroyo 8,000 .5 -400
low pt, Big Arroyo 7,700 1.8 -300
ridge/hump 8,900 1.4 +1200 crossing: Big Arroyo-Rattlesnake Cr
Rattlesnake Cr 8,050 1.4 -850
jct Kern River 6,600 1.8 -1450 lowest elevation
Kern River to jct HST 6,700 2.5 +100
HST to Kern Hot Springs 6,900 1.5 +200 3/4th camp
Whitney Creek 7,800 5 +900
Crabtree Mdw 10,300 3+ +2500
Crabtree Lk 11,300 3 +1000 5th camp
Discov.Pinnacle/TrailCrest 13,650 2 +2350
Whitney Summit 14,500 2 850 6th camp
Whitney Portal 8,350 11 -6150
SPOT Messenger link Note that I sometimes use the Help button for more frequent tracking signals. Do NOT raise any flags. I'll use the SOS button if I really want assistance.
Edit... After the trip:
The final trip report:
Mineral King to Whitney PortalThe picture album:
Mineral King to Whitney Portal, July 2014Here is the Gmap4 link with the entire SPOT track shown:
MK_Whit_Spot.kmlHere is the Spotwalla map with Spot links.
SpotwallaWhen at the Whitney summit, I documented the
Whitney Mountaineers Route: Easy Walk Off from the NotchAlso:
Whitney Creek - Kern River Shortcut
