Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Cirque Peak via Cottonwood Pass, May 17 & 18

yet another idea for my mid-May trip (hoping to spend some time above 12k)...

Just looking for opinions on whether or not this is a realistic/safe idea or not.

I ran across some info involving a x-country route from the PCT to Cirque.

source: http://www.whitneyzone.com/wz/ubbthreads.php/topics/16441/Re_new_army_pass_old_army_or_c#Post16441

I mapped out a possible route. Is this something that could safely be done with micros and trekking poles this early in the year? I realize that no one knows what the weather is going to be between now and then, but what is the likelihood of us NOT summiting due to snow/ice?
Here's the route that I mapped out:
Cottonwood Pass Trip, May 2014.

Figuring this mid-May is the equal of early June after the biggest winters on record, you should be able to cross the pass with little to no problems. If there is a block, go back down trail and take the backdoor...consult your map. This back door is easy to see, if you look for it.

There might be some soft snow going up from Chicken Spring Lake until it tops out, nothing that need more than a pair of gaiters and poles.

You need to be able to recognize the cut up to Cirque. Before you get to point on your right you will see nothing forward. When it opens up, angle for the high point.

I have done this twice in early June. I took the most direct route possible, which took me through some large snow field, once with very little postholing, the other with a lot. These field can be by passed.

The summit requires you to pick your way through the boulders. Nothing really technical, you just need an eye for picking the easiest and safest route.

Thanks wbtravis. I really appreciate the input.

I was looking at Recreation.gov for Cottonwood Pass permits. It says 'W,' which I believe means that permits can't be reserved and only walk-ins are available. Do you know if CWPass permits are limited this time of year? Is there anyway to get them ahead of time? I may be arriving in Lone Pine outside of the Ranger's Stations business hours.

There are plenty of Cottonwood pass permits available. I think the "W" indicates there is no quota at this time and all you do is walk in and request one. Later in the summer (Fri, June 27) they have reservable permits. But of the reservable days, the first fully reserved date is July 24. And that is only the 60% reservable. 40% (16 permits) area held back and available for walk-in requests starting the day before the entry date.

Thanks Steve.

Do you know if there is a way to get the permits ahead of time? There's a good chance that I will be arriving late Friday night or early Saturday, outside of the Rangers Station's operating hours.

I would call the Ranger Station, but based on how glitchy the recreation.gov website is today, I bet they're busy!

In the past, they have tried to accommodate people with plans like yours. Whitney permits have been made available in the night box kiosk by the road in front of the Visitor Center. If you have a reservation already, and for other permits, if they are available, I think they will accommodate.

First thing to do is call the Wilderness Permit office and discuss the possibility. They're the ones who would know.
760-873-2843

63: I found this picture from Davey McCoy on that social media site, posted yesterday. It is from their recent New Army Pass climb to Langley:

Not sure whether they used crampons, but they had ice axes. I think from the picture, though that crampons would help here. This is a view looking toward the top of New Army Pass:

Is that a cornice I see curling up above?

Thanks Steve. I posted to a thread on the other Whitney forum to ask for details about their hike.

I would not want to pass that without tools. It ain't the up that gets ya...

I was up to Cottonwood Pass yesterday. The trail is virtually snow free right up to the Pass. There are some patches here and there but nothing dramatic that needs traction.

However, today I was going to do Cirque Peak from Cottonwood Lakes-South Fork lakes trail. While the trail from Cottonwood Lakes is clear to the 3.3 mile trail junction, there is quite a lot of snow once you turn off on the branch off to South Fork lakes. I think you could get there fine in the morning because the snow is firm but if you're returning in the afternoon you will post hole pretty deep as some of the snow banks were 3-5ft easy. I did not turn right up to Cottonwood Lakes (to new army pass) but at least from what I saw there was no snow on the initial portion of that section near the junction.

I also saw several sets of bear tracks on both trails, including a big print at 11,000 feet just before Cottonwood Pass. So, assume that bears are active in the area.

The Kern Valley Hiking Club just posted some photos of the area from their trip yesterday. It looks like the snow is melting fast:

http://www.meetup.com/Kern-Valley-Hiking-Club/photos/21672782/

Thanks for the info nyker, that's very helpful and encouraging!

Did you happen to hike towards Chicken Spring Lake from Cottonwood Pass? I wonder how much snow is on the trail there.

I did actually! Long story...but, in short, there is very little snow to Chicken Spring Lake coming from Cottonwood Pass via the PCT. There are patches here and there and more at the lake itself, but nothing on the trail to the lake requiring snowshoes. I did see a lot of bear tracks though from 11,000ft on the Cottonwood Pass Trail along to the PCT. I have a few pics of them. SO make noise when you hike there...

I actually attempted Cirque Peak from Chicken Spring Lake on Saturday. Of course, I underestimated the distance, and I left too late knowing that I needed to drive back to LA for a flight that night...

Nonetheless, once I got to the Lake, I headed due west making an ascending traverse (ie following no route) towards what I *thought* was the summit of Cirque Peak. After getting over the hill to the west/southwest of the lake and on top of the ridge, I kept climbing up to the west/NW, clear of the cornice that was on the peak and towards the top, only to realize there was another summit further to the NW 12.5k or so, then another small pile of rocks, then the peak which seemed to be Cirque Peak further out another 0.5 mile or so as the crow flies.

Realizing I needed to then downclimb to the saddle of sorts it was taking too much time and I figured I had to turn around given my early flight yesterday. But it was very doable to get Cirque peak from there if you don't mind some cross country travel. I will be back to do that again! Consequently, I think staying on the PCT another 1.5-2 miles would have precluded the need to go cross country so much and would have been more direct, but it was pretty fun going directly west from the lake in a truly stunning part of the mountains there.

Thanks again for the info!

We plan to hike to Chicken Spring Lake and setup camp there. In the afternoon I'll hike the PCT northwest until I find a good spot to cut up the side of the mountain to the peak. I will mark the spot on my GPS as a waypoint. We are hoping to be on the peak for sunrise, although it's hard to estimate how much time we will need. I am guessing it will be about 3 miles from the lake to the peak and take us about 2 hrs. The last mile or so will be about a 30% grade:
Cirque X-Country from PCT

What part of NY are you from? I went to school in Saratoga Springs.

The camping sites there look pretty nice and the meadow/basin you see from the top of the Pass when you start walking west on the PCT is such a nice view, a great place to plan to have lunch, but it was pretty windy. Have lunch behind that big rock (where you might also see some bear tracks if it hasn't rained).

On Sat, Chicken Spring lake was frozen fyi, and not much was flowing in that little effluent running down to the east.

Your mileage of ~3 mi sounds about right. I'd be interested to know where you will break off and turn for the peak. That southern slope that appeared to come off the trail seemed long, but not that steep.

The cross country route up due west from the lake was not a bad route and was very scenic, but a bit more cumbersome than the trail I imagine. Next time, perhaps I will do a loop - deadreckon up from the lake and down the trail on the way out.

I am a bit familiar with Saratoga...these days I am down state, though lived in the capital region for six yrs. Did you visit the Adirondacks when you were there?

I will post a gpx file from the hike.


Sadly, this was before I was into hiking. There's a good chance we'll be relocating to New England in the next year or so. If that happens, I'll be spending some time in the Adirondacks and White Mtns.


That's good to know. Thanks!

Cirque X-Country from PCT

We cut up further back...before the ridge...according to our GPS track.

As soon as you see the peak, cut towards.

Thanks!
Playing around with Google Earth, it looks like Cirque first comes into view about a 1/2 mile before the spot I've marked on the map. This link is centered on the spot:
Gmap4

Here's the view:


Does that seem right?

It's real obvious because all you see on the right is boulders until it opens up.

You will know when to climb, believe me.

Thanks wbtravis.

I've mapped out another x-country track (green line), from Cirque Peak to Peak 12,525'(Prov) to Trail Master Peak and down to Chicken Spring Lake.

Does anyone have any thoughts in regards to the safety & feasibility of this route, assuming we keep a safe distance from the really steep dropoffs? The sections that catch my attention are:
The ridge that goes from Trail Master towards Cottonwood Pass
The top of the 'bowl' around Chicken Spring Lake
The bowl formed by Cirque and Peak 12,525'(Prov)

I apologize for the unending string of questions - just trying to get as much info as possible. This trip can't come soon enough!

A couple of us managed to summit Cirque a few minutes after sunrise this morning. No snow to really speak of, until the last 100 yards to the summit or so. It probably could have been avoided.

All of us had some (somewhat) surprising issues with elevation. I have a few ideas about why this happened. Will put this is a separate post, as well as post a trip report this week.

And pictures?

And 63 made a quickie summit in Lone Pine on Saturday, too. He and friends cleaned up the web cam glass, so the pictures are much clearer, now.

In the afternoons when the sun shines on the camera box, the pictures had lots of sun blur. That's all gone now.

Thanks, 63ChevyII!

Looking forward to the trip reports, too.

Yes, lots of pictures.


No problem. I also checked the gutters for the director.

A friend and I did your green route a few years back. Bivy'd between Trailmaster and Peak 12,525, then continued on to Cirque Peak and Mt. Langley the next morning.

Your green line is all class 1 - 2, except if you want to get on top of Peak 12525. That's short and easy class 3.

I've climbed Cirque quite a few times this way.

Pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rockwellb/sets/72157644331633278/

Thanks for the info Bob. I want to go back to try the green route.

Due to the difficulty all of us were having, we only did the yellow and blue routes to get off the mountain as quickly as possible.

I am hoping my difficulty was due to lack of sleep and acclimation and not an indicator of my fitness level (I've been dealing a bad cold or allergies for 6 weeks now and haven't been able to train).

I've been fine over 14k ft with one day to acclimate before and I've also had headaches at 8k ft. I've also done 3 14ers over 3 days only to get AMS on the fifth day while lower at camp. AMS is a fickle mistress and one of the banes of my trips. For me, it's always been very hard to know when it'll rear its ugly head.

Two hikers had previously summited Whitney with AMS problems. One did it with no acclimation as a day hike. The other two (myself included) are prone to the headaches. By the end of the trip, all of us had headaches, with the two that hiked Whitney with no symptoms stopping at Chicken Spring Lake. I am really interested in what forum members will have to say about our situation; more on this later...

Here are a few of my favorite pics from the hike.














The rest can be seen on my website.
Cirque Peak via Cottonwood Pass Trip Report, May 17-18 2014
The trip report will be posted on this page also. I am having issues with my web server, so the page may load slowly.

Really, really beautiful pictures dude, especially the panoramas. Wallpaper worthy.

As for the AMS, looking at the pictures, it could be weather related. My unscientific theory that I've asked about before on here. Low pressure system coming in may affect sensitive people like me and you. Lack of oxygen is only part of the issue at altitude. The other part is the low pressure.

Thanks! Taking pictures is an important part of the 'experience' for me.


I had not heard that before, but it would apply to our situation. How could you tell there was low pressure by looking at the pictures? Clouds? something else?

I am working on a separate post for the AMS issues.

Here's a link to the AMS thread. I hope I don't get roasted too badly

http://www.whitneyzone.com/wz/ubbthreads.php/topics/36642#Post36642




source: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000133.htm
It seems logical (to me anyway) that a storm moving in would increase the likelihood of AMS.

Thanks for the info regarding the cross country route to Cirque wbtravis!



This is what it looks like where we jumped off of the trail (36.462319,-118.241478):
You can see Cirque Peak (covered in snow) in the center of the picture-


Next to the trail, there is a pile of trees-

OOOooooooooooooooh!!!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!

Beautiful pics!

Thanks Akichow. Do you have any White Mtn Peak pictures?

Something I've started doing is plotting my planned route/trail profile vs what my GPS records:

You bet! But taken with an older point and shoot, so photos lack vibrant color.

Sunset at the Barcroft Gate area.



Flanks of White Mountain (summit approach)



Nearing the summit.



Summit view




On the White Mountain Trail, looking down at the research station and the road down to the Barcroft Gate.



Jeep road (when it has been graded).

If you are prioritizing summit and altitude, White may be your best choice.

If you are prioritizing summit and views, Dana is hard to beat.

And I second the comment about the 20 Lakes Loop Hike out of Saddlebag Lake. That is exactly where I fell in love with higher altitude Sierra hiking.

Thanks Akichow, I figured you'd have pics.

What are your thoughts on doing Dana with micros and trekking poles if there's snow?

I've only done it in summer so I don't have a perspective. Could be a lot of fun.... Dana tends to get scoured free of snow a little earlier than other places but still, this is what it looked like last Friday. And then another foot of snow fell.

(Dana is the highest point just West of Mono Lake.)



This, while we are on the topic, was White Mountain last Friday. Comparatively much less snow.