On August 20-29, 1971 I backpacked with Explorer Post 360 (36 people) from Onion Valley to Cottonwood Lakes. The John Muir Trail goes to the top of Mount Whitney which we did as a day hike from the Crabtree Meadows area, then continue off of the John Muir Trail to the Cottonwood Lakes at Horseshoe Meadows.
We started with a hard day over Kearsarge Pass to Vidette Meadow. All arrived in good shape to meet group of 3 who came up from Kings Canyon.
Heart Lake on Kearsarge Pass Trail
Kearsarge Pass 21 Aug 1971
Kearsarge Lakes, Bullfrog Lake from Kearsarge Pass
Kearsarge Pass 21 Aug 1971
Bullfrog Lake from Kearsarge Pass Trail
Kings Canyon National Park 21 Aug 1971
Bullfrog Lake from Kearsarge Pass Trail
Kings Canyon National Park 21 Aug 1971
On trail above Bullfrog Lake
Kings Canyon National Park 21 Aug 1971
Bullfrog Lake
Kings Canyon National Park 21 Aug 1971
Easy day up Bubbs Creek to Center Basin Junction. Marmots all over near junction. Also a Ranger. Seven climbed Center Peak via class 3 direct from camp (returned via Class 2 route in Center Basin). Four climbed University Peak via Class 2 route.
Bubbs Creek
Kings Canyon National Park 22 Aug 1971
Bubbs Creek, Center Peak
Kings Canyon National Park 22 Aug 1971
Camp near Center Basin
Kings Canyon National Park 22 Aug 1971
Sunset at camp near Center Basin
Kings Canyon National Park 22 Aug 1971
Jeff Schrock became ill during night but we took him over Forester Pass - a long haul. Had lunch on pass. Seven climbed Junction Peak from the Pass. Got a little miss-laid finding "Shepherd's" Camp but everyone made it - another long day - mostly due to confusion on camp.
Junction Peak enroute to Forester Pass
Kings Canyon National Park 23 Aug 1971
Junction Peak enroute to Forester Pass
Kings Canyon National Park 23 Aug 1971
Looking back on the way to Forester Pass
Kings Canyon National Park 23 Aug 1971
Junction Peak, Forester Pass
Kings Canyon National Park 23 Aug 1971
Junction Peak from Forester Pass trail
Kings Canyon National Park 23 Aug 1971
Junction Peak from Forester Pass trail
Kings Canyon National Park 23 Aug 1971
Bubbs Creek, University Peak, Center Peak from Forester Pass trail
Kings Canyon National Park 23 Aug 1971
Descending south from Forester Pass
Sequoia National Park 23 Aug 1971
People on summit of Junction Peak
Sequoia National Park 23 Aug 1971
Trail south from Forester Pass
Sequoia National Park 23 Aug 1971
Tyndall Creek from below Shepherd Pass
Sequoia National Park 23 Aug 1971
Diamond Mesa, upper Tyndall Creek from Tawny Ridge
Sequoia National Park 24 Aug 1971
Jeff got worse during night so Gil Beilke and Roger Getz took him out over Shepherd Pass. (He got well at lower elevation - it was Pulmonary Edema. In-route to the Pass they met a local family group with a saddle horse who assisted in getting Jeff over the Pass.
That family also provided a place for our people to stay for the night and then in the morning transportation south to Los Angeles for Jeff to meet his parents and for Gill & Roger to Whitney Portal where they came in over Trail Crest Pass and rejoined us at Crabtree Meadow).
The main group went over easy cross-country saddle (Tawny Ridge) into Wright Lake Basin and over a more rugged ridge into Wallace Creek - Good campsites all along Wallace Creek.
Toward Shepherd Camp, upper Tyndall Creek, Diamond Mesa from Tawny Ridge - Sequoia National Park 24 Aug 1971
Mount Whitney (left skyline), Mt. Guyot, Wright Lake basin from Tawny Ridge
Sequoia National Park 24 Aug 1971
Wright Lake basin from Tawny Ridge
Sequoia National Park 24 Aug 1971
Tawny Point and Ridge, Wright Lake Basin
Sequoia National Park 24 Aug 1971
Wright Lake Basin
Sequoia National Park 24 Aug 1971
Lower Wright Lake Basin
Sequoia National Park 24 Aug 1971
Lower Wright Lake Basin, Kaweah Ridge
Sequoia National Park 24 Aug 1971
Wallace Creek
Sequoia National Park 24 Aug 1971
Wallace Creek
Sequoia National Park 24 Aug 1971
Wallace Creek
Sequoia National Park 24 Aug 1971
Tawny Ridge Pass, Ridge
between Wright and Wallace Lakes - 25 Aug 1971
The next day we headed down Wallace Creek to the Muir Trail and made Crabtree Meadow by noon. Eleven went to Whitney summit for the night.
Meadow near Sandy Meadow - Sequoia National Park 25 Aug 1971
Burned trees and Mount Whitney
from near Crabtree Meadows - 25 Aug 1971
Fishing at Crabtree Meadows
Sequoia National Park 25 Aug 1971
Mt. Whitney and Whitney Creek
Sequoia National Park 25 Aug 1971
Mt. Whitney and Whitney Creek
Sequoia National Park 25 Aug 1971
On the next day, August 26, 1971 part of the group climbed Mt. Hitchcock.
Mount Hitchcock, although visited infrequently, can be argued by thousands of hikers to be one of the most familiar peaks in the High Sierra. Its fluted, vertical north face is the first thing people see as they reach Trail Crest along the main Mt Whitney trail and Mt. Hitchcock is the prominent view for most of the two miles returning from Mt. Whitney's summit back to Trail Crest.
Spectacular as it is to look at, the view from Mt. Hitchcock isn't as impressive as Mt. Whitney's whose uninspiring west face dominates the skyline.
Mount Hitchcock is one of the 248 peaks listed by the Sierra Peaks Section of the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter.
According to Francis P. Farquhar's Place Names of the High Sierra (1926), "on Tuesday, September 7, 1881, Rev. F. H. Wales, of Tulare, climbed Mount Young, where he built a monument and left a record of its name, 'and the name of another handsome peak just south of it, which, from his suggestion, was named Mount Hitchcock.' (Elliott: Guide to the Grand and Sublime Scenery of the Sierra Nevada, 1883, pp. 49-50)".
Charles Henry Hitchcock (1836-1919) was a professor of geology at Dartmouth College from 1868-1908 and probably taught Reverend Wales during his collegiate days. Hitchcock also served as the State Geologist for both Maine and New Hampshire.
There are some technical routes on Mt Hitchcock’s north face but most of the routes are in the class 2 range with possible some class 3 moves. We took the West Ridge class 1-2 sandy talus slope from Crabtree Meadows vicinity.
Mt. Whitney, Mt. Hitchcock, Crabtree Meadow
Sequoia National Prk 26 Aug 1971
Crabtree Meadow from the side of Mt. Hitchcock
Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Mt. Whitney from Mt. Hitchcock ridge
Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Upper Crabtree Lake from Mt. Hitchcock
Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Lower Crabtree Lakes and Meadow from Mt. Hitchcock
Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Mt. Hitchcock ridge, Mt. Young from Mt. Hitchcock
Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Trail Crest Pass trail, Mt. Whitney ridge from Mt. Hitchcock
Seqouia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Mt. Whitney, Keeler Needle from Mt. Hitchcock
Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Mt. Muir from Mt. Hitchcock
Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Hitchcock Lakes, Mt. Hale from Mt. Hitchcock
Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Hitchcock Lakes from Mt. Hitchcock - Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Lake from Mt. Hitchcock
Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Guitar Lake from Mt. Hitchcock
Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Picket Creek (left), Kern-Kaweah Creek (right) from Mt. Hitchcock
Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Picket Creek from Mt. Hitchcock
Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Triple Divide Peak (right) from Mt. Hitchcock
Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Kern-Kaweah Ridge from Mt. Hitchcock
Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Crabtree Meadow from Mt. Hitchcock
Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Don Deck and Ralph Drollinger on top of Mt. Hitchcock
with Mt. Whitney in background - Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Upper Crabtree Lake from Mt. Hitchcock
Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Lower Crabtree Lake, Crabtree Meadow from Mt. Hitchcock
Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Lower Crabtree Lake from Mt. Hitchcock
Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Lower Crabtree Lake from Mt. Hitchcock
Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Nineteen made a day hike to Whitney the next day. Threatening weather but it held off for a good climb. Two climbed Hitchcock, Two climbed Young, Hale & Hitchcock.
We continued on to Rock Creek. Two climbed Guyot, three climbed Chamberlain while five took Miter Basin cross country route. Rock Creek very pretty - lots of good campsites.
Crabtree Meadow, Mt. Whitney (far skyline)
Sequoia National Park 27 Aug 1971
Guyot Flat, Mt. Guyot
Sequoia National Park 27 Aug 1971
Kaweah Range from trail
Sequoia National Park 27 Aug 1971
Kaweah Range from trail
Sequoia National Park 27 Aug 1971
Bridge over Rock Creek
Sequoia National Park 27 Aug 1971
Meadow on Rock Creek
Sequoia National Park 27 Aug 1971
Meadow on Rock Creek
Sequoia National Park 27 Aug 1971
On the trail up Rock Creek
Sequoia National Park 27 Aug 1971
On the trail up Rock Creek
Sequoia National Park 27 Aug 1971
Explorer Post 360 continued over Army Pass (11 or so climbed Langley) - GOOD TRIP.