Sierra Nevada - John Muir/Pacific Crest Trails
Onion Valley to Cottonwood Lakes 1971
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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 Aug1971
Heart Lake on Kearsarge Pass Trail - Kearsarge Pass 21 Aug 1971
Kearsarge Lakes, Bullfrog Lake from Kearsarge Pass - 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
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
On trail above Bullfrog Lake - Kings Canyon National Park 21 Aug 1971
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 - Kings Canyon National Park 22 Aug 1971
Bubbs Creek, Center Peak - 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
Camp near Center Basin - Kings Canyon National Park 22 Aug 1971
Sunset at 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
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
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, 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
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
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
Descending south from Forester Pass - Sequoia National Park 23 Aug 1971
People on summit of Junction Peak - 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
Trail south from Forester Pass - Sequoia National Park 23 Aug 1971

Tyndall Creek from below Shepherd 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
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
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
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
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
Tawny Point and Ridge, Wright Lake Basin - Sequoia National Park 24 Aug 1971
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 - Sequoia National Park 24 Aug 1971
Lower Wright Lake Basin, Kaweah Ridge - 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
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
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
Meadow near Sandy Meadow - Sequoia National Park 25 Aug 1971
Meadow near Sandy Meadow - Sequoia National Park 25 Aug 1971
Meadow near Sandy Meadow - Sequoia National Park 25 Aug 1971

Burned trees and Mount Whitney from near Crabtree Meadows - 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
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
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.

Mt. 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.

Mt. 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
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
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
Mt. Whitney from Mt. Hitchcock ridge - Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Upper Crabtree Lake from Mt. Hitchcock - 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
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
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
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. Whitney, Keeler Needle from Mt. Hitchcock - Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971

Mt. Muir 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, Mt. Hale from Mt. Hitchcock - Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Hitchcock Lakes 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
Lake from Mt. Hitchcock - Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971
Guitar 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 (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
Picket Creek from Mt. Hitchcock - Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971

Triple Divide Peak (right) 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
Kern-Kaweah Ridge from Mt. Hitchcock - Sequoia National Park 26 Aug 1971

Crabtree Meadow 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
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
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, 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
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
Crabtree Meadow, Mt. Whitney (far skyline) - Sequoia National Park 27 Aug 1971
Guyot Flat, Mt. Guyot - 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
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
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

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

On the trail up Rock Creek - Sequoia National Park 27 Aug 1971
On the trail up Rock Creek - Sequoia National Park 27 Aug 1971


Post continued over Army Pass (11 or so climbed Langley) - GOOD TRIP.