[pct-l] Cottonwood Pass and the JMT

[surferskir at aol.com]

--TexPoo--
Let me offer some more suggestions.
Have you friend take the YARTS/ESTA bus to Lone Pine from Yosemite Valley.  (Or use Lone Pine to park your car and YARTS & ESTA buses back to Lone Pine at the end). (Can you leave your car parked in Yosemite?)
Then the hitch hike to Horseshoe Meadows via Whitney Portal Rd. and Horseshoe Meadow Rd. is ~23 miles uphill to the trailhead. Like Ed says, the Cottonwood Pass trail and trailhead gets a lot of traffic, so hitching a ride may be pretty easy.  Also the quotas for Cottonwood Pass may be full, but the permits for Trail Peak and Mulkey Pass are easier to get.  (There is a USFS office in Lone Pine).
 
This is what I have done in the past:  The hike up from Horseshoe Meadows to Mulkey Pass or Trail Peak Pass is shorter than the hike to Cottonwood Pass, and the elevation gain is less. Mulkey Pass  is ~1.8 trail miles from the trail head (south loop) with an elevation gain of ~500 feet.  The trail to Trail Peak Pass is ~2.3 miles with an elevation gain of ~600 feet.  Both these passes cross the PCT  south of Horseshow Meadows.  
 
That way your friend can become acclimated more gradually to get on the PCT.  Cottonwood Pass is ~3.7 miles from the trailhead, and and elevation gain of ~1,100 feet, and the last mile is pretty steep.  Not a good way to get acclimated hiking rapidly to 11,000 feet on the first day.  From Mulkey Pass along the PCT is 5.5 miles, 0.8 miles shorter if you enter at Trail Peak Pass, to Cottonwood Pass.  A good way to acclimated.

--Dennis--

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Hello Patrick,
I did that last summer - rode from Horseshoe Meadows to Yosemite Valley.  That 
is an awesome part of the PCT/JMT.  You will meet many hikers going south and 
heading for Whitney and Whitney Portal. Consider stopping at Vermillion Valley 
Resort for resupply. They have great food, free camping, and will hold your 
resupply box - a hiker-friendly place.
MendoRider-Hiker.



________________________________
 From: Patrick Seibt <texaspoo666 at gmail.com>
To: pct-l at backcountry.net 
Sent: Monday, March 18, 2013 10:43 PM
Subject: [pct-l] Cottonwood Pass and the JMT
 
So a friend of mine in Mammoth wants to do some of this with me. He has
convinced me to do the JMT portion of the Sierra to the Valley floor with
him. One, has anyone out there done this and if I do this and meet him in
Lone Pine, how far is Lone Pine from Cottonwood Pass? Two, has anyone else
noticed that on the down loaded Halfmile maps, it is missing an entire
section that includes Cottonwood Pass? Or is it just me?

Texas Poo