[pct-l] Whitney base camp

[Tom Rogers" <tom-rogers@home.com (Tom Rogers)]

Subject: [pct-l] Whitney base camp


> Is Crabtree Meadows the only feasible place to camp before summiting
Whitney
> from the PCT?  In a summer 1998 journal I found on the web, someone
reported
> camping between Timberline Lake and Guitar Lake, but everything I have
read
> indicates this area is closed to camping.  Would this area be less
frequented
> by bears?

You can camp anywhere from Crabtree to rockbound washes around 12,000 feet.
The only place closed to camping is the area adjacent to Timberline Lake.
It was probably my website you saw, and my campsite that year below Guitar
Lake was legal.  One issue is how high you want to carry your full
packweight.  When I came through again in 2000, my rationale for using
Crabtree was that it was the place where I carried my pack to a minimum
elevation, then had a nice 15 mile round trip to the summit.  I didn't
consider bears to be an issue, however if you're going to camp higher than
Crabtree and leave your stuff while you summit Whitney, marmots are a more
credible threat to your food.  I carried a bear can through that section on
both trips, so it was a non-issue for me.  There is a bear box at Crabtree
and that is another good reason to base there.

Hobbit