[pct-l] many ways to Whitney

[mardav at charter.net (Marion Davison)]

1.  Cottonwood Pass to Guitar Lake to Whitney portal..  shuttle 
involved.  4-5 easy days. 
2.  Onion Valley-Kearsarge Pass-Forester Pass-Guitar-Whitney-Portal.  A 
lovely leisurely 5-6 day, 50 miler.  Shuttle involved.
3.  Mineral King-Franklin Pass-Rattleshake Creek-Kern Canyon-Hot Spring- 
Wallace--Crabtree--Whitney--Portal.  Get dropped on one side and picked 
up on the other.  A classic, rugged trans-sierra. 
4.  Lloyd Meadows--(roadend north of Kernville) up Kern Canyon (hot 
spring) to Wallace, Crabtree, Whitney, portal.  Get dropped at one end, 
picked up at the other.  This is a leisurely 90 mile ramble for a week. 
We've done all of these trips, and on two of them spent the night on 
Whitney summit.  It is cold and the wind really howls up there, but the 
sunset and sunrise are beyond compare.   On our first overnight, as we 
sat and watched the sunset, some climbers finished the face.  They spent 
some 15 min. on the summit packing up their gear, then hustled down the 
mountaineer's route  ( a chute descent route).  As we were taking 
goofball pictures at sunrise, we heard voices.  Two climbers who hadn't 
made the summit by dark had spent the night clipped in to the face.  At 
sunrise they finished their climb, and like the first two, spent a few 
minutes on the summit then hustled back down the chute to their camp at 
Iceberg Lake. 
One more tip--if you camp at Guitar Lake there is a secret spring under 
a rock in the flats near the lake shore.  I can't really recommend 
camping at Guitar Lake as it is overused and the human sewage factor is 
pretty darn bad behind every possible rock.  The higher spot mentioned 
would be better.
Note all of our Whitney trips were prior to 1997 as you can't go there 
with llamas.  No stock allowed between Guitar Lake and Whitney Portal.  
For good reason!
Marion