Mt. Langley and Mt. Whitney 2007

Easy day today.  Except for the climb back to the pass in the morning, it was mostly downhill.  And the terrain was familiar.  We joined the trail just north of Guitar Lake, and would be remaining on the trail for the rest of the trip.  The “adventurous” part of the trip was definitely over.  But it was now easier to relax with the uncertainties no longer there.

Again we saw nobody in the Arctic Lake drainage, but started seeing people near Guitar Lake and certainly on the John Muir Trail.  Quite a few people were camped near the ranger station at Crabtree Meadow.  We camped on the north side of Whitney Creek away from the rest of the people, but several people joined us there later.

Journal Entry:  Backtracked over Whitney-Russell Pass and down Arctic Lake valley.  Joined the trail near Guitar Lake, and hiked down to Crabtree Meadow, where we are camped near the ranger station.  Tomorrow we head down the PCT to Rock Creek.

Iceberg Lake marmot

Whitney-Russell Pass above Iceberg Lake

right before we climbed back up it

Mt. Russell

Arctic Lake looking north from its south shore

Guitar Lake is just above center

Mt. Hitchcock looms above

Mt. Whitney above Timberline Lake