Looking North from Forester Pass
Date: Friday, July 23
Miles: ~19.5
Cumulative Miles: 206.5
Camp: 500' Above Guitar Lake
At 8:00am, we were standing on top of 13,200 foot Forester Pass, with Mt Whitney ahead of us, and most of the John Muir Trail behind us. Perfect weather, incredible views; I think at one point I asked Andrea if we should start singing "America the Beautiful." That's exactly how it felt.
After a surprisingly easy climb up to the top, we took an hour break on top of Forester Pass and cooked up some mashed potatoes... yummy! While this was the last major climb before Whitney, it wasn't by any means all downhill from Forester. The trail from the pass to the Whitney area was lots of rolling terrain at high elevation... it ended up being quite a tiring rest of the day. We made it to Guitar Lake around 5pm, and all of a sudden the clouds started to build and we heard a few rumbles of thunder.... uh oh. We hadn't even seen a cloud in the past 5 days! It was decision time again; camp at Guitar Lake, or climb another 500 (exposed) feet to the flat camping area at 12,000 feet. We decided to roll the dice and keep going... luckily, a storm never materialized, we were at our campsite by 530pm, and the weather for the rest of the evening was cool and perfect. We had a big dinner and got all of our gear organized for the push the Mt Whitney's summit.
Our plan for the next day was to wake up at 330am, break camp quickly, and hopefully be hiking by 400am. With an early start, we could make our way up to the ridge in time to see the sun break over the horizon. We were excited to say the least! It would be tough to get any sleep, being at 12,000 feet and with anticipation building for the next day, but we still went to sleep early in an attempt to get a little rest.
The last thing I wrote in my journal that night was: "Looking forward to tomorrow! Mt Whitney!!! Shorter day! Diet Dew! Ice Cream! This has been the greatest thing I have ever done w/ the greatest person I have ever known. I'll never, ever, ever forget any of this."
Andrea ready to roll
Time to climb up Forester Pass
Sun just starting to light up the pass
Forester Pass area
Andrea in some bigtime terrain
I loved this area
The last stretch across the snow to the pass
The highest pass on the trail
Forester Pass looking South
Looking South
Mashed potatoes at the top
Looking back the way we came
Dropping off the pass
Heading down
I love the color of the Sierras
Transition back to some green
The trail went across some high plateaus
The views on the stretch were incredible
We stopped for lunch on Bighorn Plateau
Bighorn Plateau
Then we crossed some meadows...
Getting closer!
Dirty legs!!!
We crossed some sandy forests...
...and then got up to the Whitney zone
Guitar Lake
Hiking past Guitar Lake
Organizing gear for the last day
Clear skies
Our campsite above Guitar Lake. Amazing spot!
Last night on the trail
Ready for Whitney!!!
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