Pacific Crest Trail - Day 71

Start: Mile 748.0 - Backcountry campsite - Poison Spring Meadow
End: Mile 749.2 - Backcountry campsite - Crabtree Meadow

We found ourselves 20 miles away from Crabtree Meadow at the backcountry base of Mt. Whitney and pushed hard to make it there.

Volcanic cones and big meadows.

Marmots! They either had no fear of people or have been fed by hikers. One came right up to me sitting on a rock eating a cookie and turned back only after I told him “I think that’s too close”.

View from the trailhead at the top of Cottonwood Pass. Lone Pine, CA is down there somewhere.

An interesting rock in a land of very interesting rocks.

A perfect fluffy puff cloud.

Turned into a sky of perfect fluffy puff clouds.

Turned into thunderstorms in the distance.

Turned into thunderstorms right ahead of us. We pushed on until we ran into rain showers and quickly pitched the tent and napped until they cleared after an hour and a half or so.

Huge granite massifs in every direction.

This tree had a butt. LOL.

Turned the corner above Crabtree Meadow to see these hunks of granite in the distance. Mount Hale. Mount Whitney is just around the corner to the right.

Made it to Crabtree Meadow exhausted with time to make a plan to climb Whitney the next morning - a 2AM alarm, waterproof socks, and minimal pack weight. Let’s go!