Mt. Whitney From Cottonwood Lakes

Mt. Guyot (12,300 feet) looms near on this final approach to the Rock Creek log crossing.

Rock Creek Crossing

Mt. Whitney Trip from Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead. June 2000.

Near one of the meadows is a Ranger cabin off somewhere in the woods near an obvious well-used camp area. There are many places to camp all along the trail, most near water, to meet the needs of all skill and endurance levels. At last the trail descended to Rock Creek for the last time and offered a large log crossing of Rock Creek amid many campsites favored by those marching the PCT.

The trail joins here for the final plunge to Rock Creek. Check your map for this obvious junction.

Here I chose to change footgear and have a snack while my partner chose to continue on. In recent years I have grown weary and footsore using heavy boots to walk trails. I now reserve boots for the worst trails (rock bins) and cross-country travel. For everything else I now use a lightweight trail running shoes that doubles as my camp shoes. I try to determine before a trip the conditions I will have to deal with and bring the appropriate footgear. For example, for wet conditions I may bring boots and waterproof shoes for fords, while on this particular trip I brought boots and shoes appropriate for trail work. In this case, lightweight shoes were more than adequate.