Mt. Whitney From Cottonwood Lakes

The rocky ridge mentioned in the text below. Beyond this ridge is, finally, the Whitney drainage.

A Long Stretch of Viewless Hiking

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

Most of the time dry sparse forest was all that could be seen, so I tended to put my head down an concentrate on churning forward to make the best time towards camp. Eventually the trail broke out of forest to cross another sandy flat and mount a low-forested rocky ridge. Here the trail made a definite break downward and gradually became steeper and began to switchback.