We visited Cottonwood Lakes and Miter Basins lasts week and encountered no snow. These are basins reached from Horseshoe Meadows, off the Whitney Portal Road.
There was 99.9999% bare rock in both basins. There is still water flowing in both bains out of the lakes into the streams that make up Rock Creek. There are herds of bighorn sheep in the lake bowls in Miter Basin. The alpha male of one herd protected his flock from us.
There is a cornice at Army Pass and no snow over New Army Pass. People were going over Crabtree Pass so it's passable. We scouted the Siberian Outpost area and lakes in their basins, which are no longer on newer maps, are drying up. The main creek draining the area that dumps into Rock Creek is not flowing. We found a couple pools that were drinkable that saved our butts. The tarn a quarter mile south of the south Sequoia Nat Park/Inyo Nat Forest boundary that sits in a bowl under Cirque Peak is bone dry. The temps were in the 70s last week, and the sun was INTENSE.
Miter Basin in particular is spectacular. I walked by it on the PCT during clouds/rain a decade ago and vowed to visit it. Just spectacular...
The thru-hiker herd is at its peak. We spent half a day on the PCT and encountered about 20 thrus...
Jeff
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/2015 10:32AM by Jeffrey Olson.
