At the quite nice walk-in trailhead campground, only $6 per night and for the exclusive use of hikers getting ready to depart on a hike (or, I suppose, hikers just having arrived from a hike.) One-night stay limit. Kudos to whoever came up with and developed this campground.
A table at the walk-in trailhead campground. A spare and elegant structure.
Horseshoe Meadow from the vicinity of the campground, looking southwest. I believe the peak shown is Trail Peak, 11605 feet; the meadow itself is at about 9900 feet.
On the trail the next morning; various critters about, including this Clark's Nutcracker.
The same bird a few seconds later; Nucifraga columbiana.
The bird decided it had business somewhere else; shwoosh!
Starting up the grade to Cottonwood Pass, and looking back east to expansive Horseshoe Meadow in the distance.
A bit further along the Cottonwood Pass trail, again with Horseshoe Meadow in the distance. A very well-maintained and graded trail along here.
Again looking east, climbing towards Cottonwood Pass at 11160 feet .
Almost to the top, again looking east. Mountains near Death Valley in far distance.
Experimenting with new Ininji socks. Quite comfy. Taken atop Cottonwood Pass.
Atop Cottonwood Pass, looking west-southwest. The Pacific Crest Trail intersects here.
Trail junction signpost at Cottonwood Pass. I was heading north to Rock Creek and beyond.
Looking west; the trail to Big Whitney Meadow is along the left side of the photo.
Hiking north on the PCT. This portion of the trail had the feel of a curated exhibit, with Foxtail Pines (or are these Whitebark Pines?) being the featured attraction. Each tree seemed carefully placed, demonstrating an amazing number of shapes, stances, and textures.
Chicken Spring Lake, about 4.5 miles from the trailhead where I started.
The trail ascends around and over a small ridge, giving a good view down at Chicken Spring Lake.
A panorama looking west from the Pacific Crest Trail, with Big Whitney Meadow near the center and the Great Western Divide along the skyline.
A view of Big Whitney Meadow to the southwest. It was a very calm and quiet day.
More piney exhibits. The wood of these old snags is remarkably hard.
A remarkably corkscrewed relic, with the broad open expanse of Siberian Outpost beyond.
Similar photo to previous, but stopped down a bit. The Kaweah Peaks ridge is in the right-hand distance.
Inside the boundary of Sequoia National Park, and the trail signs are metal. My route this day was to go slightly beyond Crabtree Meadow.
Rather worn Pacific Crest Trail sign, with shovel ornaments.
For over four miles along the northern edge of Siberian Outpost, the trail looks like this. With no streams or meadows, it became a little monotonous until I came upon two hikers from Florida. They were planning on summiting Mt. Whitney; we chatted as we walked onwards.
Strolling across the level expanse of Siberian Outpost.
A minor descent led to meadows across Rock Creek, a welcome swatch of stream and greenery.
Rock Creek; quite lovely and cool.
Cooling off my first-day treat, a can of Red Bull Cola, something I'd never seen previously in stores but had seen advertised for a few months on Formula 1 cars.
Indian Paintbrush.
More Paintbrush, in a meadow with a scattering of other blooms.
The grass was tall and lush along the banks of Rock Creek; this made it an excellent rest stop.
Having climbed out of Rock Creek canyon, I headed north towards Guyot Pass, seen here on the skyline.
Looking west towards the crest of Mount Guyot, at 12300 feet. I had occasional light sprinkles along the trail for the next hour or so, never heavy enough to call for raingear.
Looking north from near Guyot Pass, towards the general region of Crabtree Meadow.
The light was capricious, bright in the distance (looking west here) but dim in the foreground; see next photo.
Same view as previous photo, but exposing instead for the foreground. One's eyes/brain can integrate such scenes but a digital camera cannot.
The western side of Mt. Whitney came into view, gleaming in the clear air.
Vertical format of previous shot.
The gate did not specify which side of the wilderness was being protected, nor why one side could somehow be worth protecting less.
A pika, Ochotona princeps, surveys its domain of rocks and grasses.
Lower Crabtree Meadow. The trail curls around the lefthand (western) edge; I struck out to the east cross-country.
Another exposure for Lower Crabtree Meadow.
A few deer were browsing out in the meadow.
The meadow had numerous springs, including this iron-tinged one. Water from these springs has a distinct metallic tang, rather refreshing in small quantities.
One of the branches of Crabtree Creek, draining down from the lake basin where I was headed.
