John Muir Trail - Day Twenty One

We had a leisurely morning at the Tyndall Frog Ponds knowing we had a relatively short day ahead of us with no mountain passes. I felt even better and most of my cold symptoms were gone except for an annoying cough.

I was really excited to see Bighorn Plateau [196.0mi, 11430’]. It was a big of a climb to get up there and the plateau itself was a wide barren desert landscape with views in all directions – the Kaweahs to the west, Mt. Whitney to the east. I saw a bunch of marmots and what I think might’ve been a golden eagle. We considered camping on the plateau the night before instead of the frog ponds but I’m glad we didn’t since it was so exposed!

We headed south downhill off the plateau and came to the High Sierra Trail junction [198.7mi, 10410’] where my original JMT hiking plans all started! From this point on the trail was somewhat familiar and I recognized major landmarks. After a quick snack break we climbed some more for epic meadows and views to the west. We eventually hit the PCT junction (maybe I will have to do that next!) and finally, Crabtree Ranger Station [202.9mi, 10700’] where we had an extended lunch. I walked down to the actual meadow to find a glorious pit toilet. Unfortunately, on the HST I had no idea it was there, and this was a nice surprise before entering wag bag territory!

We continued up towards Mt. Whitney passing lush meadows, creeks, and Timberline Lake sandwiched between huge mountains. We soon came upon Guitar Lake [205.8mi, 11470’] and snagged a campsite for our group before our usual cleaning, fishing, and cooking activities.

I actually like Guitar Lake although others are turned off by the large crowds and exposed camping. To me it’s like being on another planet! It got quite cold at night and we had a lot of marmot and chipmunk companions around. We got to bed early that night anticipating a long day up to the Whitney summit and exiting the trail!