"If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans."

I'm applying for the permits first thing Monday (3/1).  I mean first thing.  Velda and I are going to her office before midnight, and at 1 minute after we'll fax the application.


*** REVISED 3/1/2010 to swap options 2 and 3 ***
The three options are:
1. 7/17-7/24, Crescent Meadow to Whitney Portal
2. 7/17-7/24, Alta (Wolverton) to Whitney Portal
3. 7/7-7/17, Crescent Meadow to Whitney Portal
*** END REVISION ***

Each of these is Saturday to Saturday.  Here is a possible itinerary:


Day 1 (Sat) - Crescent Meadows to Nine Mile Creek: 8.8 miles
Day 2 (Sun) - Nine Mile Creek to Big Hamilton Lake: 7.8 miles
Day 3 (Mon) - Big Hamilton Lake to Moraine Lake: 14 miles
Day 4 (Tue) - Moraine Lake to Kern Hot Spring: 5.3 miles
Day 5 (Wed) - Kern Hot Spring to Wallace Creek Junction: 12.1 miles
Day 6 (Thu) - Wallace Creek Junction to Guitar Lake: 7.7 miles
Day 7 (Fri) - Guitar Lake to Mt. Whitney to Outpost Camp: 12 miles
Day 8 (Sat) - Outpost Camp to Whitney Portal: 3.5 miles


We would need to hike every day, with the shortest day 5.3 miles (that's the hike to Kern Hot Springs on Day 4, effectively a layover).  By my reckoning the longest day is 14 miles, on day 3.


I'll discuss transportation issues in another post.