Mile Marker: 767
Trail Miles: 10.4
Miles Walked: 14.4
It was 32 deg in the tent this morning. I only have 14 miles to go to Guitar Lake, on the west flank of Mt Whitney, so I took my time and dallied in my tent. I tried to get caught up on draft blog posts. I didn’t want to waste time during the next resupply, when HH would be here, typing out posts. So I worked on drafts until a little after 0700. I was last to get on the trail – a little after 0800. 
Camping at Guitar Lake would cut off nearly 4 miles from the 16 mile round trip between the PCT and the top of Whitney tomorrow.
I ran into a bunch of folks at the last stream on the PCT water report (Mile 759). Momento, Montreal Marc, Dutchie/The female Happy Feet and Paparazzi. Paparazzi mentioned camping east of Crabtree Mdws was not allowed for PCT hikers. Only JMT’s could do so. I thought I might have read that somewhere but couldn’t remember where. –I made the mistake of telling the others when I caught up to them later.
Near our campsite in Day 46
We had lunch next to Rock Creek in a pine tree meadow. It was gorgeous and such a pleasant change from the desert.
The beauty of the Sierras continued to reveal itself today. My camera cannot do it justice. Suffice to say, if you think these pictures are good, the scenery is stunning in person.
There are two trail junctions to get to Crabtree Mdws, a mile apart. I went to the further one to ensure I didn’t miss any part of the trail. The others took the more direct route to the Crabtree CG and Ranger Station.
The good thing about taking the longer route I took was I got to talk with hikers who had summited Whitney that morning. What the conditions were like, if an ice axe and crampons were necessary, how long, etc. Everyone said it wasn’t bad. Some used ice axes and micro-spikes as a precaution. Others didn’t. I asked about camping at Guitar Lake. Most hadn’t heard of any restrictions and said they saw hikers/tents camped there.
I missed the turnoff to the Campground and was 1/3 mile up the trail to Guitar Lake before I realized it. I texted Cherry Bomb on her Garmin inReach – had they caught up to Smokebeard or Surge? Our group of 10 had gotten split up the previous day. We thought those two had probably hiked on to Guitar Lake as was the plan.
Cherry Bomb said they had not found them, but had heard Rangers were issuing tickets for camping east of the campground. I was suspicious that was a bit of hiker rumor mill gone awry, so I continued asking everyone I saw as I continued on to Guitar Lake to find Smokebeard and Surge.
I still had my full backpack so it was a taxing climb up to over 11,000 ft. At 4:30pm I still hadn’t found the guys as I approached the second to last campsite on the trail to the summit. I was debating whether to stop or push on to the last site. I’d been asking hikers camped at the Lake if they’d seen the two. No one had. As I came around a rock, there was Surge, sans backpack. I was so glad to see him and happy he didn’t have his pack – I assumed it meant they were camped nearby. My hope was dashed when he said they were camped another half mile up the trail at 11,950 ft. Ugh. I wished I’d left some of my gear back at the campground.
Anyways I eventually made it to their campsite. We ate dinner,chatted and strategized mileage for tomorrow and the next day when we’d summit Forrester Pass the highest point actually on the PCT at 13,200 ft. (Mt Whitney is on the JMT, but not the PCT. Most hikers will summit it anyways as you’re so close and acclimatized.).
Cherry Bomb, Scooch, Painter and the rest opted to camp at Crabtree Meadows. They plan to get on trail at 0300. We’ll be ready to join them when they pass our camp around 0430. We all gave up on the idea of being at the summit for sunrise after talking with the hikers who did so today. They’d all said the winds and windchill were so bad they left the summit quickly. Whereas hikers who summited later said the winds had died down to nothing.
So I need to get to sleep for a 0400 wake up!