June 16, 2008 Pacific Crest Trail

Destination: Guitar Lake
Miles: 18

Adrian:
Happy birthday to our awesome niece Sierra!! We miss you and wish we were there!

Guitar Lake is an advanced base for climbing Whitney from the west side. It is possible to camp further down at Crabtree Meadows but that would make summit day almost 6 miles longer round-trip, plus the mosquitoes are much worse at Crabtree.

As I approached the campsites scattered around the lake (which actually is shaped like a guitar), I heard someone call my name, it was David. David is a good friend of Rob's friend Jigar. We had rough plans to meet here for the climb. Sometimes meetings like this work out and it's fun when they do.

We talked about the plan for tomorrow and enjoyed a jerky party sponsored by Rob. He was also very kind to give the remaining food he didn't eat to us making our remaining 7 days to Vermilion Valley Resort much more pleasant. Thanks again Rob!

Kirsten:
I finally feel like we've entered into the Sierras with its endless streams, meadows, lakes and jagged peaks. The miles were easier today. Maybe the scenery helped ease our sore muscles and lift ups our packs. Many times the last three miles up to camp - in this case, Guitar Lake - can be tiresome. Your feet have what I call little heartbeats from the non-stop pounding on rocky, dusty trail. Today was different. The pain and soreness were there. Those three miles were still more enjoyable than the last 30. The trail wound its way up amongst a boulder-littered meadow to shimmering Timberline Lake then kept to its edge before rising again to several other small tarns or lakes. The trees disappeared, the marmots became plentiful and before we knew it there was Guitar Lake surrounded on nearly every side with steep Rocky Mountains.

The amount of food Rob brought with him borders on ridiculous. I had to chuckle when I watched Rob pull out a one pound, unopened bag of jerky from his pack. He laughed at himself and immediately opened it up for all to enjoy. His overestimation has been a boon for us and any concern of a food shortage later on our journey to Vermilion Valley Resort has been eliminated.