7-Day Group Possible Cross Country Route to Trail Crest (return to Trips Page)   Because of the promising possibility of a nice "short-cut" that has been discussed, I posted several inquiries on Sierra hiker websites asking for information about the route from Crabtree Lakes to Whitney Pass. In response I got the following message about a possible "use trail" to Discovery Pass. The message I got was as follows:   "A few years back I planned to return to Whitney via Miter Basin to Crabtree Pass to Discovery Pass to Trail Crest/JMT. However an out-of-control glissade-boulder collision bloodied my knee and altered my plans. Yet, from the uppermost Crabtree Lake you want to access Discovery Pinnacle via Discovery not Whitney Pass. Scouting the route, I could see an easy path of l-o-n-g ledges from the outlet of the upper lake. From Whitney, some days later, I could see (telephoto lens) a use trail running off of the last long switchback to Trail Crest. The then Crabtree Ranger said it's a fairly easy route, unless you get off track. Consider Miter Basin as an approach."   I replied, "Sounds interesting. Looking at my map, I am not sure which "upper lake" you mean. Is it the one just South of Mt. Hitchcock, or the one just below Mt. McAdie? I see Discovery Pinnacle. Is that next to Discovery Pass?"   The response was, "The "uppermost" lake in Crabtree Canyon is your gateway to both Crabtree and Discovery Pass. Secor says that Discovery Pass is 1/10th of a mile ESE of Discovery Pinnacle...virtually one and the same. This is a ruggedly beautiful canyon, with gorgeous cascades and boulders the size of buildings spalled from Newcombs northface. The lowest lakes have fish and gorgeous foxtails. The large middle lake has a wonderful, soft, 30 yard beach! The upper(most) lake is angular and hostile...but then I'd almost ruined a perfectly good leg with carelessness. In August it should be free of snow/ice. Regardless of your route, Crabtree Canyon merits a dayhike/exploration. And crabtree Meadow ranks as a favorite place for a lay-over if you can find the view spots. There's a ranger station nearby, but the Sierra's best ranger was moved a couple of years back to Little Five Lakes."   Anyway, I tried to create the route using my DeLorme USA Topo program. Below are the 2D and 3D views. The yellow line is what I guess the route to be.   2D - North Up   3D view - Looking from the East toward the West The profile of the hike doesn' t look too bad at all. I greatly suspect more switchbacks and, therefore, a mileage that is probably 30%-40% more.   Profile   This looks like it has some promise. We can keep getting information about this. No need to make a decision for a while yet.