yosemiteforlife67 wrote:another possible option on the shepherd pass route to mt whitney.....of course weather and conditions permitting.....what about a side "jaunt" to wallace lake, mt barnard...AND continue on to mt hale and mt young....then over into the next valley straight over to guitar lake?? Is this really doable? Is this primarily class 1-2, or would this be too difficult? I am talking about with full packs, my pack weight will be around 35+ lbs. I know it is early, but i just wanted to throw some interesting cool possiblities on my journey. Anyone who may have tried this, let me know what you think and if you have done this. Thanks.
Hale and Young are easy to get to from the south, and as long as you do Hale first it's not a sandy slog - just a nice hike. The north side looks like it is probably a Class 5+ climb to get up Hale/Young. Maybe there are other nontechnical routes - there are always lots of ways to bag a peak. You could always drop you pack before you get to Guitar Lake on the way out and wander up to Hale and then traverse over to Young before going back down to pick up your pack.
You should be able to get from the Shepherd Pass Trailhead to Shepherd Pass and beyond in one day with an early start. If you plan on camping at the Shepherd Pass trailhead the night before you start out, you might think about backpacking up to the saddle at about 9200' and dry camping in the evening instead of sleeping at the trailhead. It'll only take you a few hours to get up there and that way, you'll be able to sleep in a little in the morning without worrying as much about getting going at dawn or earlier to avoid the heat on the lower section of the trail.
At the other end, you should be able to get from Guitar Lake to Whitney Portal, with a side-trip to the summit of Whitney, in one day. That leaves you three days to play around between Shepherd Pass and Guitar Lake. Of course, the weather, snow conditions, water levels, how heavy the pack is (you might be hauling an axe and crampons in June), what kind of shape you're in....etc. will make a difference on how far you get each day. If you are comfortable with Class 3 scrambling, you could do the short climb up to Mount Muir on the way to/from Whitney.