EISPIRATEN

With the recent reports and photos of everyone else playing in the Sierra Nevada this summer I feel like I have to visit too.
My usual holiday weekend plan is to drive up Friday night and sleep in the Alabama Hills. Then I'll go to the visitor center in Lone Pine Saturday morning, get in the lottery and go wherever I get a permit. Doing this I've been over Kearsarge Pass a couple times, into Dusy Basin over Bishop Pass, visited Muir Lake in the Cottonwood Lakes area, etc.
Anyway, I'm planning on that again this weekend - anyone else going there or interested in meeting up? I'll probably hike about 10 miles per day, with Monday being a short day because I don't like sitting in traffic on 395 when it's pushing 100 degrees outside. My backup plan this trip is to do something like Rico's adventure, minus the off-trail searching for a route part. Since Trail Pass has no quota, I could go one night to Soldier Lake, second night to Long or High Lake in the Cottonwood Lake basin and the never-ending forest walk out on day three. Might also include a burger and shake at Frosty Chalet in Lone Pine afterward......

Sounds like fun. If Sean can go I will go besides we are overdue for a monthly forum hike.

Trail Pass doesn't really get you near the lakes. It will get you over to the Kern Plateau area, in Mulkey Meadow (mostly a spread-out sand dune). It's mostly dry, dusty cow country down there. IIRC, Cottonwood Pass has a low quota (if it has one at all). You can traverse NW (passing Chicken Spring Lake) toward Siberian Outpost, then head up the easy slopes west of Cirque Peak to hit New Army Pass, then descend to the lakes. C-Wood Pass is also a much more pleasant hike.

Cottonwood Pass has 40 per day, 16 of those are held for walk-ups. In the morning lotteries I've drawn numbers ranging from 1 to 47 so Trail Pass is a backup plan.

The trail from Horseshoe Meadow to Trail Pass isn't all that inspiring to be honest. But the PCT from Trail Pass to Cottonwood Pass is really quite nice. Could be an alternate route to Chicken Spring Lake.