I posted this in the JMT 2019 FB group earlier today — We did Horseshoe Meadow to Whitney Portal via Crabtree Meadow and Guitar Lake, which covers some of your route. Summitted Whitney yesterday, July 7.
Almost no snow from Horseshoe Meadow through Cottonwood Pass to Crabtree Meadow, just a few feet to step over at the top of the pass. Rock Creek crossing manageable. Crossings around Crabtree Meadow from the bottom of the meadows toward the ranger station were also manageable and preferable to the steep ascents and descents of that stretch of the PCT/JMT where the two meet. The ranger station path meets up with the JMT right before the ranger station itself. No snow until close to Guitar Lake—and we managed to get there without walking on snow at all, opting to walk on rocks instead. Some sun cups (walked on rocks when we could) on the way to the switchbacks up Whitney from Guitar Lake, and then a couple snow traverses on the switchbacks themselves. Had ice axe and microspikes. There’s one long sketchy traverse here—It looked like some people shortened it by scrambling up to a spot with a shorter traverse, which is one option. I opted to scramble up on the rocks and sand to the left of the snow far enough to avoid that snowy spot altogether. Stashed packs once up the switchbacks and summitted—again avoiding snow near top by scrambling up rocks (not as sketchy as first scramble). Glissaded down from Trail Crest with axe—a good option if snow is soft enough and if switchbacks down to Whitney Portal seem sketchy.
