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McAdie, errrr, LeConte 6/20-22/2009 :

McAdie, errrr, LeConte 6/20-22/2009

Updated: Jun 25, 2009 5:50pm PST

Mt Johnson 6/6-7 2009 : Here are some pics of our 3rd post WTC snow climb (sans students) We started with 5 commited, but one by one people dropped out, leaving just Neil and myself. Report below is written by Neil, pics by me. Enjoy!! Given the dire weather predictions the Sierra was remarkably clear. We drove all the way into the South Lake parking lot (9,860’) without any problem. We didn’t hit significant snow until 10,500’. We camped at the main Treasure Lake (10,700’) as the XC route to the upper lake (11,200’) was all snow and we suspected (rightly so) that the upper lake was snowed in leaving us no place to camp. We had clouds most on the day and light snow flurries most of the afternoon. We couldn’t rally to climb Hurd that afternoon so we pretty much just explored the area and lounged. On Sunday we got up at 4:15 AM and set out for Treasure Col at 5:30. There were clouds all morning but they were high up and it was surprisingly warm. The snow was a bit soft and for the most part we only needed our axes. We went ahead and put our crampons on when it got steep. We ascended Treasure Col to reach the Sierra crest at 12,240’. Treasure Col has sustained climbing to 40 degrees but we were punching through up to our calves and knees so there wasn’t much risk of a fall. It also was full of snow to the top without the exposed rocks we had when climbing Kearsarge. As we approached the crest the snow steepened and iced up. There was 10 feet or so at the top that went to maybe 45 degrees and we front pointed up that. While it could be a bit un-nerving it really wasn’t as risky as it sounds as the entire route was soft and there was a “bowl” of softer snow just below the icy pitch (maybe 50 feet?). Actually this was pretty good training for snow climbing as it would have been pretty hard to get hurt. The crest was a different story. It’s a 3rd class rock climb to the summit of Mt Johnson. Unfortunately much of the rock was hidden by a layer of soft snow which also hid solid water ice and deep gaps between the rocks. Within a 5 foot stretch I was hitting rock an inch down, then I was up to my waist in snow, and then solid water ice blocked the entire route. All of this pretty much looked the same on top, powder snow with the bigger rocks sticking out here and there. The ridge was dangerous plain and simple and so we were stopped 600’ short of the summit. We hadn’t made it much more than about 15 feet (in 15 minutes). Mt Gilbert was another possibility. We could see the route up which is a 2nd class dome of small talus and scree much of which was covered in snow. This looked doable, the problem is it requires a several hundred foot down-climb off the backside of Treasure Col, and given the conditions we had on the crest we weren’t overly excited about that prospect. So down Treasure Col we glissaded. While it was steep enough to glissade I had to keep my feet and ax up just to keep going. We back-tracked to camp, packed out, and were home in time to catch the last 3 minutes of the Laker game.

Mt Johnson 6/6-7 2009

Here are some pics of our 3rd post WTC snow climb (sans students) We s ...

Updated: Jun 15, 2009 7:15pm PST

Mts Sill and Gayley 7/19-21/2008 : Saturday 7/19 seven of us headed up the North Fork of the Big Pine Creek trail with the plan to climb Mt Sill (14,153 ft) and Mt Gayley (13,510 ft) Calif 6th and 59th highest peaks. Passing the turquoise 1st 2nd and 3rd lakes and lots of sierra wildflowers we made out way about 6 miles up the trail to Sam Mack Meadow, our home for the weekend. Sunday morning up at 4:30 in the am to ready ourselves for a 5:30 alpine start. We headed up the meadow to the talus and snowfield to reach the moraine of the Palisade Glacier. Once we made it to the glacier we don our crampons and along with our axes we cross the glacier passing by some of the highest peaks in Calif, Thunderbolt, North Palisade, Starlight and Polimonium. Once we cross the glacier we make our way up the very loose talus to Glacier notch, the notch between Mts Sill and Gayley. From here we make our way over and up to the North Couloir (aka L-shaped couloir) till we reach the notch between Sill and Apex peak. Here we dropped axes and crampons and put on our harnesses for the the traverse and short 4th class section before reaching the SW ridge and the class 2-3 scramble to the summit. We spent about 30-40 minutes on top admiring the spectacular views of the sierra, looking at the registers and having a much needed break. After our break we make our way back down till we reach glacier notch again. Once here we discuss who will go up the next peak, Mt Gayley, after some debating and some encouragement from Larry and Shane everybody decides they don't want to leave it as an "orphan" peak requiring another trip in the future to bag it. We all headed up the "Yellow Brick Road" route up Gayley. The route finding being pretty straight forward and the climbing solid class 2 and 3 we make our way to the summit without incident. Noting its starting to get late we take a short break before heading back down to the notch. Once back to the notch we pack up all our gear we had left behind ( axe's crampons etc) and back down the loose crappy talus and scree and back onto the glacier. Axes and crampons out again we head back across to the glacier to the moraine. From here its back down the large blocks of talus and snow fields quickly as possible as we are now running short on daylight. A few hundred feet above camp we loose daylight and its out with the headlamps as we continue for the last hour or so back to camp in the meadow at 9:45pm ending our 16 hour plus day. A tent never looked so good as some of us went straight to bed. While others prepared a quick dinner and pumped some water before calling it a day. Monday we all slept in and take our time getting up and enjoy a leisurely breakfast before we pack up and head back down the Big Pine Creek Trail. Once back to the trail head we pack up the cars and drive down to town and have lunch in Big Pine as another successful trip comes to an end.

Mts Sill and Gayley 7/19-21/2008

Saturday 7/19 seven of us headed up the North Fork of the Big Pine Cre ...

Updated: Jul 27, 2008 10:19pm PST

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