TR: Wolverton to Alta Peak and Alta MeADOW
Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 2:40 pm
Just came back from a trip to the Wolverton area of Sequoia. We left Los Angeles at 9:00pm instead of leaving at 3:00-4:00am the next day as we usually do because we wanted to avoid CarMaggedon.
Got to the Wolverton trailhead by around 2:00am where we crashed for the night and got up soon afterwards at 6:00am. After getting up and preparing the gear and a light breakfast we started the hike at 8:00am. The hike was uneventful till midway up to Panther Gap where we started to see our first patches of snow. It was a glimpse of things to come as the patches of snow started to appear with more frequency the higher we got up. We were able to get to get our first view of the canyon at Panther Gap where we could see to the Southeast the mountains of Mineral King. The snow was heavy above 11,500ft on all the peaks especially the North facing slopes. Being that we were South facing I didn't think snow would be problem getting to Alta Peak. How wrong we were!
Soon we were running into dayhikers who turned back because of the steep ice field on the way to the mountain. After a moment of contemplation we decided to move ahead and attempt the summit. It was a big gamble as not being able to make it would have meant that we would have to lose the entire day and not be able to make it to either Moose Lake or the summit. About 1 mile from the Summit we ran into the dread snowfield. We tried to cross it by climbing up to the rocks. After several attempts and over an hour just trying to clear that obstacle we ran into this other party that said the summit was nothing but snow and ice in the last 1/2 mile. That fact demorilized us as the trail seemed clear past that snow field blocking us. We decided to turn back and camp at Alta Meadow. The Ridge and slope that connects Alta Meadow to Moose Lake was free of snow but we were too tired to attempt camping at Moose Lake. The fog that had rolled in earlier at Panther Gap had enveloped the whole entire canyon by the time we got to the meadow and visibilty got down to less than 50ft at some points. We headed back the following day on Sunday to a trip where we couldn't make it to either Alta Peak nor Moose Lake.
Will be heading back soon... Also, Hwy 198 about 15 minutes past the Park Entrance had a major construction going on and delays were about 20-30minutes
Got to the Wolverton trailhead by around 2:00am where we crashed for the night and got up soon afterwards at 6:00am. After getting up and preparing the gear and a light breakfast we started the hike at 8:00am. The hike was uneventful till midway up to Panther Gap where we started to see our first patches of snow. It was a glimpse of things to come as the patches of snow started to appear with more frequency the higher we got up. We were able to get to get our first view of the canyon at Panther Gap where we could see to the Southeast the mountains of Mineral King. The snow was heavy above 11,500ft on all the peaks especially the North facing slopes. Being that we were South facing I didn't think snow would be problem getting to Alta Peak. How wrong we were!
Soon we were running into dayhikers who turned back because of the steep ice field on the way to the mountain. After a moment of contemplation we decided to move ahead and attempt the summit. It was a big gamble as not being able to make it would have meant that we would have to lose the entire day and not be able to make it to either Moose Lake or the summit. About 1 mile from the Summit we ran into the dread snowfield. We tried to cross it by climbing up to the rocks. After several attempts and over an hour just trying to clear that obstacle we ran into this other party that said the summit was nothing but snow and ice in the last 1/2 mile. That fact demorilized us as the trail seemed clear past that snow field blocking us. We decided to turn back and camp at Alta Meadow. The Ridge and slope that connects Alta Meadow to Moose Lake was free of snow but we were too tired to attempt camping at Moose Lake. The fog that had rolled in earlier at Panther Gap had enveloped the whole entire canyon by the time we got to the meadow and visibilty got down to less than 50ft at some points. We headed back the following day on Sunday to a trip where we couldn't make it to either Alta Peak nor Moose Lake.
Will be heading back soon... Also, Hwy 198 about 15 minutes past the Park Entrance had a major construction going on and delays were about 20-30minutes