Another Northern Sierra (Ogul) Triple Crown
Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 10:05 am
It had been a while since we bagged three peaks in one day. I think it takes a while for you to forget how hard it was the last time. I once heard an old guide say “Mountaineers have short memories!”
“Sport” wanted to up her Ogul Peak count from a dozen to 15 in one day. We started early enough at Squaw Valley Ski Resort. The trailhead starts next to the fire station. We did a poor job reviewing the beta on this climb and soon started traveling down the wrong trail.
I was following the trail on Acme Mapper. If you carefully review John Fedak’s report of this same climb he clearly writes, “The trail headed up between the Fire Station and neighboring condo complex, passed a ropes course, then legged up to a service road leading to this water tower. Past this point it was single track trail.”
In addition to this beta I had also downloaded the map posted by Kerry Breen. He clearly followed the correct “Granite Chief Trail” as well.
In my defense the trail they took is not on Acme Mapper. We followed the trail on Acme Mapper. Unfortunately there is a maze of use trails all the way up Squaw Creek. We never did find the trail that turns north up the slope.
We followed Squaw Creek up to the 800 foot headwall and then turned north along a creek to bushwhack our way up to the correct trail. This was a brutal, heinous, odious, wicked bushwhack. The vegetation was over our head. There was absolutely nothing resembling a trail and the slope was very steep. Eventually we worked our way to a 25 foot cliff and found a crack to climb.
Good thing we brought along a rope and pro. The vegetation cleared once we were on top of the cliff. We soon found the correct trail and were on our way.
That off trail adventure set the tone for this trip. The day was very, very warm. We didn’t bring along any way to treat water. I only brought 2 liters of water. I would later regret not bringing along a water filter or at least a tiny container of Clorox Germicidal bleach. Sport, as usual, brought along plenty of water.
The Granite Chief Trail leads to the PCT where we turned south toward the ski lift to near the top of our first goal.
Follow the PCT to the south side of the peak where there is a use trail to the summit of Granite Chief.
Once we conquered our first peak we headed west along the ridgeline. There was a bit of class two rock climbing to get off the summit of Granite Chief.
Our next objective was Needle.
We were not in the mood to fight the rocks guarding the summit block so we dropped down and around the south side. This off trail travel was a real PITA. Try hiking on a steep slope of very loose sand through sharp painful brush. We eventually made it to the base of the summit block and found the class three chute up to the top.
We were pretty tired after bagging Needle but the thought of coming back another day to summit Lyon kept us heading west along the trail-less ridge. Once again the hike became a steady, steep, sandy bushwhacking slog. The last few hundred yards of the ridge to Lyon was a talus hop.
You can see Needle and Granite Chief behind her.
Now we had to repeat the contemptible climb back to the summit of Granite Chief. Once again I would have benefited from carefully examining the map and report by Kerry Breen.
“Eventually we had to descend much further down the hillside, as tons of rocks and brush were too difficult for us to get through. Much to our surprise we ran into a trail close to the 8,200 foot level which wound up being a much easier way to go. Looking back on the trip the best way to do these peaks is to follow the ridgeline as we did on the way up, but then drop all the way down to this trail immediately after. The trail eventually connected back with the PCT…”
It was a tough hike but we made it back to the PCT and resisted the urge to take the tram back to the resort. When we reached the truck I caught up on my hydration while she wiped the dry blood off her legs.
The next day we wanted to take it easy so we took the kids rock climbing.
He is only 8 years old. After this he caught two rainbows at the dam on Caples.
Thanks for reading our report.
-Russ
“Sport” wanted to up her Ogul Peak count from a dozen to 15 in one day. We started early enough at Squaw Valley Ski Resort. The trailhead starts next to the fire station. We did a poor job reviewing the beta on this climb and soon started traveling down the wrong trail.
I was following the trail on Acme Mapper. If you carefully review John Fedak’s report of this same climb he clearly writes, “The trail headed up between the Fire Station and neighboring condo complex, passed a ropes course, then legged up to a service road leading to this water tower. Past this point it was single track trail.”
In addition to this beta I had also downloaded the map posted by Kerry Breen. He clearly followed the correct “Granite Chief Trail” as well.
In my defense the trail they took is not on Acme Mapper. We followed the trail on Acme Mapper. Unfortunately there is a maze of use trails all the way up Squaw Creek. We never did find the trail that turns north up the slope.
We followed Squaw Creek up to the 800 foot headwall and then turned north along a creek to bushwhack our way up to the correct trail. This was a brutal, heinous, odious, wicked bushwhack. The vegetation was over our head. There was absolutely nothing resembling a trail and the slope was very steep. Eventually we worked our way to a 25 foot cliff and found a crack to climb.
Good thing we brought along a rope and pro. The vegetation cleared once we were on top of the cliff. We soon found the correct trail and were on our way.
That off trail adventure set the tone for this trip. The day was very, very warm. We didn’t bring along any way to treat water. I only brought 2 liters of water. I would later regret not bringing along a water filter or at least a tiny container of Clorox Germicidal bleach. Sport, as usual, brought along plenty of water.
The Granite Chief Trail leads to the PCT where we turned south toward the ski lift to near the top of our first goal.
Follow the PCT to the south side of the peak where there is a use trail to the summit of Granite Chief.
Once we conquered our first peak we headed west along the ridgeline. There was a bit of class two rock climbing to get off the summit of Granite Chief.
Our next objective was Needle.
We were not in the mood to fight the rocks guarding the summit block so we dropped down and around the south side. This off trail travel was a real PITA. Try hiking on a steep slope of very loose sand through sharp painful brush. We eventually made it to the base of the summit block and found the class three chute up to the top.
We were pretty tired after bagging Needle but the thought of coming back another day to summit Lyon kept us heading west along the trail-less ridge. Once again the hike became a steady, steep, sandy bushwhacking slog. The last few hundred yards of the ridge to Lyon was a talus hop.
You can see Needle and Granite Chief behind her.
Now we had to repeat the contemptible climb back to the summit of Granite Chief. Once again I would have benefited from carefully examining the map and report by Kerry Breen.
“Eventually we had to descend much further down the hillside, as tons of rocks and brush were too difficult for us to get through. Much to our surprise we ran into a trail close to the 8,200 foot level which wound up being a much easier way to go. Looking back on the trip the best way to do these peaks is to follow the ridgeline as we did on the way up, but then drop all the way down to this trail immediately after. The trail eventually connected back with the PCT…”
It was a tough hike but we made it back to the PCT and resisted the urge to take the tram back to the resort. When we reached the truck I caught up on my hydration while she wiped the dry blood off her legs.
The next day we wanted to take it easy so we took the kids rock climbing.
He is only 8 years old. After this he caught two rainbows at the dam on Caples.
Thanks for reading our report.
-Russ
This may be an example of the wealthy feeling a sense of entitlement (affluenza...Ethan Couch) or it may not be.