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Mt Starr and Bloody Mountain

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 5:49 pm
by calipidder
Two weekends ago I finally got out to the Sierra for a nice weekend of peak bagging.

On day 1, MrC and the pup fished little Lakes Basin while I climbed Mt Starr via the scramble from Mono Pass. I descended via one of the sandy chutes on the east side. That was a really fun way to come down, despite the one stretch of tricky route finding through the cliff band.

Follow the use trail from Mono Pass:
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Eventually the trail disappears and it's a rock hop to the ridge. I didn't know which high point was the summit so I kind of tagged them all by scrambling along the ridge. Made it a fun little class 3 scramble. An easier alternate is to drop a little on the west side and follow the sandier paths. One of the many piles:
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The views are, like all sierra peaks, fantastic.
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From the summit I could spy several sandy chutes descending straight back into Little Lakes Valley so I decided to descend one of them. SO MUCH FUN. Until the rock bands. Had a tricky time finding a way through the cliffs, chimneying my way down a few cracks and gullys.

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Here's a pic I took of starr from Morgan, where I've drawn in what I am pretty sure is my descent gully.

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Re: Mt Starr and Bloody Mountain

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 5:53 pm
by calipidder
Day 2: Bloody Mountain

We did the gnarly drive into Laurel Lakes in our Tundra Rock Warrior, and the poor pup was not terribly thrilled about his first bumpy 4x4 ride.
Are we there yet?
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Parked at the pullout above the Lakes, Robin and I took off for Bloody while MrC and the pup wandered down the switchbacked road to Laurel Lake. We climbed bloody via the east ridge from Laurel Pass. A straightforward climb with use trail most of the way.

East ridge route. Point on the right is NOT the summit, it's about the 12000 ft point along the ridge.

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It's mostly a jumbly mess.

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But the views more than make up for the loose stuff underfoot. Holy cats I could't put my camera down.

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Re: Mt Starr and Bloody Mountain

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 6:48 pm
by maverick
Thanks Cali for the TR and great pictures, love the color of the rock in that
area. :thumbsup:

Re: Mt Starr and Bloody Mountain

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 8:19 pm
by austex
I think Thor had a great trip... A great break in for him. All aspects of his future. DANG I miss my golden of 16 yrs....My hiking bud for 12 of those years.

Re: Mt Starr and Bloody Mountain

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 9:14 pm
by Mradford
Good stuff! Thanks for posting.