Two Sweetwater Sisters

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Vaca Russ
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Two Sweetwater Sisters

Post by Vaca Russ »

There is a mountain range just north of Bridgeport that has 5 prominent peaks. The three northern most peaks are called East Sister, Middle Sister and South Sister. They really should have been named NORTH Sister, Middle Sister and South Sister.

Last Friday we bagged East Sister and Middle Sister.

We started at the corral just north of East Sister.
1 Corral.JPG
There is a stock trail that wraps around the NW side of East Sister to the Little Smith Valley.
2 Stock Trail.JPG
This is apparently pretty rough territory for the cattle.
3 Bones.JPG
“Sport” said the cause of death was probably disease. I imagine there are still some Pleistoscene Megafauna predators such as the American Lion, Miracinonyx, Saber-toothed Cats, short faced bears and dire wolves back in these hills. :D

If you read the trail report of Fedak he reports this structure, according to the local rancher, allows him to build the fence without having to dig post holes.
4 Fence Post.JPG
Unlike Fedak we hiked further down the trail before angling off to the NW slope of East Sister.
5 NW Slope ES.JPG
We proceeded up the gentle slope. This is looking back at Little Smith Valley.
6 Little Smith Valley.JPG
The slope gradually became more and more steep. The ground was primarily composed of grus. This made climbing a little more difficult. Eventually we gained the saddle and just had the final slope to climb to the summit ridge.
7 ES North Slope.JPG
This shot is looking back down the steep slope. That is Desert Creek Peak in the distance.
8 Steep North Slope.JPG
The steepness lessened as we got to the summit ridge. There was a cairn with a stick marking the summit. Unfortunately there is no longer a register that could be found! I know from past reports there was a register.
9 Summit Ridge.JPG
One summit down, one more (Middle Sister on Sport’s left) to go!
10 Sport Summit ES.JPG
To be continued….
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Last edited by Vaca Russ on Wed Oct 08, 2014 7:49 am, edited 2 times in total.
"...Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host and then a master?"

Kahil Gibran.
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Vaca Russ
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Onward to Middle Sister!

Post by Vaca Russ »

The southern ridge of East Sister was a little rocky but much easier to traverse than to blast through the thick mountain mahogany on the eastern side.
11 SW Ridge.JPG
12 Looking Back.JPG
The southern slope of East Sister is notorious for the thick mountain mahogany one must bushwhack.
13 Mahogany Slope.JPG
We were prepared for this problem but found that good route finding could greatly minimize what could be a horrendous bushwhacking slog.
14 Sport Mahogany.JPG
The vegetation cleared up once down on the saddle between the two peaks.
15 MS North Slope.JPG
We climbed the slope angling east to tag the Lyon county high point. This is a picture of me climbing from that Lyon county high point to the “Von Schmidt” high point. There are prominent cairns at both locations, but once again, no registers could be found.
16 Lyon County High Point.JPG
I really like this picture of Sport at the “Von Schmidt” high point cairn. This shot of the southern slope of East Sister shows the route one should take to avoid the mountain mahogany. Travel down the southern ridge to the bald spot over half way down the ridge (at about 5 o’clock from Desert Creek Peak). Then angle down the slope through the thin mahogany to the rocks on the saddle between the peaks.
17 Von Schmidt South Slope.JPG
The northern slope of Middle Sister is clear of the annoying mahogany, but there was a little snow at higher elevations.
18 Snow North Slope MS.JPG
Here she is at the summit of Middle Sister between two other Ogul Peaks.
19 MS Summit.JPG
We climbed down from the summit of Middle Sister following the same route taken by Fedak. Here is a shot of western slope East Sister. It is a lot steeper than it looks!
20 NW Slope ES.JPG
Thanks for reading our report.

-Russ
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"...Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host and then a master?"

Kahil Gibran.
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brvoyles
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Re: Two Sweetwater Sisters

Post by brvoyles »

Missed you by a day...I did the same hike on Sunday.

http://brvoyles.smugmug.com/2014/EAST-S ... DLE-SISTER" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Brian
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Re: Two Sweetwater Sisters

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brvoyles wrote:Missed you by a day...I did the same hike on Sunday.

http://brvoyles.smugmug.com/2014/EAST-S ... DLE-SISTER" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Brian
Hey Brian,

Both of us need to learn what day it is. I just edited my original post. I had originally posted we climbed these peaks on Saturday. We actually climbed them on Friday. :)

You found a register on Middle Sister? We looked and couldn't find a register. You entered 10/4/14 on the register but made the climb on Sunday. :D :nod: :D

This is pretty funny...you took a picture at the top of East Sister and your next picture wasn't until you were on the slope of Middle Sister. :D :nod:

What was wrong?? A little bushwhacky??? :nod: :nod:

That mountain mahogany is really something, yes?

You got a flat? That really sucks! #-o ](*,) #-o Sport's Ridgeline has Michelins, and I guess we were really lucky!

Keep up the good work bagging peaks!!!

-Russ
"...Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host and then a master?"

Kahil Gibran.
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