TR: Cloudripper 6/13/2015
Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2015 9:43 am
Following my pattern of late, I chose to climb 13,531’ Cloudripper due to its proximity to a trailhead that I hadn’t explored as yet, Big Pine North Fork. The epic name also likely triggered something for the deeply repressed death metal-head in me.
In any case, I also invited along a friend with the tempting promise of great views to the Palisade ridgeline which he plans on traversing along with another friend this August. He accepted, but threw a wrench in it by suggesting that it’d be better for him to train on the likes of the 3rd class west chute of the mountain, so we instead headed up to South Lake Friday night to a trailhead that I recall from a failed trip on the backside of Mt. Sill last year.
No matter, we left the Willow campground after a fun night experimenting with light trail shots and fermented beverages.
Sending signals to the planet of crazy rock-climbers he’s from
An early wakeup call had us at the Bishop Pass trailhead around 5am, and up to the split on the trail to Chocolate Lakes just in time to spot the ribbon of snow leading up the chute that I was fearful of. Thankfully logic prevailed and we chalked it up as a ~3.5mile warmup to the real climb which was obviously now an out-and-back on the north slopes via Green Lake.
Morning alpenglow on the Thompson Ridge from Bishop Pass Trail
Leaving from Parchers a little before 7 we utilized our pre-warmed quads to power up the steeply graded trail toward Brown Lake. After a hearty rock-skipping challenge at the aptly-named lake we continued up over Green Lake where the views opened up above timberline to what we thought was Cloudripper staring back at us. Instead it was Peak 13,374’ that we had to skirt before our objective peak, which hid bashfully behind out of view.
Green Lake with Peak 13,374’ and its snowy North slopes above left
https://www.360cities.net/image/above-g ... california
Rounding a nice slope around the backside of the visibly painful sandy scree slope as we left the trail toward the south, we then entered the snow slope to gain the ridge of Peak 13,374’. It was tough work alternating between short stretches of rock-hopping to avoid postholing, and giving in to the snow hoping to find flotation on hardened snow. Success was found nearly 60% of the time, with the remainder leaving us cussing while struggling out of knee-to-hip-deep footholds.
Snowshoes optional
https://www.360cities.net/image/en-rout ... california
We rounded the ridgeline at about 13,300’ only to drop back down to 13,000’ to get onto the summit slopes of Cloudripper. More snow slopes and postholing brought us to some fun low-class 3 summit rocks and one of the more memorable summits that I can recall. Sweeping vistas across the Palisades had us captivated along with views down to the neighboring valleys and their pristine lakes. I’ll link the spherical pano I took below, as these views couldn’t be contained, at least not with my paltry photo composing skills.
https://www.360cities.net/image/cloudripper-california
The bliss on the summit was short-lived however, as the friendly puffy white clouds that left engaging lighting contrast in the valleys below conglomerated into something more sinister got our hearts pumping again with a few thunderclaps behind the Palisades.
Thunderstorms beckon
Down the summit rocks, down the snow chute, back up the ridge and down the other snow slope, we were back to pleasant walking while constantly predicting our demise under the sheets of rain that we could see in almost any direction from us. Thankfully our third member is a Russian lucky charm and we avoided the deluge.
Charming descent
Precipitous Mt. Humphreys in back
Another successful trip in the books, we celebrated with pizza and fermented beverage at a local Bishop eatery before making the daunting drive back to the non-mountains. The sunset was a lovely sendoff.
In any case, I also invited along a friend with the tempting promise of great views to the Palisade ridgeline which he plans on traversing along with another friend this August. He accepted, but threw a wrench in it by suggesting that it’d be better for him to train on the likes of the 3rd class west chute of the mountain, so we instead headed up to South Lake Friday night to a trailhead that I recall from a failed trip on the backside of Mt. Sill last year.
No matter, we left the Willow campground after a fun night experimenting with light trail shots and fermented beverages.
Sending signals to the planet of crazy rock-climbers he’s from
An early wakeup call had us at the Bishop Pass trailhead around 5am, and up to the split on the trail to Chocolate Lakes just in time to spot the ribbon of snow leading up the chute that I was fearful of. Thankfully logic prevailed and we chalked it up as a ~3.5mile warmup to the real climb which was obviously now an out-and-back on the north slopes via Green Lake.
Morning alpenglow on the Thompson Ridge from Bishop Pass Trail
Leaving from Parchers a little before 7 we utilized our pre-warmed quads to power up the steeply graded trail toward Brown Lake. After a hearty rock-skipping challenge at the aptly-named lake we continued up over Green Lake where the views opened up above timberline to what we thought was Cloudripper staring back at us. Instead it was Peak 13,374’ that we had to skirt before our objective peak, which hid bashfully behind out of view.
Green Lake with Peak 13,374’ and its snowy North slopes above left
https://www.360cities.net/image/above-g ... california
Rounding a nice slope around the backside of the visibly painful sandy scree slope as we left the trail toward the south, we then entered the snow slope to gain the ridge of Peak 13,374’. It was tough work alternating between short stretches of rock-hopping to avoid postholing, and giving in to the snow hoping to find flotation on hardened snow. Success was found nearly 60% of the time, with the remainder leaving us cussing while struggling out of knee-to-hip-deep footholds.
Snowshoes optional
https://www.360cities.net/image/en-rout ... california
We rounded the ridgeline at about 13,300’ only to drop back down to 13,000’ to get onto the summit slopes of Cloudripper. More snow slopes and postholing brought us to some fun low-class 3 summit rocks and one of the more memorable summits that I can recall. Sweeping vistas across the Palisades had us captivated along with views down to the neighboring valleys and their pristine lakes. I’ll link the spherical pano I took below, as these views couldn’t be contained, at least not with my paltry photo composing skills.
https://www.360cities.net/image/cloudripper-california
The bliss on the summit was short-lived however, as the friendly puffy white clouds that left engaging lighting contrast in the valleys below conglomerated into something more sinister got our hearts pumping again with a few thunderclaps behind the Palisades.
Thunderstorms beckon
Down the summit rocks, down the snow chute, back up the ridge and down the other snow slope, we were back to pleasant walking while constantly predicting our demise under the sheets of rain that we could see in almost any direction from us. Thankfully our third member is a Russian lucky charm and we avoided the deluge.
Charming descent
Precipitous Mt. Humphreys in back
Another successful trip in the books, we celebrated with pizza and fermented beverage at a local Bishop eatery before making the daunting drive back to the non-mountains. The sunset was a lovely sendoff.