Help with 395 Peakbagging Trip + 7 wk Bishop road closure
Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2015 11:58 am
Edited:
Hi all,
I'm planning a trip to the Eastern Sierra leaving 9/9 and returning 9/13. I decided I wanted to just drive up 395 and dayhike peakbag out of the major trailheads, since I've only been to Onion Valley and Whitney Portal so far. I'll be solo and my comfort level is Class 1 or easy Class 2, up to 20 miles/5000' of climb a day max. I want high peaks, so 11k-14k. Also, for safety's sake, I prefer well-visited peaks to isolated spots where I might not be found in case something goes wrong.
9/9: I'll drive up to the Sierra and car camp at Onion Valley
9/10: [I think I'll probably just end up taking the safe(er) course and go for Rixford]
I've long lusted after University Peak, so I might have a go at it via University Pass/Robinson Lake. I don't want to do any class 3, though, so I wanted to make sure there was no Class 3 crux move getting from the pass to the ridgeline. If I chicken out of University, I could do a long dayhike to Rixford or Bago. Drive to my next destination that evening.
9/11: Never been to Bishop, so I thought I'd bag a peak from there. Here's where it gets sticky--I noticed Cloudripper from a few trip reports and it looked like a good dayhike via the North Slope via Green Lake. I found a good trip report describing the route, starting from the South Lake parking area and heading south to the north slope. But then...blah...
South Lake Road and parking area will be closed 9/8-10/30 for repaving. Parking is only allowed on South Lake Rd below Parcher's Resort, adding 1 mile + a few hundred feet of climb one way. Talk about a downer! What to do? Try one of the other routes? Suck it up and walk up a road for a mile? Find another peak out of Bishop? There's nothing really special to me about Cloudripper. It just has a cool name and a route that I felt I could do. Suggestions?
Anyway, after doing...something out of Bishop, drive up to the Mono Lake area.
9/12: Do Mt. Dana, which seems like a pretty straightforward affair (~5 mi r/t from the highway).
Now, I've never been to Yosemite before, but I've also never been to Horseshoe Meadow. I figure I'll have a fair amount of time left on 9/12, so either:
A. Drive through Yosemite and hit the quickie tourist stuff for the rest of 9/12 and a few hours on 9/13 until it's time to head back to LA
or
B. Drive back down 395 to Horseshoe Meadow on 9/12, get up super early on 9/13 (like 3-4 AM), and try for Cirque Peak
Any tips/advice/comments appreciated, but the area where I need the most help is the thing out of Bishop. I considered doing White Mountain, but I'll have a rental passenger car and I really don't want to have to deal with a flat tire out there. I'll save it for sometime when I have an SUV.
Thanks!
Link to the Inyo NF road closure:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/news ... PRD3852102
Hi all,
I'm planning a trip to the Eastern Sierra leaving 9/9 and returning 9/13. I decided I wanted to just drive up 395 and dayhike peakbag out of the major trailheads, since I've only been to Onion Valley and Whitney Portal so far. I'll be solo and my comfort level is Class 1 or easy Class 2, up to 20 miles/5000' of climb a day max. I want high peaks, so 11k-14k. Also, for safety's sake, I prefer well-visited peaks to isolated spots where I might not be found in case something goes wrong.
9/9: I'll drive up to the Sierra and car camp at Onion Valley
9/10: [I think I'll probably just end up taking the safe(er) course and go for Rixford]
I've long lusted after University Peak, so I might have a go at it via University Pass/Robinson Lake. I don't want to do any class 3, though, so I wanted to make sure there was no Class 3 crux move getting from the pass to the ridgeline. If I chicken out of University, I could do a long dayhike to Rixford or Bago. Drive to my next destination that evening.
9/11: Never been to Bishop, so I thought I'd bag a peak from there. Here's where it gets sticky--I noticed Cloudripper from a few trip reports and it looked like a good dayhike via the North Slope via Green Lake. I found a good trip report describing the route, starting from the South Lake parking area and heading south to the north slope. But then...blah...
South Lake Road and parking area will be closed 9/8-10/30 for repaving. Parking is only allowed on South Lake Rd below Parcher's Resort, adding 1 mile + a few hundred feet of climb one way. Talk about a downer! What to do? Try one of the other routes? Suck it up and walk up a road for a mile? Find another peak out of Bishop? There's nothing really special to me about Cloudripper. It just has a cool name and a route that I felt I could do. Suggestions?
Anyway, after doing...something out of Bishop, drive up to the Mono Lake area.
9/12: Do Mt. Dana, which seems like a pretty straightforward affair (~5 mi r/t from the highway).
Now, I've never been to Yosemite before, but I've also never been to Horseshoe Meadow. I figure I'll have a fair amount of time left on 9/12, so either:
A. Drive through Yosemite and hit the quickie tourist stuff for the rest of 9/12 and a few hours on 9/13 until it's time to head back to LA
or
B. Drive back down 395 to Horseshoe Meadow on 9/12, get up super early on 9/13 (like 3-4 AM), and try for Cirque Peak
Any tips/advice/comments appreciated, but the area where I need the most help is the thing out of Bishop. I considered doing White Mountain, but I'll have a rental passenger car and I really don't want to have to deal with a flat tire out there. I'll save it for sometime when I have an SUV.
Thanks!
Link to the Inyo NF road closure:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/news ... PRD3852102