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Peak Bagging Near Dusy Basin

Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2018 1:25 pm
by aweist
Hi All - I'm heading on a quick weekend trip to Dusy Basin (weather-dependant) tomorrow, planning on camping near Isosceles Peak on Saturday night and ideally summitting a nearby peak early Sunday morning (i.e. 3-4am start). I've done some poking around on this forum and elsewhere, but have had a tough time finding much info on options for a realistic peak to climb. I'd like to do the East Arete of Mt. Winchell, but wanted to see if anyone knew how realistic it was to climb from Dusy Basin in such a short time span (Do you cross Agassiz Col for the approach? - looks nasty from that direction).

Would it be too much of a slog to attempt Winchell, make it back to camp and then down to Bishop by early-mid afternoon? I'm very comfortable with XC travel and low 4th class w/some exposure, but that seems to eliminate most of the Palisade Range. I've already done Agassiz, so if anyone has suggestions (other than Columbine) in the area, it would be much appreciated! Primary goals would be photography, solid north/eastward views and general fun scrambling. Let me know if I can clarify anything else.

Thanks folks!
Adam

Re: Peak Bagging Near Dusy Basin

Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2018 2:03 pm
by maverick
Did you check on Summitpost, Mountain Project, or Supertopo?

Re: Peak Bagging Near Dusy Basin

Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2018 3:40 pm
by aweist
Hey Maverick - thanks for the reply. I checked all three, but couldn't find much (if any) info about approaching from Dusy Basin. I'll look again to see if maybe I missed anything.

Re: Peak Bagging Near Dusy Basin

Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2018 3:57 pm
by maverick
Harlen (HST member) wrote:
Great Idea Nightowl and friends! A really fine high route/climbing trip is to carry on up the North Fork Big Pine Creek from about where you guys were, up over the Winchell-Agassiz Col, then you can go slightly down and the then up Agassiz along the easy class 3 west face, or much harder (still 3-4) up Winchell's convoluted west face (Winchell is much easier from the south east side- "east arete route.") There's beautiful camping and wandering around in the upper Dusy Basin, and several bc passes to reach Barrett Lakes under the wild west faces of Thunderbolt, North Pal., and Polemonium Peaks- take your pick, or try the classic traverse of them all. You can cross back east via the U-Notch (class 4), above the Pal. Glacier, but if you have time, follow the High Route to Palisade Lakes, then briefly on the JMT, and then peel off up to Southfork Pass. My climbing buddy and I still reckon that route- Winchell-Agassiz Col to South Fork Pass* to be our favorite high circle. There's lots to climb along the way- the class 3-4 north eastern gully route on Middle Palisade is great fun, but at least for us, one roped belay in the over-steepened lower cliff section felt right.

Re: Peak Bagging Near Dusy Basin

Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 4:04 pm
by aweist
Excellent info - thanks for sending! Will report back after the trip.

Re: Peak Bagging Near Dusy Basin

Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2019 12:56 am
by midi510
What did you end up doing? I just did the East Arete of Winchell from South Lake (11/17/19). At Bishop pass, I followed the contour around the west and southwest slopes of Agassiz to the col. It's fairly loose in the gully up to the col, but not too bad and easier to find solid rock to descend on the NE side. I had crampons and an ice axe and traversed up and across to, then across the upper NE face to intersect the East Arete. Early in the season, when the snow is soft, you could walk across the snow and traverse below the NE face to the normal start of the arete, but it would be a long way. I did this in a 12 hour day and live in Mammoth and have been doing this stuff for over 40 years. What you were thinking would only happen if you were camped higher up below the SW slopes of Agassiz. Unless you're really fast, you still wouldn't get back to South Lake until evening. @midi510 on Instagram for pics.