High Sierra Topix

Saturday, 14 June 2008 (day 2 of 3)
Dragon Peak from Onion Valley

PHOTOS: http://snownymph.smugmug.com/gallery/51 ... 4346_x7jKi

5 of us dayclimbed Dragon Peak from Onion Valley. Met another group, and we were all connected in a way (fun!) Justine did a search and found stuff on my website. Russell knows Rachel and Brooks, and has seen my truck all over. Shane runs track for Bakersfield (4 of our group are from there), and I had hiked with Dee last year (with a big group)! Small world! Still a lot of snow up there, but a lot less than 2 weeks ago. Fun hike, fun summit, fun glissade, great company and perfect conditions!

Shane, Russell, Dee and Justine (small world)


Dragon Peak (12,995')


Snow climb


The ridge


final climb


Tomcat on the crack


KathyM crossed it next, and the rest of us followed


Kearsarge Peak (dayclimbed it 2 wks ago), Dead Mouse Lake, and the way we came up


Happy on Dragon Peak


Moondust descending


Moondust climbing down to make room for me


Me coming down the crack


down the chute


Moondust glissading, Karen above (Tomcat and Kathy were too far ahead so I missed photos)

LOOKS LIKE FUN STUFF!!! I wanna go next time! Great shots, Cor!

Dragon is a yearly climb! Fun! Wish I was strong enough to carry a board up there! THAT would be fun!





Sunday, 15 June 2008 (day 3 of 3)
Independence Peak from Onion Valley

PHOTOS: http://snownymph.smugmug.com/gallery/51 ... 9163_wmB3c


I talked KathyM into staying one more day, plus she was too tired to drive home Sat night. We wanted an easy hike before the drive home. We took our time and made Independence Peak, and even got a short boot glissade in. Great way to end the weekend!

The scree was a slog, but the scenery was great


a little climbing in the chute


view of Independence Peak summit


on the ridge


and down


and more class 3 before the summit


Independence Peak


interesting view of me downclimbing


Kathy downclimbing


a lot nicer coming down . . . Hui!!!!


skiing down . . . well, she started off that way, her laugh got louder and I thought 'she's fast!'

thankyou...amazing scenary and excellent photos

What a great weekend. Love the photos! Thanks to everyone for 3 wonderful days in the Sierras. (That snow is really cold on the backside .)

Thanks, lateone, and welcome to Topix!

Kathy, I'm glad you stayed for the 3 days. It was a blast! Hope to see you on the east side more this summer! I don't know how you did that Dragon glissade in shorts! My 'backside' got so cold I had to stand up part way down (and I had rainpants on!) :retard:


here's day 1 of last weekend:

Friday, 13 June 2008 (Day 1 of 3)
Owens Point from Horseshoe Meadow Road

PHOTOS: http://snownymph.smugmug.com/gallery/51 ... 7920_zX2Bg

This was my Friday off, and both Tom Gossett and KathyM were able to get the day off! It was a perfect day for hiking.

Big trees


Big boulders


Great views



AWESOME WEEKEND!!!

Dragon was a fun, fun peak!! I'm ready to do it again anytime! But next time I'm bringing better glissading gear. The large plastic trash bag with leg holes ("snow diaper") did not quite cut it. Karen and I kept getting "snow turds" in our diapers. Our butts were so cold they finally got numb, and soon after they thawed out, I discovered I had "diaper rash" from the snow. But it was all part of a wonderful day! Fabulous photos, Snowie!

Moondust