High Sierra Topix

In going through some old pictures, this one came up from a trip my long time climbing partner Chuck and I took back in the early/mid 70's.Pic shows inside cover of the summit register of the peak we climbed.. Was thinking someone might recognize the date and signature and be able to guess the peak. It is a well known one, and sadly the only time I summited it was the trip this picture was taken on. Have been back to other peaks really close to it, and will do it again before hanging up the boots for good. Any Guesses?

Clyde Minaret?

Nope. Right person, wrong peak.

Wow. The classic. Gotta be the east ridge of Russell

Mt. Russell
(if I'm right, I cheated)

Any other guesses?

Russell.

I'd imagine that original register is gone now, given how well-known and relatively popular that ridge/summit is. Hopefully it made its way to the library in Berkeley.

I too "cheated" and looked this up in Roper and Secor--Both report that Norman Clyde made the first ascent of Mt Russell via the E Arete on 6/24/26 as recorded in that signature. That is very cool you were able to see that and it's neat even now to see the photo--thanks for posting that. That is truly one of the classics.

In my peak climbing years I only stumbled upon two "original registers" and neither of them were placed by the first ascent party, so they postdated the first ascent by quite a bit, unlike your Mt Russell gem. I remember seeing the original register on Mt Williamson when I climbed it in 1978 (register placed 1919, FA was something like 1884) and the original register on Mt Barnard in 1996 (register placed in 1936, FA was pre-1900, forget when). Even though the old Williamson and Barnard registers were placed long after the FAs, it was still really cool to read through their older entries and see all the great names such as Clyde, Eichorn, Farquhar, etc.

You guys are correct in the Mt Russell choice. It was quite the thing for us to open the register and see Clyde's signature on the inside cover. It has always been one of the highlights of my times in the Sierras.
I talked with the friend I did the climb with earlier today and he told me I was the one holding the register. I always thought it was his hands in the picture. Guess memories are harder to recall some 40 years later. I do remember it being one of the most enjoyable climbs I have done in the Sierras, made even better with finding the sign in that we did.