We started late afternoon on Friday out of Onion Valley, the jaunt up Kearsarge Pass waking up my long-neglected mountain legs and providing us a view out to our ultimate goal: the east ridge of Mt. Brewer.
The sight of Brewer from the Sierra Crest has lured me in too many times, I had to see it up closeMaking our way down through the basin we learned the basis for the naming of Bullfrog Lake, as we witnessed a constant parade of jumping frogs breaking the surface trying to nab the swarms of mosquitos and other bugs. We cheered them on with vigor.
Despite the menacing swarms of mosquitos, Bullfrog Lake had a beautiful and peaceful quality Friday night Dropping down onto the JMT we were greeted with views I fondly remember from three summers ago as the sun set and delivered a great show.
East Vidette’s glow game was strong We spent the night under the stars near Vidette Meadow, frantically passing on our first choice as we tried to outrun a vicious horde of buzzing winged bloodsuckers. Thankfully we escaped and made our way to sleep shortly after a quick dinner, knowing the next day would be a big one.
Who needs a tent when you have a roof of stars overhead? We made quick work Saturday ascending to East Lake, first dropping to Junction Meadow and fording a knee-high Bubbs Creek, then slamming the three trail miles up to a new and sublimely beautiful spot for me at East Lake. Dropping our overnight gear we headed up Ouzel Creek toward the east ridge without too much difficulty, though as the day moved on, the heat and elevation started raging, and gentle slabs turned to talus scrambling, we slowed down a bit.
With views like this, I’m not sure why we climb anyway. Maybe to escape the mosquitos?
The East Ridge of Mt. Brewer
There was some sun cup/penitente action on either side of the notch, but nothing too difficult to avoidWe caught the notch around 2:30 and were on the summit by 3:00, a full two hours after I had expected. No matter, the skies were only marred by one resilient tiny cloud near the Palisades and the expansive views were incredible. We both grabbed our summit brews and celebrated a successful venture up another classic Sierra peak.
Watch out, you might be next Palisades. Or you, Goddard 
Looking back to the Central Valley heat and haze we were happy to leave for the weekend
Had some fun listing summits, seemed like every one in the world was within viewHaving carried a rod and some new lures all the way out, I was hopeful to get down to see what luck I might have in the lake that night, but it wasn’t meant to be. We dallied a bit on the way down, beat from the day, and turned into camp after the sun. We were fortunate enough to have the lake all to ourselves as we ate some freeze-dried delicacies and did some star gazing, but eventually gave way to some much needed rest…again under the cover of nothing but alpine treetops and celestial ceilings.
The moon chased away the Milky Way, but both gave a good show for a bitThe next day we packed up and made the long trek back to civilization, considering ourselves impressive specimens until we got a reality check from a fastpacker near the JMT junction that started her day at Whitney Portal, and two trailrunners near Vidette Meadow day tripping from Onion Valley. Those people are clearly abnormal, so I’ll stick to my assessment of a tough but great weekend out in the Sierra.
Thanks for a great weekend Brewer
