Two Peaks Above 11,600 Feet

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Vaca Russ
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Location: The Nut Tree

Two Peaks Above 11,600 Feet

Post by Vaca Russ »

I knew we needed to climb Wheeler and Patterson, but all of the reports I read were about starting at or near Lobdell Lake. This requires a hike of over 16 miles with about 4000 feet of elevation gain. Now distance and elevation gain don’t really bother us. Hell, we bag peaks for fun! :D But we aren’t crazy! If there is an easier way to skin a cat, just ask Calipidder!

Sport found a report she wrote about her and David climbing these two peaks last summer. They climbed them the smart way…6.6 miles with about 1000 feet of elevation.

When she showed me Rebecca’s report I was like WOO HOO! Most of the climb from the east side is done with a four wheel drive.

We took Forest Service Roads and spent the night in Star City. The Aspens are just starting to turn.
1 Star City Aspens.JPG
The next morning we were met by a big buck that nearly walked through our campsite.
2 Buck.JPG
We climbed up over a mile on a very rocky 4 X 4 bench road up to Belfort. There are a few mining era cabins still remaining at Belfort.
3 Cabin.JPG
4 Belfort Cabin.JPG
5 Cabin.JPG
We continued driving up past the dry lake and across the plateau at 10,640 feet. We could have continued driving from this point but at some point driving to the peak becomes “cheating”. :nod:
We parked the truck at the south end of this plateau and hiked west up the ridge.
6 Plateau @ 10640.JPG
This is a shot from the top of the ridgeline looking back down at her Honda Ridgeline parked on the plateau below. :)
7 Ridgeline From the Ridgeline.JPG
We met back up with the road and headed off toward Wheeler Peak.
8 Nice Road.JPG
There are signs reminding the Vroom Vrooms to stay on the designated roads.
9 Moon Sign.JPG
We approached the summit of Wheeler.
10 Peak.JPG
To be continued…
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"...Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host and then a master?"

Kahil Gibran.
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Vaca Russ
Topix Expert
Posts: 809
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:12 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: The Nut Tree

Re: Two Peaks Above 11,600 Feet

Post by Vaca Russ »

This is a shot of her on the summit of Wheeler Peak. That is Mount Patterson to her right.
11 Sport Wheeler Peak.JPG
Once again there was no register to be found. :( We did however find two empty tobacco tins.
12 Price Albert.JPG
Then we headed back down to the road to continue on toward Patterson.
13 Hike to Saddle.JPG
The landscape at this elevation is somewhat moonlike.
13.5 Hike to Patterson.JPG
Except that I’m not so sure there is so much snow and ice on the moon.
14 More Road.JPG
The snow got deeper as we approached Patterson.
15 Snow.JPG
16 Sport Snow.JPG
This is a picture of her on the summit of Mount Patterson. That is South Sister just above her sign.
17 Sport Patterson Summit.JPG
We could find no register on the summit of this peak as well. :( We then headed back to the truck along the long high elevation road.
18 Long Road Back.JPG
We did snap this picture of the Sawtooth Ridge.
19 Sawtooths.JPG
Thanks for reading our report and a big thanks to Calipidder and David for sharing their adventure!

-Russ
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"...Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host and then a master?"

Kahil Gibran.
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