TR: Banner Peak via N. Glacier Pass & Lake Catherine

[avizzini]

July 3rd-4th I went on an overnight trip to climb Banner Peak.

The first day was an uneventful hike from the Rush Creek TH to Thousand Island lake. This was the first time entering Ansel Adams Wilderness via Rush Creek. I found it a rather enjoyable route. I could see it being very hot and exposed in the afternoons, but early morning is perfect. Even on a holiday weekend I hardly saw anyone until Clark Lakes, a good way to escape the crowds of the River Trail and High Trail. Lots of mosquitoes but, not the worst I’ve experienced.

The following day, at dawn, I started. There was a reliable use trail just to the boulder fields below N. Glacier Pass. None of the creek crossings were hard, plenty of places to get water, there was even some running water just below the Banner-Ritter saddle from snow melt. There are some remaining snow fields (suncupped) bellow the pass that were helpful in bypassing the boulders but they won’t last. The boulder field to the pass was the 2nd hardest part of the climb, tedious and long.

Getting onto the snowfield below the saddle was the hardest part. I tried to bypass the suncups as much as possible and took the ridge that runs parallel to the Glacier to ~11,500’. The ridge is easy but getting off it higher up isn’t at all. If the snow was deeper it’d be easier but right now it’s a steep slope with very loose scree and large rocks precariously laying atop the scree, too much trouble in low snow years.

I eventually got onto the snow field. It’s very low, glacier ice is starting to show, it doesn’t even extend the whole way to the lake. The lower half has smaller suncups that are more tolerable but higher up they get deep, 1-2ft in places. I was glad to have crampons for the stability navigating the suncups but the ice axe went unused, you wouldn’t have slid anywhere. Microspikes or nothing might work but, I imagine it’d be far more miserable and slow. The snow remained pretty solid throughout the morning. My thermometer said mid-30s in the shade around Lake Catherine, a bit after sunrise.

Once on the saddle it was a fairly straightforward ascent on the boulders to the summit. The visibility was good, great views, and mild weather. On the return back I got off the snowfield down near the lake, this was much easier than the way I came in. From there it was just a very long hike back to Rush Creek TH. The 2nd day worked out to about 18 miles with the first only being about 9 miles.

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[Shawn]

Beautiful photos and nice TR. Thanks for posting and congrats on your summit of Banner.