Mono/Gabbott Pass trip
Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2006 9:56 pm
I finished a week long trip over Mono and Gabbott passes on Labor Day. It was a terrific trip, even though it somehow took 4 peak attempts to get one summit!
I was suffering from a lingering cold, as well as the after-effects of a mono-like illness that has plagued me since January. The trip started out over Mono Pass and up into Pioneer Basin, where I've never been before despite a number of visits to this area. My first peak attempt was Mt. Stanford (my law school alma mater). Because of my cold and my problems in adjusting to the altitude, I was totally exhausted, and had to turn back about 3/4 of the way up the northwest ridge to the peak. Somehow, it was fitting, as it reminded me very much of my experience at law school (although somehow I did manage to finish that ).
I then headed to Second Recess. Luckily, I was able to cross-country much of the way from Pioneer Basin, so I avoided several miles of the execrable Mono Creek trail (I also cross-countried from Trail Lake down to the Pioneer Basin turnoff), which is one of the dustiest and horse manure-ridden trails in the Sierras. I spent a night at Upper Mills Creek Lake and then made my second peak attempt -- Mt. Gabb. Secor's book blithely describes crossing a glacier to get to the saddle (from which the northwest and southwest ridges are pretty straightfoward Class 2 scrambles). Unfortunately, without an ice axe, this proved to be a death-defying task. I made several attempts to get around the ice, but quickly found myself fast against a Class 4 (at least) headwall. During this time, I noticed that a song kept repeating in my head, which I then realized was a Jesus & Mary Chain song that begins "I want to die..." That was enough to convince me to give up that attempt!
Later that afternoon, I went over Gabbott Pass (spectacular), and the next morning I was able to climb Gabb from the south without much trouble. There was lots of nice Class 3 climbing -- not scary like Mt. Abbott, which I did about 5 years ago. I got to visit Lake Italy, which was surprisingly nice.
I had originally planned on heading out over Cox Col, so I wouldn't have to suffer the Mono Creek trail twice. But all the snow and ice I encountered made me nervous about trying to get down the east side, which I was never able to get a clear view of (it is amazingly steep, and would have been suicidal with snow and ice). Still, before that, I tried to climb Mt. Dade, allegedly a Class 2 hike up the western chute according to Secor. Unfortunately, I was never quite sure where the summit of Dade was. One thing I learned is that it is very hard to climb a mountain if you don't know where it is! I spent quite some time trying different chutes (once you're up in the chutes, you can't see the ridgeline), and ended up doing some gnarly Class 3 stuff. I finally ended up on a pinnacle just north of the summit, and decided that was good enough (it was certainly harder than the summit would have been).
On the way out, I nearly ran out of food, and got to discover how nice my fellow backpackers could be (I got several offers of spare food, which were enough to let me take an extra day to go out). On the way out, I went via Golden Creek and Golden Lake, which proved infinitely nicer than going up the main Mono Creek trail. It was a bit strenuous clambering out of the Golden Lake basin, but the x-country to the pass was delightful.
Some pictures appear:
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/553933626DUuLng
Technologically inept as I am, it took a whole week to accomplish this. Just why this album is titled "My Public Shoebox" is beyond me. It makes me sounds like an exhibitionist with a foot fetish, but I can't figure out how to change the name. If there are better options than community webshots, I'd love to hear suggestions from you all.
I was suffering from a lingering cold, as well as the after-effects of a mono-like illness that has plagued me since January. The trip started out over Mono Pass and up into Pioneer Basin, where I've never been before despite a number of visits to this area. My first peak attempt was Mt. Stanford (my law school alma mater). Because of my cold and my problems in adjusting to the altitude, I was totally exhausted, and had to turn back about 3/4 of the way up the northwest ridge to the peak. Somehow, it was fitting, as it reminded me very much of my experience at law school (although somehow I did manage to finish that ).
I then headed to Second Recess. Luckily, I was able to cross-country much of the way from Pioneer Basin, so I avoided several miles of the execrable Mono Creek trail (I also cross-countried from Trail Lake down to the Pioneer Basin turnoff), which is one of the dustiest and horse manure-ridden trails in the Sierras. I spent a night at Upper Mills Creek Lake and then made my second peak attempt -- Mt. Gabb. Secor's book blithely describes crossing a glacier to get to the saddle (from which the northwest and southwest ridges are pretty straightfoward Class 2 scrambles). Unfortunately, without an ice axe, this proved to be a death-defying task. I made several attempts to get around the ice, but quickly found myself fast against a Class 4 (at least) headwall. During this time, I noticed that a song kept repeating in my head, which I then realized was a Jesus & Mary Chain song that begins "I want to die..." That was enough to convince me to give up that attempt!
Later that afternoon, I went over Gabbott Pass (spectacular), and the next morning I was able to climb Gabb from the south without much trouble. There was lots of nice Class 3 climbing -- not scary like Mt. Abbott, which I did about 5 years ago. I got to visit Lake Italy, which was surprisingly nice.
I had originally planned on heading out over Cox Col, so I wouldn't have to suffer the Mono Creek trail twice. But all the snow and ice I encountered made me nervous about trying to get down the east side, which I was never able to get a clear view of (it is amazingly steep, and would have been suicidal with snow and ice). Still, before that, I tried to climb Mt. Dade, allegedly a Class 2 hike up the western chute according to Secor. Unfortunately, I was never quite sure where the summit of Dade was. One thing I learned is that it is very hard to climb a mountain if you don't know where it is! I spent quite some time trying different chutes (once you're up in the chutes, you can't see the ridgeline), and ended up doing some gnarly Class 3 stuff. I finally ended up on a pinnacle just north of the summit, and decided that was good enough (it was certainly harder than the summit would have been).
On the way out, I nearly ran out of food, and got to discover how nice my fellow backpackers could be (I got several offers of spare food, which were enough to let me take an extra day to go out). On the way out, I went via Golden Creek and Golden Lake, which proved infinitely nicer than going up the main Mono Creek trail. It was a bit strenuous clambering out of the Golden Lake basin, but the x-country to the pass was delightful.
Some pictures appear:
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/553933626DUuLng
Technologically inept as I am, it took a whole week to accomplish this. Just why this album is titled "My Public Shoebox" is beyond me. It makes me sounds like an exhibitionist with a foot fetish, but I can't figure out how to change the name. If there are better options than community webshots, I'd love to hear suggestions from you all.