R03/R04/R01 TR: SHR & SoSHR Bits in SEKI July 18-30 2018

Stanley Otter · Post by **Stanley Otter** » Sat Aug 18, 2018 9:10 pm

This is the second of two hikes I did in the Sierra this summer. (The TR for the first is here.) My goal was to pick up Roper’s Sierra High Route in Humphreys Basin where I had left off two years ago, follow it through Darwin, Dusy, and Palisade Basins and abandon it in Upper Basin after crossing Mather Pass. There I planned to pick up the Southern Sierra High Route and follow it to the Cottonwood Lakes. The SoSHR essentially uses the JMT/PCT in SEKI as a nice chain on which to hang some pretty well-traveled, off-trail jewels. Due to a ridiculous scheduling error on my part that involved a red eye flight out of SFO, I miscounted the number of days available to me (12 instead of 13). That and shortened hiking days due to intense thunderstorms on many afternoons caused delays that forced me to exit at Whitney Portal rather than Cottonwood Lakes, but I still consider the trip a rousing success. It just means I have the kernel of next year’s trip already planned.

July 17 — Mammoth Lakes to Bishop
Very good breakfast omelet at the Cinnamon Bear Inn in Mammoth Lakes. Another hot shower in the morning just because I could. Pack up, check out, pick up general delivery package at the post office and wilderness permit at the interagency visitor center. Pharmacy shopping then laundry. Had to ask other patrons for quarters because change machine was out of order. Had to wait for a dryer to open up because Cinnamon Bear Inn uses the place to do its laundry. (It took me a while to figure out why I recognized the woman who was doing enormous loads of bath towels and other linens.) Even after laundering with scented detergent, which I don’t normally use, my socks still smelled faintly of awfulness. Spent a lot of my time at the laundromat talking with a couple who were national park rangers for 30 years. They retired early this spring rather than face new administration directives that weaken the preservation ethic that had been part of their culture for decades. Quick shopping at Vons. ESTA bus to Bishop. ESTA bus to Trees Motel — well worth the extra $2.00 to avoid walking in the incredible heat with all my stuff. Lounge around and make phone calls in the very same room I occupied at the end of my trip two years ago. Excellent burger, salad, Thai meatballs, and a beer at the Mountain Rambler Brewery (what can I say, I was hungry for some reason — I felt like a late-season bear with hyperphagia). Back in my room I sorted through food and made a list for additional purchases while watching really bad tv. Tried to catch up on emails — pecked away on my phone well past midnight.

July 18 — Piute Pass
Checked out by 6:15 AM. Dark roast coffee and a carrot muffin at the Looney Bean coffee shop to “fuel my adventure.” Final grocery shopping at Vons. ESTA bus to North Lake Road at 8:00 AM. Talked for a while with the driver about flowers after everyone else got off at South Lake. On the drive up, he fueled our collective sense of adventure by playing a disc of Star Wars themes by John Williams. He dropped me off shortly after 9:00 AM. Hiked up the road and then over Piute Pass. 8950’ to 11425’ and I felt good even though the pack was very heavy — I love being acclimated to the elevation! Many people on the trail both going up and coming down. At the top of Piute Pass, I made the turn south on the Muriel Lake trail. Dismayed at amount of horse manure on all the trails so far. Tossed the Sawyer Squeeze back in Mammoth because it was more trouble than it was worth, but quickly discovered that I may not have enough Aqua Mira for troublesome areas like this. One of the two parts seemed to have leaked a bit. Decided to camp at about 2:30 PM at SE corner of Muriel Lake because I wanted to be closer to clean water and because I was afraid Goethe Lake would just be rock bound without good sites (that turned out to be true, but the small lake just below had some acceptable meadowy sites). Bugs were moderately obnoxious for a while and then it started to rain at 3:00 PM. I ended up taking a two hour nap while it rained lightly and sporadically. Sups, reading, and a promise to myself to get out of bed early tomorrow morning.

: View from North Lake Road -- inspiration to climb!

: Flowers along Piute Pass Trail -- more inspiration!

: Sunset over Humphreys Basin

July 19 — Alpine Col
On my way at 7:35 AM which isn’t exactly early. Oh well. I had read enough accounts of Snow Tongue Pass, which is on the canonical SHR, to know I wanted no part of it. Fortunately, Alpine Col provides an alternate off-trail route to Evolution Basin. Hiked all the way around Muriel Lake in order to get to Goethe Lake (with the additional information that the day’s hike provided, it would have been possible to go directly over the ridge to Goethe Lake and have to deal with crossing only one or two steep talus fields). At the small lake below Goethe Lake the going turned into one very long rock hop. All the way around the west shore of Goethe, which is recommended over the shorter route on the east shore for no earthly reason I could determine from where I stood/wobbled, and then up to Alpine Col. Rock hopping, rock scrambling, rock climbing. Rocks, rocks, rocks! I read someone’s account of Alpine Col that said it was a “one and done” pass as far as he was concerned. I am pretty sure I don’t need to do it again, either. At the top I met two men I had passed on the trail to Piute Pass who were part of a larger group with their young children and an older dog. They left their camp at Muriel Lake very early this morning to do a day hike together because they were “tired of going a half mile an hour.” I thought they were smart to get the kids out at that age — I waited too long. We talked hiking, getting away from crowds, and whatnot for a while. Afterward, I descended to Lake 11910’ and it started to rain. It was only 12:30 PM — aaargh! I found a small patch of grass and rocks on which to pitch the tent. Thunderstorms, rain and hail for the next three hours. Some real close lightning strikes. Napped through much of it. Temporary clearing at about 4:00 PM, but it was obvious more was on the way. I decided to stay put and hope for better weather tomorrow for my hike through Evolution Basin. It sprinkled on and off for several more hours with much thunder in the distance. Feeling very snug and dry, albeit frustrated with the radically shortened hiking day.

Dennis

: Mt Humphreys from above Muriel Lake

: Alpine Col from the north -- I started on top of the lower slabs, then lower left to upper right between steep slabs in center of frame, the up and left to low point

: Alpine Col from the south -- I came down on top of lowest cliff band and then pretty much straight down to the shore

: Goethe Lake from Alpine Col

: Lake 11910 from Alpine Col

: Camp site at Lake 11910 in early evening after rains

Stanley Otter · Post by **Stanley Otter** » Sat Aug 18, 2018 10:34 pm

July 20 — Darwin Bench to Muir Pass/Helen Lake
On my way by 7:25 AM. Slow going along Lake 11910 — a continuation of yesterday’s boulder hopping. There were a few other spots along the east shore that would be suitable campsites. At the outlet there is a nice chute that leads gradually down to Lake 11546 with grassy ramps and the possibility of normal walking! $\:D/$ Made my way around Lake 11540 on the west shore and decided to climb to a low point on the ridge just west of its outlet stream, hoping for nice views of Darwin Bench. The choice did not disappoint — just beautiful. Ate second breakfast there and gained sustenance from the sites as well as the food. Just yummy all 'round. Grassy ramps lead from that point down to the bench. I ended up below the confluence of the upper lakes stream and the flow from Darwin Canyon, both of which were undoubtedly running higher with the recent rain. I finally found a spot to pick my way across to the use trail on other side of stream. Followed that for a while and then abandoned it to cut SE across steep slopes to meet JMT as high as possible — 10740’ for this attempt, a whole 100’ higher than if I had simply followed the use trail down to the JMT. The JMT through Evolution Basin was very nice, of course, with lots of other people, of course. Clouds built as the day wore on. Thunderstorms started up just as I reached the top of Muir Pass at 2:00 PM. Descended *very* quickly to the small lake SW of Helen Lake and pitched my tent hurriedly. Driving rain with rice sized hail and a great deal of thunder and lightning all pounded around me while setting up. Eventually the tent became partially submerged by rising waters, but did not leak. Gotta love them bathtub bottoms that succeed in keeping the water out. Tremendous cracks of thunder led to long, loud tails of rumbling. Waited 1.5 hours for a relative break in the rain to relocate to a slightly higher rocky surface ten yards away. Sups. More rain. Read. Bed.

: Lakes 11546 & 11540 above Darwin Bench

: Darwin Bench -- a slice of Heaven on Earth

: The Hermit & Co from Darwin Bench

: Storm clouds over Black Divide & LeConte Canyon

July 21 — Helen Lake to Dusy Basin
Purposeful late start at 8:20 AM to allow direct sun to dry hiking clothes and quilt which got wet from condensation. The humidity has been somewhat high recently.

Descent into LeConte Canyon was beautiful. Tried to help a PCT section hiker with heel blisters — offered four second-skin applications from my supply — she didn’t want to accept them because of the extra weight. Seriously. Eventually I convinced her. (And here I had picked up a big ol’ green plastic bag out of the Middle Fork Kings River just below Helen Lake — thing must have weighed damn near three ounces, and, conscientious bastard that I am, I ended up carrying it out to Whitney Portal.) I reached Bishop Pass Trail at 1:00 PM. Surprised at how long that took, but I am way behind my supposed schedule at this point to worry much about it. Climb to Dusy Basin while clouds gather and thunder begins to the east and south. Find a spot near a minor stream and pitch tent as rain begins at 3:15 PM. Several nearby lightning strikes but not much rain. Visited by a pika, a black squirrel, and a mule deer — all at pleasing close quarters. One of those obnoxious jays screeched at me until nightfall — could have been a mile away and had as much impact.

: Black Giant and Upper LeConte Canyon

: Dusy Basin Trail

July 22 — Dusy Basin to Cirque Pass
On my way by 7:30 AM. Wandered across lower Dusy Basin and began ascent of Knapsack Pass. Class 2 hiking and scrambling to the top. Met a young man from Mammoth Lakes who had just done an overnight near the top of the pass and was headed back home. I’d sure like to be able to do that kind of thing on a whim, both in a physical sense and a geographical one, too. At the top, I followed the recommendation to traverse north and actually go higher by about 100’. There is a very well defined use trail that shows the way. On the way down, I missed the jumping off point for first Barrett Lake in Palisade Basin and ended up 75’ below it. Climbed back up and made my way on a use trail around the north shore of the second Barrett Lake. Clambering up to the shoulder above the Barrett Lakes at 11900’ involved a few spots of Class 2 scrambling on the route I chose. The traverse over to Potluck Pass was straightforward. The far side of the pass was something else. The advice to stay right/southwest and look for ramps that lead down and to the right is sound. Finally, intersect with the scree slope and down you go, gravel glissading or not, as is your preference. Overall, a Class 2 scramble down. At the bottom, I contoured south around the low ridge in the middle of the Glacier Creek drainage to get to the outlet of the larger lake. Some nice views as I rounded the far point. North Palisade and company were not that photogenic all morning given the building cloud cover to the north. The description by the SoSHR authors of the route up to Cirque Pass is quite good. Head SE from the outlet of the largest lake in the Glacier Creek drainage to access ramps that lead northeast to the pass. “Up level” to your next ramp whenever possible. As you approach the top, a cliff blocks your way, but there is a steep slot, maybe five feet wide, filled with loose gravel and some fixed rocks. Scramble up about 50’ and then go left to access easy ramps to the top. Coming down Cirque Pass on the other side is slow going and involves Class 2 hiking and scrambling to reach lower terraces with small lakes. At 2:15 PM I had to stop at 11400’ due to impending storms. Could probably have gone farther but then would have been in the village that forms daily at the outlet of the lowest Palisade Lake. Rained for a couple hours and then cleared out quickly as the sun set, portending good weather for tomorrow morning at least. Sups, reading, bed.

Dennis

: Lower Dusy Basin from route up to Knapsack Pass

: Knapsack Pass from the east on use trail

: Barrett Lake 11468

: Potluck Pass from the east on route up to Cirque Pass

: Cirque Pass from the south showing ledge system

: Upper Palisade Lake from camp site below Cirque Pass

Stanley Otter · Post by **Stanley Otter** » Sun Aug 19, 2018 6:48 am

July 23 – Cirque Pass to Pinchot Pass
On my way at 7:30 AM. Lovely clear skies. Advice to stay right/south for final descent from Cirque Pass to the lower Palisade Lake is perfectly sound. Class 2 hiking and scrambling. Everything very wet so scooted down a couple spots. Steep meadows were most treacherous part for me due to moisture and knee high growth. Nothing Class 3 required, though. Trail hiking a welcome break, but lots of people. Glad not to have descended yesterday after all because there was indeed a village of tents that looked like confetti from higher up. Felt good all day long. Mather Pass very nice as always. Upper Basin had a lot of water flowing. Went off trail to find water source not likely to be accessed by others and had lunch. Wet crossing of South Fork Kings River was required before starting climb up to Pinchot Pass. Still in forest at 2:00 PM when it started to sprinkle. Did not look bad at all when all of a sudden two cracks of loud thunder signal the start of a pounding hailstorm. I moved from shelter tree to shelter tree for about an hour. Ready to give in and set up camp when I notice I am right next to a ranger station. Some nut came outside to howl at the rain occasionally — definitely not staying there. Eventually the rain subsided and the thunderstorm activity was all well to the north, so I continued hiking south. Thought I was going to make it over Pinchot Pass, but storms rolled in at 4:30 PM, so I stopped above the last lake in the drainage at 11500’. I pitched my tent high above the lake because two huge cube-like boulders were perched on a ledge and held precariously in place by small chockstones that with my luck would be vaporized by simultaneous lightning strikes during the storm. Rained for about two hours and then cleared shortly before sunset. Took some cloud photos. Morning weather ought to be good. I have some ground to cover if I expect to get over Mt Baxter tomorrow before storms set in again. Early start anyone?

: Cliffs leading to Cirque Pass -- I came down the steep meadow on the left/west

: View of Lower Palisade Lake descending cliffs below Cirque Pass

July 24 – Pinchot Pass to 60 Lake Basin
On the trail by 7:10 AM. Over Pinchot Pass with views of Colosseum Mountain and Mt Cedric Wright. Go off trail to climb Colosseum Col. Nice views of Twin Lakes as I pass by to the west. The Col comes in two stages. Class 2 hiking and scrambling over steep talus, boulders and scree slopes for the first stage. Between the lower and upper stage is a nice meadowy stretch where one can rest and reconsider because the upper has large steep snow field. Possible to climb on rock right/west side. I chose to go up the edge of the snow field. The thought came into my head: “Always walk like a duck, never a pigeon.” What any self respecting duck or pigeon would be doing up there is beyond me. From the top of the col, Sawmill Pass and the upper Woods Creek drainage are on magnificent display. There are many possible routes down via slabs populated with stands of whitebark pine. In the distance, I can see Mt Baxter, Grasshopper Pass, and Acrodectes Peak. There is no way in hell I am going to climb Mt Baxter to avoid descending to Woods Hole as suggested as an optional route for the SoSHR. I just laughed when I saw it. Not my kind of hike. I found the unmaintained Sawmill Pass trail but abandoned it quickly in favor of lunch on the shore of Woods Lake. Just really nice. Followed the creek for a few lakes downstream and then picked up the trail again to the JMT and descended to Woods Hole. In 2015 I really disliked a particular stretch of the JMT along Woods Creek where it first emerges from the forest. It still strikes me as unattractive, but with greater age comes greater acceptance. Beats falling off Mt Baxter at any rate. I arrived at the Woods Hole campground at 4:00 PM. The place was a zoo. I ate a snack and watched as a large group received their packer delivered mound of steaks and other comestibles. I wasn’t about to stick around to watch them eat steaks, attract bears with the odors, and get liquored up, so I decided to push on to 60 Lake Basin. I finally arrived via the notch west of Arrowhead Lake at 7:45 PM. I bathed, did some laundry, communicated with the family, and had a very late moonlit dinner. It did not rain all day!

Dennis

: Twin Lakes

: Lower portion of Colosseum Col from the north -- many options

: Upper portion of Colosseum Col from the north -- I walked up the edge of the snowfield

: View north from near top of Colosseum Col

: View south from top of Colosseum Col -- Sawmill Pass on the left

: Woods Lake & Peak 3903

: Woods Creek Basin

: Woods Creek Basin

jimmyjamhikes · Post by **jimmyjamhikes** » Sun Aug 19, 2018 6:01 pm

Nice TR! I especially like the picture of Lake 11910 from Alpine Col.

Stanley Otter · Post by **Stanley Otter** » Sun Aug 19, 2018 10:05 pm

jhfowler wrote: ↑Sun Aug 19, 2018 6:01 pm Nice TR! I especially like the picture of Lake 11910 from Alpine Col.

Thanks! Here's the next installment:

July 25 – Nero Day in 60 Lake Basin
Everything got sopping wet overnight from condensation — at least it wasn’t due to a storm (directly, anyway). Leisurely breakfast and puttering about camp drying things and organizing for a day hike. Finally start at 10:15 AM or so. Wandered down-basin on the east side to the last lake before the stream drops into the valley. Beautiful scenes of water, forest and mountains. Made my way up-basin on the west side of the basin and discovered the use trail that goes right by my camp on the other side of the stream. Followed it over the ridge for views of the Rae Lakes, Painted Lady, Mt Rixford and Fin Dome. Many groups on day hikes up from the Rae Lakes. Nobody goes very far into the basin. Wanted to stay longer at base of Fin Dome but storm clouds were gathering. Got back to camp at 3:00 PM as it started to sprinkle on and off for a couple hours. Late sups. Probably should get an early start tomorrow for the climbs over Glen Pass and into Center Basin.

: Lower 60 Lake Basin -- view south.

: Lower 60 Lake Basin -- view north.

: Upper 60 Lake Basin -- view south.

: Rae Lakes from near the base of Fin Dome.

July 26 — 60 Lake Basin to Center Basin
On the way at 7:00 AM and at the top of Rae Col shortly before 10:00 AM. From the south side there are several routes to choose from. There are a couple of obvious ledges that serve as intermediate goals, and I only crossed a couple short sections of talus slope. Class 2 hiking all the way up. The south side consists of gently sloped slabs with many possible routes down with opportunities for wandering about to take photos of the lakes in the basin below. Linking up with the JMT over Glen Pass is straightforward. While I was enjoying an early lunch at the top of Glen Pass, two NPS rangers with six horses came through. I have never seen horses at such an elevation before, so it was a novelty for me. The last one had a big ol’ chainsaw sticking out of its port pack. At 12:30 PM, on the way down to Charlotte Lake, the clouds started rolling in and thunder could be heard originating way south near Forester Pass. At the Kearsarge Pass Trail junction I met a young man who was out with his mother and grandmother and some other family members. As we chatted about the weather and the trail, his manner of speech reminded me of someone I had met hiking the PCT north-bound in 2015 while I was hiking the JMT south-bound. So I asked his trail name, and sure enough it was Weak Ankles, with whom I had shared a campsite at Grouse Meadows in LeConte Canyon three years ago. That was a nice coincidence. I also had a chat with a man who hiked the JMT with his son in the same time frame I did in 2015, so we had fun comparing the weather then (all day rain showers and a snowstorm for good measure) with the current pattern. We were looking out over the view of East Vidette in the photo below and noting how similar it looked the last time we were both here. It began to rain as I hiked up the trail along Bubbs Creek. Hiked for a bit, sought shelter for a bit when the rain and lightning intensified. Eventually it let up, but not before I missed the unmaintained trail up to Center Basin. Not a big deal because the forested slopes are largely free of undergrowth, and it is easy to follow the stream up at a respectful distance in order to avoid the clutches of Old Man Willow. After climbing the initial slope I headed northeast so that I was sure to cut the trail, and I eventually did so and followed it up to the basin. Fisher folk surely know this from other sources, but the lakes in the basin are being netted to remove the fish. I decided to camp on top of a rock ridge directly south of Center Peak, nearly at its base. The skies cleared as I was setting up camp, brightening the views of the Center Basin Crags, Mt Bradley and Mt Keith.

Dennis

: Rae Col from the base on the north side -- I went up the light colored rocks left/east of center, staying below the darker mass (mostly because this route was still in shade), and then traversed back to the center

: Rae Col from the north closer to the top -- I went left/east across that talus slope in shade (about 20-30') and then up the rock and grass slope to the ledge

: Rae Col from part way up Glen Pass -- I came down to the isthmus between the two lakes on the right where the JMT/PCT passes nearby

: 60 Lake Basin from Rae Col

: Glen Pass from Rae Col

: Stormy weather over East Vidette and Center Peak

: Whitebark Pine cone -- I wanted to harvest two of these to stick in my boots at night -- covered with lovely smelling wax-like coating

: Lower Center Basin

windknot · Post by **windknot** » Mon Aug 20, 2018 4:34 pm

Thanks for sharing this lovely photo essay. I appreciate you taking us along on your journey!

quietone · Post by **quietone** » Mon Aug 20, 2018 5:02 pm

sweet trip report down memory lane, thank you

Stanley Otter · Post by **Stanley Otter** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 1:23 pm

windknot wrote: ↑Mon Aug 20, 2018 4:34 pm Thanks for sharing this lovely photo essay. I appreciate you taking us along on your journey!

quietone wrote: ↑Mon Aug 20, 2018 5:02 pm sweet trip report down memory lane, thank you

Thank you both for your notes. Here is the penultimate installment:

July 27 – Center Basin to Wright Lakes
Began hiking up Center Basin at 7:30 AM. The trail comes and goes in meadows as it climbs toward Junction Pass. At one point it stops dead in the middle of a meadow, so somebody thoughtfully created a three stone arrow pointing across the stream to a cairn showing where trail resumes. Really nice views from the ridge below the pass into Center Basin and the Bubbs Creek drainage. Can see hikers ascending Forester Pass across the way. Just below the top of the pass there is quite a healthy community of Sky Pilot. The trail is easily followed throughout Center Basin with the exception of some of the lower slopes and slabs near the meadows, so the north side certainly qualifies as Class 1.

The south side of Junction Pass at the very top is a broad gentle slope. I walked to the far side to peer down and wished I could just float across to the southeast ridge of Junction Peak — sure would save a whole lot of work. Instead, a very steep scree/gravel/sand slope leads down to a deep cleft. At the bottom it is miserable unsorted rubble, boulders and talus with no sign of a trail that I could detect (there were occasional cairns that must have been created purely for their humor value). Class 2 hiking all the way down (going up the scree slope must be a 2-up-1-down deal or maybe even 3-up-2-down). A lot of newly fallen rock lay on top of the residual snow fields. Insert cheery WPA poster here with caption: “Ask your local outfitter if a fresh layer of rubble has been deposited for this hiking season!” Two large berms/ridges of rock across the drainage divide the hike into three stages. At the bottom, I finally saw some trail remnants up on the north wall. It was at the bottom that I met two young men on a four week tour. Twin Lakes to Tuolumne to Isberg to Mammoth and down to Whitney. Then back up via different routes. Hmmmm…

They told me the conditions they encountered at Russell-Carillon Col and the Mountaineers Route, and I shared what lay ahead for them for the next couple miles. Undaunted and with copious knee cartilage they bounded off on their further adventures.

Eventually made my way to Shepherd Pass Trail. Joined four young men who were going to climb Mt Tyndall and another 14er in the next couple days. Trailhead elevation was 6200’ and Shepherd Pass is something like 12100’, so, having climbed only a fraction of what they had already done, even I could keep up with them. Encountered several dismembered deer carcasses on the way up — a more limited version of what happened elsewhere last winter. The climb is gradual and then gets very steep. The trail is easy to follow.

Continued over Rockwell Pass to the Wright Lakes with expansive views of Bighorn Plateau. (I learned from a ranger the next day that Rockwell Pass is the site of the highest elevation tornado ever observed.) Made camp at about 6:30 PM and got caught at the edge of an intense thunderstorm raging to the east and south. Tremendous crashes of thunder. At one point, a perfect, off-vertical column of hail poured down and painted a mountaintop white while I watched. Coyotes serenading. Small birds fighting off a raptor that was flying nap-of-the-earth in search of prey. Fortunately, when it detected me it “popped up” and chose a different heading rather than going into attack mode.

: Upper Center Basin from near top of Junction Pass

: Junction Peak from Junction Pass

: View up-canyon from below Junction Pass

: View east from Shepherd Pass -- trail from Junction Pass emerges at left-uppermost patch of green

: Wright Lakes drainage from base of Rockwell Pass

: Storm to east and south of Wright Lakes

July 28 – Wright Lakes to Upper Boy Scout Lake
On my way at 7:30 AM. Easy hiking down through Wright Lakes drainage. Open meadows, many streams converging. Headed east toward Wallace Creek through forested slopes. Untangled up a couple “feliz cumpleaños” balloons with residual helium from a tree to help clean up the neighborhood. Once at the creek, I stayed north 100-300’ to avoid willows and rough conditions. Occasional rapids/falls required short climbs. Open meadows surrounded by mountains were beautiful. Small piles of hailstones that haven’t yet melted — haze from copious amounts of evaporating water. Reached lake just below Wallace Lake at about 10:00 AM for second breakfast. Group camped on rock shelf that I cannot reach from where I am because of high water conditions. This is the area that was hit hard by the hailstorm last night. Finally, I made my way over to the group which consisted of NPS Rangers Laura and Rob Pilewski and several of their friends. Everyone was in boisterous spirits having survived an exemplar of the proverbial “big one.” They reported between two and three inches of hail on the ground by the time the storm was finished, and I shared my observations from the northern edge of the storm. I also told Laura, whose specialty is water resources, about what looked like a defunct monitoring station in a small marshy area just below Rockwell Pass. One of the group had his daughter’s stuffed animal along, so Boone met a new friend and did his part to maintain good HST-NPS relations. (I am not certain of the purple creature’s name and it bothers me — I faintly remember it as a color or a fruit. Suggestions? Periwinkle is my leading contender, and I am 85% certain this is correct. Anybody else met her? The other dad was smarter than me and wrote Boone’s name in a journal for reporting out purposes when he got back home. I should be so organized…

) I got some route advice for getting up to Tulainyo Lake (so-named, I learned, because it sits in both Tulare and Inyo Counties) and then over Russell-Carillon Col and down to Upper Boy Scout Lake. Rob convinced me that it might be better to leave most of my stuff at camp tomorrow if I elect to climb the Mountaineer’s Route rather than dragging it to the top and hiking down the Mt Whitney Trail as was my revised-on-the-fly plan for my shortened SoSHR. Rob also authorized my exit at Whitney Portal after I explained the weather delays would prevent me from reaching Cottonwood Lakes before running out of food.

Onward. Class 2 scramble up steep, rocky slope to territory below Tulainyo Lake. No trees but grasses and flowers grow along drainage channel. Tulainyo Lake in barren bowl with snow slopes along western shore. First glimpse of Russell-Carillon Col was intimidating. Approach slowly to get an idea of how to climb. Went across large boulder field at base and scrambled up left/east side. Part way up is a cliff that must be avoided — I chose to stay left and reached the top on Class 2 scrambling terrain. Very steep but not Class 3 in my estimation. View of Tulainyo Lake and small tarn from the top are amazing. Descent to Upper Boy Scout Lake is sandy walk followed by steep Class 2 down climb and then steep gravel and sand slopes. I did a bit of gravel glissading and partially tore a chunk off my right boot sole. Made camp at one of the gravel pads near the outlet stream of Upper Boy Scout Lake at about 11300’.

Dennis

: Wallace Creek

: Boone & Periwinkle

: Wallace Lake

: Mt Hale & Wales Lakes

: Russell-Carillon Col -- starting at the lake (off-frame way down and to left) I first gained the smaller group of enormous boulders low and left of center, then went straight up in the photo (and almost so in real life) on talus to left side of cliffs, climbed up small cliffs about halfway to the top, traversed right, and then made final climb

: Tulainyo Lake from near top of Russell-Carillon Col

Stanley Otter · Post by **Stanley Otter** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 5:27 pm

July 29 – Mountaineers Route & Whitney Portal
On my way up the Mountaineers Route at 7:30 AM. Took me an hour to reach Iceberg Lake where several climbers had established base camps. The climb along the East Buttress to the Notch took me another two hours or so. Very glad not to have all my equipment with me, it was hard enough without it. Got a little confused about which gulley to ascend and ended up on a miserable scree slope for a couple hundred feet. I met two climbers coming down about a hundred feet below the Notch, otherwise I hadn’t seen anybody except in the camp at Iceberg Lake – I really expected it to be a conga line all the way up. Eventually reached the Notch with its great views of Mt Hale and Wales Lake, Mt Russell, etc. The Class 3 portion starts with one moderately difficult move and then eases into slow but steady ledge work up the left/east side. I didn’t get the memo about switching over to the right/south side about halfway up to take advantage of great stacks of jumbled rock, so I kept going on left-side ledges that got increasingly sketchy with lots of exposure. I was confident about getting to the summit because I could see the route, but I was concerned that getting back down on that side would be pretty much impossible for me with my skills. Including rest and snack breaks it took me 3:45 to go from Upper Boy Scout Lake to the summit of Mt Whitney – not sure if that’s helpful to anyone or not.

The summit was crowded with people who had come up via the Whitney Trail. Subway sandwiches and all manner of exotic foods. Used wag bags scattered about – nice touch, jerks. Talked to the Inyo National Forest ranger who was up for the day – she wasn’t thrilled about the bags but glad to be back on the summit for the first time this season. Took a bunch of photos. Hazy off to the east down low, but otherwise clear skies — much better conditions than 2015 when I stood in the middle of a cloud and wondered what the fuss was about. Descended the Class 3 section on the south side, which was plenty scary enough for me but *much* better than the east side would have been. Accidentally dislodged a rock that plunged down the ledge — so glad nobody else was below. Two climbers materialized about a hundred feet above me, so I was careful to stay out of the fall line while they made their crossing from west to east. Getting to the Notch again was a relief. The climbers passed me on the way down, which was fine. Even the dude who was getting knee surgery in a couple days could easily outpace me. My knees were aching pretty bad by the time I got back to Iceberg Lake. Still, descending to Iceberg Lake took me less than half the time to go up. On the other hand, the Iceberg to Upper Boy Scout portion took exactly the same time it had this morning going the other way.

Got back to camp and packed everything up for the hike down to Whitney Portal. That trail is something else. Since I had not originally planned on using this route I had to rely on a few brief descriptions I read more than a year ago and some verbal direction from Ranger Rob Pilewski yesterday. It was pretty clearly marked with cairns, but I was pretty stumped at the start of the Escherbacher Ledges because enough people make the decision to descend immediately that there is a bit of a use trail headed right down to the gorge. It didn’t look quite right to me, and I had just decided to see what was up higher when two climbers who had come up the trail the day before confirmed the higher route. I followed them as closely as I could but couldn’t keep up. At the point where you are supposed to cross the North Fork Lone Pine Creek right below a short waterfall, a young man who spoke little English and was obviously frightened insisted on taking the incorrect route despite everyone else walking through the stream to get to the other side. A third person, a trail runner, had given up on his out-and-back to Iceberg Lake to help him negotiate some of the down climbs. A while later we heard some whistling, so one of the climbers went back to guide him out of his predicament. In the mean time, I talked with his partner who is a wildlife ecologist employed at Yosemite NP. She told me that El Portal had been evacuated and that she was now working out of Tuolumne Meadows until the fire is brought under control. She needed to be at work the next day, which is why they were booking it down the trail. We talked for a while about pikas and frogs. When her partner came back he said the guy gets one free rescue and that they weren’t waiting to guide him all the way down. They left at speed, and I did not see them again. The trail has some interesting features in addition to the ledges and the stream crossings – some parts are essentially a tunnel through the brush growing beside the creek.

Finally arrived at Whitney Portal a little before 6:00 PM. Bought a beer and burger. Read about Doug, the proprietor, and asked how long he’s been running the portal store: he looked at me for a few beats before responding — 31 years. Picked a spot in the backpackers campground, did some organizing, and slept fitfully. The air is very dry compared to higher up. Perhaps not as much rain falls down here…

July 30 — Whitney Portal to Lone Pine
Walking down the Whitney Portal Road at 6:30 AM. At about 7:30 AM ex-army scout Johnny picked me up. He was looking for a swimming hole that was supposed to be somewhere nearby. I was holding a Lone Pine sign when he picked me up, but after about three miles he said he was back at his campground, with the implication he was going no further. So I thanked him and got out at the western edge of the Alabama Hills and started walking again. About 20 minutes later two young men from Switzerland picked me up in their Ford Mustang convertible and took me the rest of the way into Lone Pine in exchange for information about hiking to the Mt Whitney summit. They had no camping gear and wanted to do it in one day. Breakfast at Alabama Hills Cafe — Sierra Scramble with home fries and sourdough toast. OMG. The Dow Villa let me check into my room at 9:00 AM, which was very nice. They also had my package with clean clothes and a welcome pair of sandals in which I could comfortably hobble about town. Shower. Laundry (despite my desire to inflict some payback on TSA). Shopping. Supper at Los Hermanos taco truck. Four adobado tacos followed by two more because they were so tasty. Hyperphagia strikes again. Fell asleep watching Harry Potter movie, which was on for some impenetrable fan reason — something about his birthday? Showing them all in reverse order? I felt too old to understand and decided to ask my daughters when I got home. Woke at 1 AM parched – the evaporative cooling worked well in the “historic” Dow Villa, but it also dried me out.

July 31 – Homeward Bound: Legs 1, 2, 3 & 4
Another breakfast at Alabama Hills Cafe with enough left over for lunch. 10:00 AM ESTA bus from Lone Pine south to Mojave. Talked with a Swiss couple I had met briefly on the trail near Vidette Meadow. They had finished the JMT a few days early and had signed up for a bus tour of the Grand Canyon out of Vegas. They couldn’t rent a car and take themselves there because they had left their driver licenses at home thinking they wouldn’t need them. Amtrak Thruways bus from Mojave to Bakersfield. Northbound Amtrak San Joaquins train from Bakersfield to Richmond. Ran an hour late… again. I just might be done with Amtrak. BART from Richmond to SFO arriving at about 10:30 PM.

August 1 – Homeward Bound: Legs 5, 6 & 7
12:05 AM PDT red eye flight from SFO to ORD. 10:00 AM CDT flight from ORD to home airport in Wisconsin. Both girls picked me up because Momma was working, and I was home by 11:30 AM, a mere 23.5 hours after I left Lone Pine. Yeesh.

The End.
Dennis