TR: Guyot-Young-Hale October 2018

[CAMERONM]

It is now the middle of October, the first light snow has melted, sunny days are forecasted, and I need to escape Los Angeles, so I escape for a semi-aggressive trail-based trip to hit several peaks in the Whitney high country, starting at Horseshoe Meadows, going over Cottonwood Pass, following the PCT, and then the JMT over Whitney Col and down to Whitney Portal.

Yellow aspens are a feature of September and early October trailheads; it is now late enough in October that much of the vegetation now takes on a darker golden hue.

Oh yeah, even in the middle of the day, water collection becomes an issue. I regularly have to break ice to get water.

First stop- Mt Guyot, 12,283’, a class 2, 1 mile, 1,400 ‘ ascent off the PCT.

The day is clear and the views are great. The Kern Canyon looks impressive.

Best view of the giants on the trip, right to left: Whitney, then Russel-Carillon Pass, Russel, Morgenson, and then the last peak on the left is my next destination, Mt. Hale, 13,494.’ Curiously, the hut on Whitney is not visible even at this height vantage.

The dots show the prominent mountains that are part of the trip and view. From left: Young, Hale, Russel, Whitney, Muir. Two years ago I failed reaching the summit of Russel, and I still carry some trauma over the experience. I also failed climbing Muir the last 50 feet, and had considered a second go this time, as I will pass close by it. However, several internet posts about Muir confirm my previous sentiments; it has some class 4-worthy exposure, and the last part of the ascent is variously described as “spicy”, “saucy”, and “stiff”. Alright, I will return with a rope next time.

Okay, it is cold.

I spend the night at Trail Camp, and am back in Los Angeles by mid-afternoon.
There is a slightly longer trip report at https://www.trailnamebackstroke.com/guy ... hale-2018/

[Rockyroad]

Now that's a nice October outing. Thanks for the TR!

[Harlen]

Fantastic areas you visit! Thanks for the inspiration,

[robertseeburger]

Wow glad to see some October backpacks..it sure looks clear and blue and I know you must have appreciated the solitude.

Interesting on Mount Muir. I thought I was the only one who ever turned around on Mount Muir. Now I know I am not alone. I got to a point where I knew I could ascend but I wasn't sure I could descend safely so I turned around. I have climbed a number of spicy routes, but felt I must not have found the easiest path on Mount Muir.

[CAMERONM]

Hah! Like me, you probably actually did find the easiest path. This well-referenced picture on summitpost.org shows the "blue" and "red" paths. I ended up doing a version of the blue, and although it kept getting progressively more exposed and vertical, I was OK enough with it, but I choked on the leftward flake layback; I was wearing decidedly non-grippy trail runners and could not see where it terminated, and it also required a small leap of faith to get up on on the slab that would have been a bit dodgy on descent.

https://www.summitpost.org/mt-muir-3rd- ... 8/c-150495

Yes, the solitude and light clarity in mid-October is great, but when in high-altitude exposed places like I was, there are some rough edges to the experience.