Mount Ritter as part of the Sierra High Route

[winkenblinken50]

Hi everyone, I am currently in the process of working out my plan to hike part of the Sierra and Southern Sierra High Routes this year. I would like to climb Mount Ritter along the way, but I have some questions about the area.

1) Is it possible to stay north of the glacier and snow on the SE Glacier Route in mid-July after an average winter? I won't be bringing spikes on the high route.

2) Do any of the Ritter Lakes (particularly the easternmost one) have any viable camping, or should I stick with Lake Catherine to start the Western Slopes Route?

Thanks!

[Wandering Daisy]

Too early to say what conditions will be mid-July. Not sure how this mid-July will compare to early July 2004 when I climbed Ritter.

I climbed Ritter from camp at the tarn below the east-northeast gully. It is west of Nydiver Lakes. It gets early sun and I recall the snow was soft enough to kick steps. The main hazard was falling rocks while traversing below the main snowfield when the sun first hits the snow. I scurried across quickly! It was 4th July weekend 2004. I think this route is technically easier than the route from Catherine Lake. I thought there was some fairly hard class 3 rock on the route from the Ritter-Banner saddle. Why were you considering that route? I also climbed the icefield up to Banner from Catherine Lake the same trip. I used crampons- it was very icy in the morning.

I took an ice axe. Not sure I would want to do these routes without one. And it is an easy mountain to get to on a shorter trip. Personally, it would not be a peak I would do while hiking the High Route. If you go in another time for a 3-4 day trip, you can carry all the needed climbing gear that may be needed. I also took a climbing helmet.

[c9h13no3]

It depends on your experience level, whether you're comfortable scrambling class 3-4 rock instead, and how fast you need to go. Crampons & ice axe make you safer & faster on steep hard snow & ice and increase your odds of summiting. Chopping steps with a rock, or scrambling loose rock will be slower and sketchier than if you had the right tools.

I've only descended the SE glacier route, glissaded almost the whole thing on July 4th of an average year. Could you do it without axe & crampons? Sure. But if clouds & cold wind blew in and the snow got icy, you'd have to do some problem solving without those tools.

I agree with Daisy, don't try to combine trips that use different gear. If you're carrying camping gear, go camping. If you're carrying climbing gear, go climbing. When you try to do both, you end up weighing way more and enjoying those activities a bit less because you're weighed down. There are plenty of peaks in the area that won't require snow gear in July. Try Volcanic Ridge just after sunrise for a stellar view of the Minarets.

[thegib]

Regarding camping at Ritter lakes; the south flowing drainage of the little lake immediately west of big Catherine is insanely nice. To get to the Ritter lakes traverse south from that drainage (ie don't walk along Catherine's SW shore). The most absurdly pretty spot is right on the SHR, so gets peopled. But just a couple 100 yards south along the creek you have seclusion.