Originally, our plan was to climb the Hourglass Couloir out of Treasure Lakes (in Little Lakes Valley), and summit Mt. Dade. I had gotten a hold of a recent photo, and it showed a sufficient amount of snow remaining to do the climb. Too bad that five or six days of warm weather had changed things (the couloir is in the center)...
It looked like the Hourglass was out. After Adam and I hiked back to the cars to drop off the unneeded ices axes, crampons, and mountaineering boots, we decided to hike in to Ruby Lake and climb Ruby Peak the next day.
When we got going Saturday morning, the weather was perfect, although there was a 20% chance of rain. We crossed a talus field and headed for the outlet stream from Mills Lake...
Brenda with Ruby Lake and Mt. Starr in the background...
After gaining the top of 'The Bulge' (visible in the center of the second photo above), with our first section of class 3, we came across an exposed large vein of quartz. We took a few samples and continued on...
We traversed a slope of talus and scree. As we gained in altitude on the peak, the pitch steepened and we were into fun class 3 climbing. Since Adam and Toxo had climbed Ruby Peak previously, they chose a familiar looking chute, and we climbed higher. There was a lot of loose, chossy sketchiness on this climb.
Approaching within a couple hundred vertical feet of the summit, the route-finding was becoming a challenge. We were getting into some class 4 sections...
After Adam climbed a ways up in one area, he retreated and downclimbed (see above pic). The two of us tried a different route which led up and around far left side of the peak. It was quite exposed, and I was realizing that I was edging past my comfort zone for un-roped climbing. We downclimbed back to where Brenda and Toxo were waiting. Another ledge was discovered, and this eventually led us to the summit. Once there, it became obvious that we were not at the high point. The summit we were on was around fifty or sixty feet lower! :doh: Which peak were we on? The southern summit of Ruby Peak? Peak 13,132? We christened it Pessimism Peak.
Ruby Peak in the background
Our fearless leader
A short spell of summit-born contemplation...
Nek minnit... rain!
We made a hasty (though cautious) downclimb in the rain and hail...
Adam found a scree chute that made for a relatively easy descent back to the little valley below Mills Lake (Mt. Abbott, Petit Griffon, and Mt. Mills in the background)...
Although we didn't climb our intended peak, this was still a fun, challenging climb. I'd rate it as mostly class 3 with a fair amount of class 4. Back at camp, we discussed the itinerary for Sunday. Should we climb Mt. Starr? For some reason, the idea of breakfast at Tom's Place followed by a soak in Whitmore hot springs sounded far more appealing, and our choice was unanimous.
A few of my essentials on this trip...
