Trailmaster Peak, Kearsarge Peak, Mammoth Mtn Closing Day
Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 4:37 am
Saturday, 31 May 2008 (Day 2 of 3)
Kearsarge Mine trail to Kearsarge Peak, and down Lily Pass.
PHOTOS: http://snownymph.smugmug.com/gallery/50 ... 0254_aAVQJ
TomG met me at Onion Valley, and after setting up a car shuttle, we headed up the Kearsarge Mine Trail. A lot of it was overgrown, but we managed to keep climbing til we hit snow and lost the trail (it was steep, and we didn’t have snow gear). So we hiked straight up, using rocks as steps to avoid cold feet. I was warm, but feet were frozen. After reaching the wrong ridge, we descended and ascended to the right one. The rocky summit ridge was covered with snow, so we had to be careful not to posthole or slip. It was a long (time-wise) but beautiful hike to the summit. TomG had to dig to find the register box. We descended towards Lily Pass, traversing across some beautiful untouched snow. TomG postholed crotch deep once (and he’s 6’4”), so I probably would have gone in to my neck! He bashed his knee twice and I bashed my shin postholing. We scree skiid down Lily pass. TomG learned to boot glissade and had a blast. We made our way down the snow covered Golden Trout trail, no tracks to follow so we went by memory. It was a pretty awesome day to be out in the Sierra! Perfect weather, NO altitude issues (yay!), beautiful scenery in every direction and great company!
We followed the Kearsarge mine trail til we hit snow. Great scenery all around
Snow covered the trail, so we went straight up
Views just got better as the day went on
View of Kearsarge Pass trail, Gilbert Lake
Snow on the ridge made it a little interesting to get across
Some climbing
Some postholing
Some traversing
Finally on the summit
Back via Lily Pass
Soft but steep dirt on Lily Pass
Some glissading
Showed TomG how to boot glissade, he loved it!
Great reflections by the meadow
Great day!
Kearsarge Mine trail to Kearsarge Peak, and down Lily Pass.
PHOTOS: http://snownymph.smugmug.com/gallery/50 ... 0254_aAVQJ
TomG met me at Onion Valley, and after setting up a car shuttle, we headed up the Kearsarge Mine Trail. A lot of it was overgrown, but we managed to keep climbing til we hit snow and lost the trail (it was steep, and we didn’t have snow gear). So we hiked straight up, using rocks as steps to avoid cold feet. I was warm, but feet were frozen. After reaching the wrong ridge, we descended and ascended to the right one. The rocky summit ridge was covered with snow, so we had to be careful not to posthole or slip. It was a long (time-wise) but beautiful hike to the summit. TomG had to dig to find the register box. We descended towards Lily Pass, traversing across some beautiful untouched snow. TomG postholed crotch deep once (and he’s 6’4”), so I probably would have gone in to my neck! He bashed his knee twice and I bashed my shin postholing. We scree skiid down Lily pass. TomG learned to boot glissade and had a blast. We made our way down the snow covered Golden Trout trail, no tracks to follow so we went by memory. It was a pretty awesome day to be out in the Sierra! Perfect weather, NO altitude issues (yay!), beautiful scenery in every direction and great company!
We followed the Kearsarge mine trail til we hit snow. Great scenery all around
Snow covered the trail, so we went straight up
Views just got better as the day went on
View of Kearsarge Pass trail, Gilbert Lake
Snow on the ridge made it a little interesting to get across
Some climbing
Some postholing
Some traversing
Finally on the summit
Back via Lily Pass
Soft but steep dirt on Lily Pass
Some glissading
Showed TomG how to boot glissade, he loved it!
Great reflections by the meadow
Great day!
