HIGH SIERRA 2013 Purchase / ToDo’s for Nevada / California:
Topo map of area 227g fuel canister; blend for cold Hurricane matches Fire-starter gel Lighter 1 liter bottle
Questions:
Take my orange day pack? Coffee preference? Got two water bottles
Sorry - no table of contents! The rough order is: * reminders when I get to Las Vegas (pgs 1 & 18); * beta for Clyde Minaret (pgs 2-16, 19 & 20); * the overall itinerary for both Clyde Minaret and the SHR (pg 17) - any comments welcome; * Howard's notes about camping contingencies regarding camping at Sabrina Lake; * SHR beta (pgs 22-29); * Bill's flight info (pg 30)
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Clyde Minaret
Latitude: 37.6604 Longitude: -119.174 Elevation: 12281
Description Clyde Minaret is named after Norman Clyde, the High Sierras most prolific first ascensionist. It is a very fine peak made from, not granite, but a more ancient metamorphic rock, which gives it its characteristic, almost non-Sierra-like shape of a sharp needle (as seen from the ski slopes of Mammoth). Its dark triangular SE face is home to a great classic rock climb.
Getting There Red's Meadow is the trailhead. Get their either by shuttle bus from Mammoth during the day, or arrive by car late at night.
Head north on the John Muir Trail at first, then cut left (west) onto an obvious trail which leads to Minaret Lake. On the bench above this lake lies Cecile Lake (10,246ft), where there are limited campsites (7.75 miles, 2,700ft elevation gain).
[ 30 Aug 2013:
Sunrise @ 6:24 AM; Sunset @ 19:28 PM; duration 13:03
Moonrise @ 12:22 AM; Moonset @ 2:58 PM]
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[hide] Clyde Minaret : Clyde Minaret and its SE face.
[hide] Clyde Minaret : Looking north from the summit of Clyde Minaret
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[hide] Clyde Minaret : The route follows the prominent blood streak.
By Adam P. I think the route drawn on the photo is slightly off. The route is to the left of the red line. Feb 24, 2008 The photo does not show the upper dihedral very well, and the route follows this dihedral. From the ground, the upper dihedral is easy to see.
[hide] Clyde Minaret : Alpenglow on Norman Clyde Minaret. Taken with my crappy point and shoot.
Page 4 of 30 HIGH SIERRA 2013 Southeast Face 5.8
FA: John Evans, Dick Long, Allen Steck, Chuck Wilts - June 22, 1963 Type: Trad, Alpine Consensus: 5.8+ Length: 13 pitches, 1500 feet, Grade IV Season: Spring : Submitted By Chris Owen on Mar 23, 2006 Description Ironically, one of the Sierras greatest Alpine rock climbs isn't even on granite! But rather a steep, smooth rock with angular holds from more ancient times. Watch out for more loose rock than usual.
[Reportedly, the SummitPost Description is good/better; it is on appended pages ]
Start the climb up the lefthand gully, uphill from the base of the face. There may be a cairn.
P1-2 5.6. Make a long traverse right and slightly upwards then around onto the face proper.
P3-7 5.7. There's a shallow dihedral up high on the right side of the face; aim for it, but don't go too far right. Pitch 7 finishes with a tricky traverse to a hanging belay at the bottom of the shallow dihedral.
P8 5.8. Climb the shallow dihedral to an alcove.
P9 5.8. Left out of the alcove then wander across and up the white scar to a ledge just below the large summit dihedral.
P10 5.8. A short strenuous corner leads to a ledge at the bottom of the main dihedral.
P11-12 5.8. Two pitches up the summit dihedral lead to a notch.
P13 5.7. Traverse left on a large ledge then up the face to the summit ridge.
Scramble the ridge to the summit.
Location See schematic.
Approach: From Cecile Lake.
Descent: Cross Class 3 rock towards the Ken-Clyde Notch, down climb this to the start of the climb - a rappel is necessary at one point.
Protection Alpine rack. Page 5 of 30 HIGH SIERRA 2013
[hide] Southeast Face : Charles leads pitch 2 (5.10a)
By Chris Owen [hide] **Disclaimer** Mar 24, 2006 This is the way we went - you may find a better way. By John Dubrawski recommend the 5.9+ direct variation, although there is loose rock. The lakeside Jul 3, 2007 bivvy spots are beautiful. But the creek-side mosquitos...
Page 6 of 30 HIGH SIERRA 2013 By Fat Dad [hide] I found the topo fairly inaccurate. The topo from the 100 classic Sierra climbs Dec 12, 2007 is far more accurate. The first pitch is a long traverse up and right but is probably about 5.7. There was a pile of sticks at the start, though a better reference point is that it's nearly level with the toe of Michael Minaret to the left.
Three more pitches lead to a ledge atop a pedestal where you start the crux 5.8 + traverse R. into the dihedral, which really isn't indicated on this topo. From there, you following the dihedral to the traversing pitch up and left.
A great climb, but not for 5.8 newbies. It's long, committing, with route finding issues. A 5.8 climb for solid 5.9 climbers. By vincent L. [hide] The direct start is well worth doing . It is two pitches of 10a climbing up a Dec 26, 2007 terrific dihedral . Overall the route is pretty sustained at 5.8 . It took us about 8 hours to climb the route . Route finding is not that hard . Much of the route is climbing up corners . The traversing pitch was 5.9 , and scary in my opinion . The pro is there but you have to make moves a few feet out at times . An amazing climb . By George Bell [hide] There is a direct start that is 5.10. A lot of parties start up the face too soon Aug 18, 2008 and end up doing this. To add to the confusion, the line in the photo in S&R does not show the initial traverse.
There was a lot of snow in the descent couloir when we climbed this. We got by without ice axes by doing a few more rappels. By Chris Owen [hide] In response to Fat Dad, see disclaimer. Administrator Mar 5, 2009 As far as the traverse being one pitch, perhaps we had a shorter rope, or maybe I just stopped short at a convenient spot, didn't think 5.7 was called for when compared to the technical difficulties of the rest of the climb. The traverse into the Shallow Dihedral is shown as 5.7 at the end of P7 (also in description as "Tricky Traverse"), but I didn't think it was the crux at 5.8, but rather the Shallow Dihedral itself. But then again I did this route in the 1980's (long before there were any schematics) maybe a hold broke off or something. By Mark P Thomas [hide] Direct start is 5.9 and really not much harder than some of the cruxes higher Jun 8, 2012 up. Way too easy for the 5.10a that Croft gives it. Really fun, clean and worth doing. Frankly, we found the technical crux to be a move right off the belay on one of the last 5.8 pitches higher up. The route is stout enough that if you're strong and fast enough to do the route solidly, you should be able to handle the direct start, so don't skip it!
Page 7 of 30 HIGH SIERRA 2013 This may have been referred to as “utter junk”
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Rack: For a rack we brought 1 set of nuts and a few tricams, one set of of BD Camalots to #3, 1/2 set of Metolius (alternate sizes to the equivalent of a #2 Camalot), and a full set of C3 Camalots. We only placed nuts for the anchor to save cams, and even there we mostly used pink, red and black tricams instead. We found having extras in small cams including the narrower and smaller C3s down do a #0 to be very helpful, especially for the first two pitches. If you are solid on 5.8 leading and climbing with a 60m rope, you could get by with closer to a single set of cams, since our rack worked well for 70m pitches.
Page 11 of 30 HIGH SIERRA 2013 Descent: From the summit, unrope and scramble north. About 200 ft later you will encounter a steep step (cl. 4). This is the crux of the Rock Route (IMHO one of the best cl. 4 scrambles in the Sierra) and here you have two options:
1. Continue on to downclimb the Rock Route. This is similar in nature and length to the East Face of Middle Palisade, but a bit harder and more exposed, so only do this if you have time and energy for lots of sustained downclimbing!
2. Turn left and switchback on some exposed but solid ledges to reach a rappel anchor. A single rope rappel trending climber's left brings you into a chute. From here cross the chute to a rib and downclimb the ridge about 100 ft to find our pimpin' rapp station. One more single rope rappel (or possibly some downclimbing) places you into a good chute for downclimbing. Basically, a single 60m rope and some downclimbing should easily get you down. [I don’t think the rest of this descends from Ken-Clyde notch back to the start of the route] From there, downclimb to Amphitheater Lake and traverse around Ken Minaret to South Notch where one more short rappel places you onto easy snow slopes for the remainder of the walk back to Cecile Lake.
The descent takes a while and would not be fun in the dark, especially if you haven't done it before, as it is exposed and would be hard to make sense of by headlamp. So make sure you aim to finish the route with at least enough daylight to get through the first two rappels. Otherwise you are in for an epic night descent or a likely summit bivy.
Page 12 of 30 HIGH SIERRA 2013 From SummitPost.org
Approach
Start by hiking the John Muir Trail at the Devil's Postpile trailhead. Follow the trail for 3/4 of a mile till one crosses the Minaret Creek and enters the Johnston Meadow. The Minarets Lake Trail then begins at this point (signs with milage pointing to Minaret Lake are posted). Follow the Minarets Lake Trail up a few switchbacks and up over Volcanic Pass. The trail continues along Minaret Creek and then rounds the northern side of Minaret Lake. A climbers trail then wanders up through scree and slabby areas (look for ducks marking the way). Continue up slabs to Cecil Lake. A few established bivy sites are on the western side of the lake. Total milage from trailhead to Cecil Lake is 7.5 miles. When making the approach from Cecil Lake and up to the South Face, head left and around slabs. Continue upward toward the Clyde-Ken Couloir. Once in the couloir, the route begins at a ledge next to a rib within the couloirs right side. Alternately, one can begin the Southeast Face via a direct start (blocky 5.9+, 2 pitches...highly
Route Description
The original route begins by traversing a ledge (5.6) which is directly across from the Ken Minaret toe, inside the Ken-Clyde couloir. Traverse this ledge for approx. 120 ft to the right. Belay at the end of the ledge. Start the next pitch by following right facing corners and up cracks that parallel the corners. Continue up and right (aiming for a notch in the sky line) for the next 4 pitches (5.7). This section offers climbing between 5.7 to 5.9 as long as one keeps an eye on the notch (just below a left facing dihedral). Just before the notch, belay at a large ledge and continue right around a corner (5.8) to some blind hold (they're there!!). Start up the left facing dihedral (bomber hands!) to an alcove. From the alcove, climb up and right and past a white rock scar. Climb past the scar and mantle up onto blocks (5.8... a bit spooky!). Above is a large dihedral. Climb the left facing dihedral for 100 ft to a ledge. From here, traverse left and slightly up (50ft) then straight up 100ft (5.6). Use long slings here! Rope drag and loose blocks are encountered. Another pitch up and left for a full pitch (5.7). The rest is 4th class blocks to the summit. There is a variation to the start of this route (as mentioned in the approach notes) that goes up a blocky right facing corner (5.9+). The overall route sucks up gear like a cronic alcoholic does in a Las Vegas cocktail lounge! A true classic! Divinity
Essential Gear
Bring a good deal of slings for the sharp corners and deep cracks. This route will take medium to large gear (pro to 3"). Yes, hexes and nuts are ideal for weight management but cams go even better. Most of the cracks are just meant for cam placements. Be sure to bring a 60 meter rope (as the norm goes) and headlamps for the decent (regardless of time of day). One can decend either the Rock Route, 4th class (on the east ridge) or the Glacier decent via the west side around Ken Minaret and then east into the South Notch to Cecil/Minaret Lakes. [ or there’s beta below for descending the Ken-Clyde gully ]
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From July 2008 stella : good descent option before doing this route, we read three different options for descents, one from peter croft and two from sp parker. they all seemed overly confusing, and in one of parkers descriptions, potentially wrong. here is our descent, which was generally easy, straightforward, and involved nothing harder than class 3. from the summit, head north on the ridge until you are blocked by a 20 ft. high wall. head left and slightly down on easy ledges for ~50 feet until you see a slung chockstone with carabiners. single rope rappel into the 3rd class gully. from these first anchors, look across the gully to the ridge on its opposite side; you will see another slung chockstone with white/yellow webbing. after your first rappel, head generally across the gully to these anchors. single rope rappel into the next gully over. from here, you can 3rd class it down and left to the obvious notch at the top of the ken/clyde couloir. 3rd class down this to a single rope rappel on your right. 3rd class again until you hit a huge chockstone; parker calls this a double rope rappel, in fact it was a short single rope rappel. maybe a double rope rappel in early season with a lot of snow in the gully, but there are anchors down lower as well, if needed. from here, scree/talus down to cecile lake. i'm sure this description can be condensed quite a bit. also, for the approach from minaret lake, you can follow cairns up the right side of the slope from minaret lake, through easy talus/trail to get to cecile lake. takes about 20 minutes. [see overhead shot next page]
poorboy44 Southeast Face IV 5.9+ Date Climbed: Jul 9, 2006
With Charles Ince. Hiked in on Sat, climbed the route and hiked out Sunday. Approach is 1.5 hours from Minaret lake with a lot of snow. 6 hours en route, a few on the descent. Tyrone was acting up but didn't beat us up too bad.
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Page 15 of 30 HIGH SIERRA 2013 Rock Route, Clyde Minaret
Page 16 of 30 HIGH SIERRA 2013 SIERRA ITINERARY
I (Bill) plan to take my cell (505-252-1120, text ok); don’t expect to turn it on more than once a day to try to get weather forecast and send status to Dianne if I can; may go without actual coverage for days; lack of status messages or unanswered messages does not necessarily mean there is an emergency. But if we, say, don’t show up where we are meeting Howard or miss our flights back home then those would be serious’)
Aug 27, Tuesday: Fly ABQ to Las Vegas • ABQ to Phoenix SW Flight 2315 (arrive 6:30 AM) • Phoenix to Las Vegas Flight 435 (arrives 8:05 AM) • Probably shop some in LV • Drive to Mammoth Lakes to pick up trail permit • Continue to near Devil’s Post Pile Ranger Station (760-924-5500) to hike N on John Muir Trail in evening o Camp not far up trailhead Aug 28, Wednesday to Friday (probable itinerary; subject to weather, conditions, etc..): • Weds: Backpack up to Minaret Lake or possibly Cecile Lake (~10,200 feet) • Thurs: hang around Cecile Lake (acclimatize) • Fri: climb SE Face of Clyde Minaret and spend night at Cecile Lake again
Aug 29, Saturday • Hike out and drive to meet Howard (505-859-0917) and Heidi (505-859-0919) near Bishop at Sabrina Lake Campground; • Prep in PM for Sierra High Route (Segment 2 area)
Aug 30, Sunday to Sept 7, Saturday • From Sabrina Lake Trail Head, we’ll probably be taking a logical path likely along (these are not necessarily camping spots) o Haeckle-Wallace Col, o Sapphire Lake o Evolution Lake o Snow-Tongue Pass o Cony Lake o Humphreys Lakes o Desolation Lake o Puppet Pass o French Canyon o Royce Lake via either Pine Creek Pass OR Merriam Lake o Pine Lake o Pine Creek Tugsten Mill where where Heidi plans to pick us up on Saturday, Sept 7. o Not sure where we will be staying Saturday eve but somewhere / sometime Sat or Sun we’ll probably pick up our rental car back at/near Sabrina Lake campground (not sure exactly where we’ll leave it).
Step 8, Sunday • Joan and I will drive the rental car back to Las Vegas to catch our flights back home • Las Vegas to ABQ non-stop SW flight 380 (arrives 8 PM)
Page 17 of 30 HIGH SIERRA 2013 REI in Las Vegas: 710 S Rampart Blvd Las Vegas, NV 89145
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Page 20 of 30 HIGH SIERRA 2013 Hello Bill & Joan:
I'm not sure I provided alternatives for the Sabrina Lake Campground on the chance that we can't get a site there Friday night. It's a 3 day weekend and that campground is popular so here's a plan:
1. If we are not at the campground, we'll try to leave a note on the entrance sign where you pick up the envelopes for paying for a site. This is just S of the camp host's site.
2. If there is not a note, we hope to use the North Lake Campground as our first alternative. This is the campground near the Piute Pass Trail Head. The road to North Lake turns off of Highway 168 just before you get to the Sabrina Lake Campground.
3. If we aren't at North Lake then we'll head back down 168 towards Bishop and we'll be at one of the Forest Service Campgrounds along 168 - we'll be at the highest campground where we can find a space.
I suspect this isn't necessary as we'll probably get into the Sabrina Lake campground!
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Item servings distribution mass (g) Costco Mixed Nuts 17 servings 3 bags 300 Dark Chocolate 14 small squares 1 bag 190 Cliff Shot Blocks 14 servings (7 bars) 1 bag 458 Cliff Bars 14 servings (14 bars) 1 bag 993 Hot Chocolate 28 servings 2 bags 658 Instant Oatmeal 14 servings 1 bag 650 Dinner (2 Mountain House Meals & 1 packet 4 servings 1 bag 557 instant potatoes) Dinner (2 Mountain House Meals & 1 packet 4 servings 1 bag 462 instant potatoes) gas canister 1 canister 1 375
SHR Travel-Day Goals w/ Mileage & Elevation: Elev Travel Day Description Miles Gain Loss 1 Sabrina Lake to Tarn E of Wallace 8.9 3970 0 2 Tarn E of Wallace to Snow Toungue Pass 9.5 1670 -2600 3 Snow Tongue Pass to Humphreys Lakes 7 1040 -2110 4 Humphreys Lakes to Royce Lake 6.8 1950 -1520 5 Royce Lake to Pine Creek TH (Tugsten Mill) 9.4 0 -4400
Page 22 of 30 HIGH SIERRA 2013 SHR Climbs:
Here's a kind of summary about selected gear comments for these three climbs ...
• 30 meter rope mentioned as sufficient for Hermit summit block • 3 or 4 cams under two inches are handy for protecting the class 4 toe under the Hermit summit block. • Small nuts are needed to protect the crux of NW Face on Humphrey. • Maybe plan on possibly leaving a few rap anchors on Humphrey unless find easier descent
So maybe for someone doing these climbs (?)
• 30 meter rope • 3 cams: ~0.5, ~0.75, ~1.0 • 6 nuts: ~0.3 to ~0.8 • slings and links/rings for rap anchors (hollow alum rings would be light)
Page 23 of 30 HIGH SIERRA 2013 1. NW Arete of Haeckel. Also descent to west is unclear thus might involve a rappel? Class IV "This beautiful arete is one of the classic climbs of the High Sierra."
Mount Haeckel, Northwest Arete. Class 4. First ascent 1933 by Jack Riegelhuth. This beautiful an re te is one of the classic climbs of the High Sierra. Ascend the crest of the arete from the first notch northwest of Mount Haeckel. An approach from Lake 1 2,345 ( 1 2 , 3 20 ft+) may require an ice ax as there is a permanent patch of steep snow on the northeastern side of this notch. Climb the second chute from the left when approaching the notch from the southwest via Lakes 1 1 ,808 and 1 2,021 (1 1,822 ft and 1 2 ,000 ft+). Variation: First ascent August 4, 1 984, by Jim Erb, Theresa Rutherford, Bill Gray, and Steve Nelson. The crest can also be followed from the top ofHaeckel Col. This involves traversing a knife edge ridge and a rappel into the notch. It is better to ascend directly to the notch. Variation: It is easier to climb the chute left (northeast) of the arete. But the climbing is excellent on the arete itself, with solid rock and excellent views. It is much better to ascend the crest. Further reading: Fiddler, pp. 2 36 238
Page 24 of 30 HIGH SIERRA 2013 Descend via South Ridge to Haeckel Wallace Col? From Secor for Mount Wallace “ Northwest Ridge. Class 3 . The traverse between Mount Haeckel and Mount Wallace is done by keeping about 1 00 feet beneath the ridge on its northeastern side. Only the descent of Mount Haeckel is class 3 .
Page 25 of 30 HIGH SIERRA 2013 2. Summit block of Hermit.
A 30 meter rope was mentioned as sufficient for the summit block.
The Hermit ( 1 2.328 ft; 1 2.360 h) :his is the impressive peak seen from the upper reaches Evolution Valley. The summit block can be climbed by :::teans of a shaky shoulder stand from the south; the hideous if wid th jam crack on its east side is 5.8. From Evolution Lake. Class 3 . First ascent July 3 , 1925, by _ orman Clyde. Cross the outlet of Evolution Lake and end rock slabs heading south to the first prominent notch , n the ridge that is southwest of the lake. Pass through the otch and descend about 300 feet before traversing southwest @ the meadow that is due east of the Hermit. Ascend a ssy chute southwest from the meadow to a bench directly neath the peak. A diagonal chute leads across the east face .md ends in a loose gully. Climb the diagonal chute, cross the loo se gully, and ascend ledges to the summit. Variation: It is :;lso feasible to climb to the saddle between the Hermit and H A K S & P A W S 2 9 9 Peak 1 2 , 342 (12,350 fr). Follow the ridge north from the saddle to the summit of the Hermit. Variation: You can also climb to the notch immediately south of the Hermit. From the notch, climb the east side of the ridge to the summit.
Page 26 of 30 HIGH SIERRA 2013 one more section there worth mentioning about Hermit ...
"A 30-meter rope is sufficient to span across the top of the summit block. 3 or 4 cams under two inches are handy for protecting the class 4 toe under the summit block. The 5.6 crack route is difficult to protect without 3 or 4 cams at least 5 inches in size. The 5.8 face is unprotectable. Bring a helmet--the class 3 sections have many loose rocks."
Page 27 of 30 HIGH SIERRA 2013 3. SW Slope & West Face of Humphreys.
SW Slope followed by NW Face Southwest Slope and Northwest Face. Class 4. First ascent Mount Humphreys from the southwest MOUNT HUMPH REYS August 3, 1 919, by George R. Bunn and party. First winter ascent December 28, 1 956, by Dick Long, Jim Wilson, Gary Hemming, Steve Roper, Fred Martin, and Terry Tarver. This has become the regular route on the peak. Most of this route is class 2, with 100 feet of easy class 4 just below the summit. Climb onto the loose Southwest Slope from the highest of the Humphreys Lakes. Gain a scree covered ledge that goes left (north) to the wide gully, which leads to the notch northwest of the summit. Ascend a trough from the notch (class 3) toward the summit of Mount Humphreys, reaching a vertical wall after 200 feet. A short class 4 pitch to the right leads to the crest of the arete on the west side of the trough. Another short class 4 pitch (with excellent holds) up the crest of the arete leads to a short scramble to the summit. Variation: 5.5. First ascent July 1958 by John Dorsey, Jim Koontz, and LeifThorne Thomsen. Leave the gully leading to the notch and climb the southwest face via chimneys and broken ledges, crossing a sharp wedge beneath an overhang. Rejoin the regular route about halfway between the notch and the summit. Variation: 5.9. First ascent August 1 988 by Mark H offman and Robin Ingraham Jr. Climb the regular route to the crest of the arete just below the summit. Go right and ascend a vertical to overhanging inside corner with a thin finger crack. Small nuts are needed to protect the crux.
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Misha on SummitPost Route Climbed: SW Slope / NW Face Date Climbed: September 14, 2003
Climbed this impressive peak with my girlfriend Etsuko, Dave Kiene , and Sam. We camped out near the highest of Humphreys lakes. On the summit day, we ascended the SW face 'direct' (did not follow any chutes) which was a combination of Class 2 4 climbing until we reached the gully (loose Class 2) that leads to the notch. From the notch we followed the standard NW Face route. Free solo'ed pretty much the entire route except for the short (~10') Class 4 'crux' section right below the summit ridge. On the way down we set up two rappels and dropped down the steep NW face back to the notch. For the SW slope descend we chose the right hand chute (left hand if you look from the bottom). It was mostly Class 2 with the exception of several short Class 3 4 sections. Got back to the camp at 6:30pm, packed our stuff and went to the car, admiring an amazing sunset over the Humphreys Basin. Hiked out most of the way in the dark under the gorgeous night sky. Got back to the trailhead at 10:30pm. Looong day but what a beautiful one!
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