Jun

June 2009
Peak Climbing Section, Loma Prieta Chapter, Sierra Club
Vol. 43 No. 6
World Wide Web Address: http://lomaprieta.sierraclub.org/pcs/ or http://peakclimbing.org/
course, more of a guided trip. We climbed three peaks Frundenhorn (3369 m) by the North rib (PD);
Doldenhorn (3638 m) by the Gallet Grat (AD); and Dent
de Tsailon (3650 m) by the west ridge (D). The climbs
of the Doldenhorn and Dent de Tsailon were by far the
most technically challenging and interesting routes we
did during the trip, and so will be the main focus of the
talk.
General Meeting
Date:
Time:
June 9, 2009
7:30 – 9:30 pm
Where:
PCC
3921 E. Bayshore Rd.
Palo Alto, CA
Program:
Directions: From 101: Exit at San Antonio Road, go east to the
first traffic light, turn left and follow Bayshore Rd to the PCC on
the corner of Corporation Way. A sign marking the PCC is out
front. Park and enter in the back of the building.
Climbing in the Alps
For a Google map click http://tinyurl.com/28ngaw
Presenter: Andrea Snadden
Andrea Snadden will share photos and experiences
from a two week climbing trip she and Mike did in the
Alps.
Editor’s Notes
By Louise Wholey
If all goes as planned this is my last issue of Scree. I have
enjoyed editing the newsletter for the past 2! years. Judy
Molland has agreed to become the new editor starting with
the July issue. Judy is a very experienced writer as well as a
great climber and lover of mountains. She has published two
books!!! We are very lucky to have her as part of our team!
Please keep the reports coming. Judy will graciously receive
them. We will announce the transition, likely with a new
email address, though I will always forward items.
In July 2005, we took two one-week long courses with
an outfit called the International School of
Mountaineering. The first week was focused on building
skills for glacier travel, crevasse rescue, ice climbing,
and rock climbing. We only climbed two peaks that
week, only one of which is worth even a brief mention the Tete Blanche (3431 m) via the North face (rated
AD, III). The second week turned out to be less of a
Trip leaders, please submit your trip details to Jeff Fisher,
our scheduler. Begging for trip descriptions should not be
part of the editor’s job!!!
Send notices of private trips to the Scree editor. They need
no approval by the scheduler or mountaineering committee.
Bob Suzuki, thanks so much for always sending descriptions
well in advance!
Page 1 – Scree June 2009
Chair Column
Scree is done! Whoopee! Now is the time to unpack my
backpack from last weekend. I wonder what the pan used to
cook the fish will smell like. Next task – pack for a week of
R&R, SCUBA diving off a live-aboard in Puerto Rico.
Enjoy our trip reports! Many thanks to the contributors!
Page Trip Report
6
7
9
10
Tenaya Canyon by Kelly Maas
No. Maggie and Moses by Dana Chaney
Sierra Buttes by Ron Karpel
Finessin’ Basin by Arun Mahajan
Email Announcement List
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announcements of the publication of Scree as well as trip
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We hope the Rumors and Reports shown below will
become full trip reports in a future issue.
Older instructions requested sending an email, but many free
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prevents the server from understanding the request.
There are instructions on the last page of each issue of Scree
on how to subscribe.
Rumors and Reports
Trips
Sabrina Basin Peaks
Lisa went off to the Bishop area to climb with Frank Martin and
Justin. Weather and snow conditions were not ideal for her second
try for the Sabrina Lakes peaks, so they headed south to the
Kearsarge Pass area. She reports
“We summited Bago at 930 from our Kearsarge Lake camp.
At 1030 it started raining and the previous afternoon it rained
from 3pm to 8 pm, sometimes very hard. Rather than sit in a
tent in the rain for 2 days, I decided to scrub the trip.”
Spring weather has been fickle, which is not unusual, and it
continues to cause some trouble with the execution of some
of our trips. But people are getting out! In May we ran
Moses and North Maggie, Coyote and Angora, and Three
Spanish Sisters. Snow was present but not a serious
problem, despite what the rangers told us. Some roads
reported to be open were not. We wish they would combine
backcountry travel with their desk jobs.
Our ice axe and crampon training session was a big hit and
included climbing two peaks!
Shasta
Isabelle Peyrichoux, Emilie Cortes, Enrique Rodriguez and many
others were delighted to summit Shasta via the West Face route on
May 24. We sure hope for a full report on this great trip!
Scott Kreider and his son also climbed Shasta.
Roads have finally opened in the northern as well as the
southern Sierra. Using the very improved east-side access, a
small group climbed Basin Mtn above Bishop. Kern Peak
has been rescheduled for June 20-21, now that the road is
actually open.
Bad weather caused Lisa’s Thompson, Powell, Haeckel, etc.
trip to be re-routed and terminated early.
Lassen and Shastina
Arun Mahajan, Bob Suzuki, and Stephane Mouradian challenged
themselves to day-hike Lassen Saturday and Shastina Sunday.
Three Spanish Sisters
Sonja Dieterich, Jim Wholey and Louise Wholey had a wonderful
weekend in the western Sierra climbing Spanish Mountain and
Three Sisters. The trip became a backpacking trip rather than dayhiles to allow Jim to fish in mountain lakes. We enjoyed the remote
settings with few people (due to snow), ate lots of fresh trout, and
bagged our peaks to enjoy spectacular views. Snow was not much
of a factor except for speed. Rangers said the area was “closed” due
to snow on the ground! Imagine walking over snow!
We have lots of trips in June and July as you can see on our
calendar. We have published trip details for big trips in
August to help people plan ahead. More August trips will be
described in the July Scree. Busy leaders, unfortunately, have
to apologize for not supplying more details. We are grateful
that they are willing to lead trips.
Come join us on beginner trips if you are inexperienced.
You may find your fitness level and innate skills will allow
you to do many of our other trips. People who regularly
climb in a local climbing gym tend to find the technical parts
of our trips (class 2-3) to be great fun!
Happy climbing! See you out there!
Louise
Page 2 – Scree June 2009
PCS Trip Calendar
Private Trips Summary
These are required statements.
Note: CST 2087766-40. Registration as a seller of travel does
not constitute approval by the State of California.
Note: All Sierra Club trips require you to sign a Liability Waiver.
http://www.sierraclub.org/outings/chapter/forms/signinwaiver.pdf
June 3 – Tinkers Knob Mid-Week Day Hike (Tahoe area)
Leader: Lisa Barboza
Important: Private trips are not insured, sponsored, or
supervised by the Sierra Club. They are listed here because
they may be of interest to PCS members. Private trips may be
submitted directly to the Scree editor. Details on these trips
follow the trip reports. In this issue.
June 12-14 – Matterhorn, Whorl
June 27-28, 2009 – Mt. Baldwin
July 3-5, 2009 – Mt. Humphreys and Mt Emerson
June 6-7 – Mt. Shasta
Leader: George Van Gorden
August 1-8, 2009 – Brewer, S&N Guard, Table, Thunder, Jordan
June 15-16 – Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne (Yosemite)
Leader: Kelly Maas
August 8-11– Electra Peak
October 2009 – Nepal - Mera Peak 21,300 ft
January 2010 – Kilimanjaro
June 20-21 – Kern Peak (Southern Sierra)
Leader: Louise Wholey
June 27-28 – Silver Peak (Western Sierra)
Leader: Aaron Schuman
PCS Trip Details
June 27-28 – Highland Peak (Ebbits Pass)
Leader: Charles Schafer
Jul 1-5 – Eisen, Lippincott, Eagle Scout (Mineral King)
Leader: Lisa Barboza
Jul 3-5 – Red, White and Blue Special (East side)
Leader: Louise Wholey
Jul 11-12 – Amelia Earhart Peak, and Dana or Toulumne
Peak
Leader: Joe Baker
Jul 11-12 – Gibbs (Yosemite)
Leader: Charles Schafer
Jul 12 – Mt. Lola (Tahoe area)
Leader: Jim Wholey
Jul 25-26 – Kearsarge (above Independence)
Leader: Charles Schafer
Jul 25-Aug 2– Goddard Divide (High Sierra from east side)
Leader: Aaron Schuman
Jul 26-27 – Langley (14,026)
Leader: Lisa Barboza
Mt. Shasta
Goal:
Mt. Shasta
Dates: June 6-7, 2009, Saturday - Sunday
Leader: George Van Gorden ([email protected])
Co-Lead: Bob Suzuki ([email protected])
Difficulty: ice axe, crampons, steep snow experience required
We will be climbing the mountain by the West Face gully. This is a
very lovely route which used to be hardly traveled but now is
getting more crowded though nothing like the standard route. We
will meet in the town of Mt. Shasta on Sat. morning, drive to bunny
flat at 6800 feet and start walking up to our camp at 9200 feet.
Sunday we will go to the summit, return to our camp and then on
down to the cars. Previous training with crampons and ice ax is
required for this climb. You must know how to do self-arrest. The
upper part of the climb gets a little steep. This trip is restricted to
Sierra Club members.
Conservation theme of the trip: A climb of Mt. Shasta can be life
changing. The views during the climb and from the top can make
the most indifferent individual into an ardent conservationist. In
those many moments of rest during the climb when the body is
desperate for oxygen, many climbers will have a moment at least of
epiphany when the splendor of this planet shows through the
madness of more and more profit and production and progress and
the climber will in that moment reaffirm to him/herself a
commitment to do whatever he or she can to conserve the beauty at
is all around and up and down and everywhere.
Jul 30 – Aug 7 – Goddard, Scylla (High Sierra from west
side)
Leader: Joe Baker
Page 3 – Scree June 2009
Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne
Red, White and Blue Special
Goal:
Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne
Date:
June 13-15, Saturday – Monday
Leader: Kelly Maas ([email protected])
Co-Lead: Landa Robillard
Difficulty: Class 1+
A 30 mile backpack on trails in Yosemite. Start at White Wolf and
end at Tuolumne Meadows. After descending 3500 feet (net) to the
Tuolumne River, we follow it upstream for 4200 feet (net) past
gushing waterfalls and the Glen Aulin high sierra camp. Though it's
on trail and not at high altitude, don't underestimate the difficulty or
beauty of this route. A car shuttle between the two trailheads is
required.
This trip is currently scheduled as a 3-day trip, but I'll accept
inquiries from people who would only be able to do it as a 2-day
(very strenuous) trip. There is a chance that it may be changed to 2days.
Kern Peak
Peak:
Kern Peak (11,510)
Date:
June 20-21, Saturday – Sunday (New Date!)
Leader: Louise Wholey ([email protected])
Co-Lead: needed
Difficulty: Class 2, moderate trip
Climb this remote peak in the southern Sierra near Kennedy
Meadows. Satday we will backpack from the Black Rock Trail
Head at 8,960' for 8.6 miles with 1500' of gain (with ups and
downs) to camp at Redrock Meadows at 8,626'. Then we will climb
class 2 Kern Peak in 11 miles and 2,884' of gain, including 6 miles
of cross-country. Sunday we will backpack out in 8.6 miles and
1800' of gain (with ups and downs). Note the trail head is 334 feet
higher than our camp site. Moderate exertion.
Silver Peak
Peak:
Silver Peak (11,878)
Date:
June 27-28, Saturday - Sunday
Leader: Aaron Schuman ([email protected])
Co-Lead: Louise Wholey ([email protected])
Difficulty: Class 2, beginner-intermediate trip
Devil’s Graveyard sounds like a place name out of The Blair Witch
Project, but that’s what the Sierra National Forest calls our
campsite. We’ll hike from Lake Thomas A. Edison (2330 m), taking
easy trail to Devil’s Bathtub (2794 m) and continuing cross-country
to our camp at the diabolical headwaters (3250 m). Saturday
afternoon or Sunday morning, we’ll visit the class 2 summit of
Silver Peak (3620 m). Sunday hike out and drive home.
Highland Peak
Peak:
Highland Peak (10,935’ - Class 2)
Date:
June 27-28, Saturday – Sunday
Leader: Charles Schafer ([email protected])
Co-Lead: needed
Difficulty: Class 2, beginner trip
This is a relatively slow-paced dayhike, suitable for beginners. We
will car-camp near Ebbetts Pass, then hike up Noble Canyon to grab
the peak. Sunday is open at this point, with options to perhaps try
something else, do some exploring, or have a leisurely drive home.
This is an area of the Sierra that we don’t often explore, so the hike
should be enjoyable.
Peak:
Red and White Mtn (12,816), class 2-3
Date:
July 3-5, Friday - Sunday
Leader: Louise Wholey ([email protected])
Co-Lead: Jim Wholey
Difficulty: Class 2, moderate trip, may be some snow climbing
Baclpack about 7 miles up the McGee Creek Trail starting at about
7800 ft to Big McGee Lake at 10,400. Climb Red and White Mtn
southeast face. For faster stronger hikers, an option exists to also
climb Red Slate Mtn (13,163) from McGee Pass. These peaks are
very colorful, great for celebrating our national birthday.
Amelia Earhart Peak and Gibbs
Peak:
Amelia Earhart (11982), Gibbs (12765)
Date:
July 11-12 Saturday - Sunday
Leader: Joe Baker ([email protected])
Co-Lead: Judy Molland, [email protected]
Difficulty: Class 2, moderate trip
Spend two days in the awesome Tuolumne Meadows area of
Yosemite. We’ll be doing two day hikes: on Saturday we’ll meet
early at our trailhead to climb the class 2 Amelia Earhart, one of the
lesser known Yosemite peaks. This is a 16 mile round trip. On
Sunday we’ll summit Mount Gibbs, class 1, or Mount Dana, class 1.
This will be a shorter day, so participants should be able to head
back by late afternoon.
Mt. Lola
Peak:
Mt. Lola (9,148)
Date:
July 12, Sunday
Leader: Jim Wholey (510-697-1858)
Co-Lead: needed
Difficulty: Class 1, beginner trip
This will be trail day-hike up Mt Lolla. We will meet at Henness
Pass Road, near Hwy 89 (~15 miles north of Hwy 80 from Truckee)
at 9:00am to carpool to the trailhead. To join the trip leave a phone
message indicating interest.
Goddard Divide
Peaks:
Haeckel, Wallace, Fiske, Huxley, McGee, Black Giant,
Solomons, Thompson, Powell, Goode
Date:
Jul 25 – Aug 2, Saturday – Sunday
Leader: Aaron Schuman
Co-Lead: needed
Difficulty: Class 2-3, extended mountaineering trip
We’ll trek for a week through the breathtaking Evolution region of
the Sierra Nevada, backpacking to infrequently visited rockbound
lake basins and climbing challenging summits. We’ll make a loop
from our trailhead at Lake Sabrina (near the town of Big Pine),
packing cross-country across the Goddard Divide at Wallace Col,
spending an average of two nights at each camp, and ultimately
returning to our trailhead with a cross-country pack back across the
Goddard Divide at Echo Col. We’ll be challenged by the
ruggedness of the terrain, the high elevations (up to 13500 feet), the
weight of our packs with a week’s food, and the mountaintops of
class 2 and 3 difficulty. None of the summits require the use of a
rope. This trip has a maximum of six participants.
Page 4 – Scree June 2009
Goddard, Scylla
Electra Peak
Peak:
Goddard, Scylla, Henry, Red Mtn, McGee, Black Giant
Date:
July 30 – Aug 7 (Thurs – Fri)
Leader: Joe Baker ([email protected])
Co-Lead: Judy Molland, [email protected]
Difficulty: Class 2, moderate extended High Sierra trip
Peak: Elektra (12,442'), Class 2
Dates: Aug 8-11, 2009; Saturday-Tuesday
Contact: Debbie Benham, (650/964-0558,
[email protected])
Difficulty: extended cross-country travel
A chance to explore the beautiful Ionian Basin. We’ll start from
Florence Lake, making our way initially along the John Muir trail,
before going cross-country to our first peak, Mt. Henry. From there,
we’ll be heading into Goddard Canyon, where we’ll summit Mt.
McGee and Mt. Goddard, before arriving at the magnificent Ionian
Basin, where we’ll climb Scylla and finally Black Giant. Peaks are
class 1 and 2.
Starting from Tuolumne Meadows, we'll head up Rafferty Creek,
over Vogelsang Pass, follow then cross Lewis Creek, pass by the
Cony Crags, then head up the Lyell Fork drainage to climb Elektra
Peak. Permit for 5. Must have backpacking experience and
comfortable hiking cross country (we leave the trail as we follow
the Lyell Fork drainage). To find out about the peak's namesake,
read Sophocles's play 'Elektra' (410 B.C.), based on the famous
Greek Orestes myth.
Mera Peak 21,300 ft, Nepal
Private Trip Details
Note: Private trips are not insured, sponsored, or supervised
by the Sierra Club. They are listed here because they may be
of interest to PCS members. Private trips may be submitted
directly to the Scree editor.
Peaks: Mera Peak (21,300 ft), Nepal
Dates: October, 2009
Contact: Warren Storkman (650-493-8959, [email protected])
19 day trip to trek the tallest walkup peak
Rural experience. Approach from the South East
Kilimanjaro 19340 ft / 5895 m, Tanzania, Africa
Mt. Baldwin
Peaks: Kilimanjaro 19340 ft / 5895 m
Dates: January, 2010
Contact: Warren Storkman (650-493-8959, [email protected])
Peak:
Mt. Baldwin (12,615')
Dates: June 27-28, 2009, Saturday - Sunday
Contacts: Chris Prendergast ([email protected])
Bob Suzuki ([email protected])
We'll backpack from the trailhead parking at Convict Lake to our
camp site at Bright Dot Lake. Sunday morning we'll ascend the
northwest slope and take time for a leisurely snack on the summit.
Ice axes possibly needed.
Trip will be similar to Warren’s previous trip to Kilimanjaro in
January 2002. A couple of detailed reports on Summit Post supply
myriad detail:
http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/168519/kilimanjaro-warrenstorkman-expedition-january-2002.html
http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150202/kilimanjaro.html
Mt Humphreys and Mt Emerson
Peaks:
Mt Humphreys (13,986'), Mt Emerson (13,204')
Dates: July 3-5, 2009, Fri-Sun, 3 days
Contact: Bob Suzuki ([email protected])
Difficulty: class 4, rope
Visit the scenic North Fork of Bishop Creek, Piute Pass and alpine
Humphreys Basin. Endure the class 2, loose scree of Humphreys'
southwest slope before enjoying the final two short, roped pitches
over solid rock. A half rope-length rappel begins the decent.
Required: climbing harness, belay/rappel device, roped climbing
experience, group bear canisters; also, a $10 deposit to cover cost of
the permit (forfeit if cancel, difference refunded at trailhead).
Brewer, S&N Guard, Table, Thunder, Jordan
Peaks: Brewer (13570), S Guard (13232), N Guard (13327),
Table (13632), Thunder (13517+), Jordan (13320+)
Dates: Aug 1-8, 2009; Saturday-Saturday
Contact: Bob Suzuki ([email protected]),
Jim Ramaker ([email protected])
Difficulty: class 4, rope
A long and strenuous backpack from Road's End in Kings Canyon
NP to our base camps near East Lake will position us for attempts
on nearby class 4 summits. If interested please be fast, strong,
confident and skilled on rock and snow.
Events
July 14 is our annual picnic and gear swap. We will again
hold the event at the Wildwood Park in Saratoga. This park
has some very neat play devices for kids of all ages – slides,
water play, climbing devices, swings, etc. It is a rustic
setting in a beautiful oak forest hidden behind downtown
Saratoga. Bring something to share. We will issue ideas by
name but will never turn down your specialties. Alcohol is
ok.
Bring that gear cluttering your garage that you will never use
again. Someone may be delighted to get it!
News
California Mountaineering Group newsletter on Yahoo
Groups has lots of great reports: http://tinyurl.com/r4jc8u
Page 5 – Scree June 2009
swimming apparel; dry bag or garbage bags to keep stuff dry;
backpackers towel for drying off; headlamp.
Trip Reports
Tenaya Canyon, Sep 6, 2008
By Kelly Maas
I first heard about descending Tenaya Canyon years ago, but it
wasn’t until last year that I actually did it. I did it with Monique
Messie and Peter Maxwell. It was a bit adventurous and a lot of
fun, and I heartily recommend that all capable climbers do it at least
once. Rather than write a blow by blow account of it, my intent
here is to outline the important factors, particularly the logistics.
What: a dramatic and varied canyon, with sweeping vistas of vast
granite, a lot of rock scrambling including some technical and steep
sections, and some cross country travel through forest.
Where: from the Sunrise Camp / Clouds Rest trailhead (just west of
Tenaya Lake on Hwy 120) to the Mirror Lake trailhead in Yosemite
Valley.
Intrigue: The official park map has the following warning printed in
this area in red letters: Hiking in Tenaya Canyon is dangerous and
strongly discouraged. At a key point about 1.5 miles from the
trailhead (and not near any trail), there is a metal sign:
Water: You descend a creek, but strangely enough, it’s not always
there. Fill up whenever you get the chance, unless you’re really
good at predicting when it will disappear and reappear.
When: We went in September because I wanted to avoid the heat of
mid summer. It ended up being a hot day – more typical of August
- but it was no problem. In fact warmer weather is better when it
comes to swimming the pools. Next time I’d do it in August. In
August, the days are longer – a big plus – and the summer buses are
still running between the Valley and Tuolumne Meadows /
Mammoth. If you go too early in the year, there may be too much
water flowing, and the water might be colder. Maybe late July is
OK in a typical year.
Logistics: The two trailheads may be only 10 miles apart, but it’s
much further to drive. So doing a car shuttle takes time. Here’s
what we did: reserved a campsite in Yosemite Valley for Friday and
Saturday nights; had 2 vehicles for 3 of us; Saturday morning drove
1 vehicle to the Sunrise trailhead, leaving all non-hiking gear in the
2nd car in the valley; starting the hike at about 7:15am; got on the
Valley shuttle bus about 6:45pm and rode it to our camp; ate dinner
in a valley restaurant; Sunday morning drove back to Sunrise
trailhead and retrieved the first car.
Hints: Camping in Yosemite Valley was convenient, but otherwise
it ranks as an unpleasant experience. I’d rather camp at Tamarack
Flat, White Wolf, Yosemite Creek or Porcupine Creek. Get an early
start so you have time to enjoy the wonderful pools. Go when it’s
warm for the same reason. YARTS and the park service run daily
buses between the valley and the high country, but their schedules
might not be quite what’s needed. There’s also the park shuttle
running between Tuolumne Meadows and Olmsted Point. If
campgrounds are booked when you want to go, keep checking
online every day because they do get cancellations. (I had to keep
checking, but I got campsites in the valley on short notice.)
--- Warning --This is not a trail.
Travel beyond this
point is dangerous
without climbing
equipment. Return
to Tioga Road.
Direction of travel: It seemed obvious to me to go down. I think
that’s what most people do. However, R.J. Secor describes it in the
uphill direction in his book.
Difficulty: This probably depends on the direction of travel. There
is a long and steep slab to descend between the upper and middle
sections of the canyon. You want boots with excellent traction, and
confidence on steep slabs. Rock shoes (or approach shoes with
sticky rubber) are not required, but would give added confidence
and safety margin. This is probably easier to ascend than descend.
Later we did 2 rappels from fixed anchors. (They would pose real
obstacles going uphill.) There was a considerable amount of
difficult class 2 scrambling, and plenty of class 3 moves too. There
is one place where it’s virtually impossible to avoid swimming, or
at least chest deep wading. Overall it’s a long and tiring day.
References (just a few of many)
http://rockclimbing.org/tripreports/Tenaya_Canyon.pdf
http://www.dankat.com/swhikes/tenaya.htm
http://www.summitpost.org/canyon/160152/tenaya-canyon.html
http://mysierramountaintimes.com/?p=285
Time and distance: It’s only about 10 miles, but it’s a long day. We
took about 11.5 hours.
Gear: Rope (50m is plenty); a couple of carabiners and slings; boots
or approach shoes (good traction, good support, comfortable, good
for scrambling); 2 liters water capacity; water pump or iodine;
Page 6 – Scree June 2009
No. Maggie and Moses, May 9-10, 2009
By Dana Chaney
I volunteered to co-lead the climb of North Maggie and Moses
Mountains with Louise Wholey as part of my training to become an
outdoor leader and this was my first co-lead. From San Jose I drove
south of Fresno, over to Porterville, up past Springville, and then a
mountain road up to about 6,000 feet in the Mountain Home
Demonstration State Forest. The gate was locked where we were
supposed to turn to the campground and trailhead at Hidden Falls
and I drove around for a while until I found the group sacked out at
the Frasier Mill campground. The group consisted of the leader
Louise Wholey, your trip reporter and co-leader Dana Chaney, Meri
Galindo, Artur Klauser, Eddie Sudol, Lisa Barboza, Rod McCalley,
Jesper Schou, Frank Martin, Samantha Olsen, Judy Molland, and
Will Molland. Despite being miles from where we planned to be
everybody found the group, demonstrating that Sierra Club people
are used to a certain flexibility in these trip details. The gates added
about another six miles round trip to the hike and I felt that on the
way out. From a gate above the Frasier Mill Campground we hiked
to the Shake Camp trailhead. There was a lot of snow on the trail at
the higher elevations but not at the lower altitude so it wasn’t clear
why the gates in the park area were still up.
We hiked about six miles total to a meadow at the north end of
Long Meadow right between the two peaks and on the east bank of
the Tule River. We had a river crossing from the west side to the
east side at Redwood Crossing which consisted of a semi-steep log.
The wood was a bit spongy which was good for the poles, the log
was wide and not slippery but the exposure was significant. We had
the easier angle going up the log on the hike in. This was one
reason we decided to hike to the Hidden Falls trailhead on the way
back so we wouldn’t have this river crossing.
We set up camp and headed out to climb North Maggie Peak at
about 11 AM. We headed north a ways along the Tule River, then
headed east, and climbed through the brush, thick and thorny for a
few short stretches, up and north and dropped into a large gully that
approaches the peak from the northwest side. At this point there
was almost constant snow which was a bit mushy but not yet wet. It
was a long climb up the gully until we headed south onto the saddle
between Peak 10,113 and North Maggie which is directly behind it
to the east. There was another 500 foot steep scramble up boulders
and some snow to the top which was snow covered. The views
were good and the Kaweahs could be seen peaking over the ridge to
the northeast maybe 20 miles away behind Vandever Mountain and
Florence Peak. The weather was sunny and warm.
There are an abundance of Giant Sequoias in the park and on the
trail, some as big as you would see anywhere. Where we parked at
the gate was a tree with a room hollowed out at the base. The room
was about 8 feet by 8 feet which apparently took a guy four or five
years to do in the late 1800s and his plan was to live in the room. It
was soaking wet inside from the tree raining sap and pitch all over
the place and utterly uninhabitable. One would think the guy would
have figured that out after a year or two, three years at the most!
The register for North Maggie is in the rocks behind; the guy in the
Tilly hat is me.
For the climb down, we went north along the ridge between North
Maggie and another 10,000 foot peak due north and dropped back
into the gully from the saddle. We stayed to the north side of the
gully on the theory we would avoid brush and we largely did and
Page 7 – Scree June 2009
then we dropped into the gully floor and continued on the snow.
There were some nice rivulets from the snow melt and we filled our
water bottles. We made it back to camp before 6 PM and had
plenty of sunshine left. Since we had another peak the next day plus
the hike out the group was pretty much in the sack by 8:30.
move closer to Class 4. Finally, after we looked around for another
route, Will Molland hacked away at the snow for a while with an ice
ax and improved the move back to Class 3 and we all went across.
I didn’t bring a tent since I had a new zero degree sleeping bag, the
Marmot Never Summer, and I wanted to both try it out and lighten
my pack. There were no mosquitoes around yet. I had on some
extra clothes and was warm in the bag but not hot. I think it
probably only just froze that night so I am still not clear on how
warm the bag is. I think it would be good for zero degrees inside a
tent with plenty of clothes on and that is a bit disappointing.
The next morning we were up at 5:30 AM and on the trail at 6:45.
Judy Molland and her son Will had joined us the prior evening so
we now had 12 climbers. We headed north looking for a river
crossing to cross back to the west bank to climb Moses Mountain.
We found a dicey looking wet log only about 12 inches in diameter
but with only about 8 feet to cross. Some of us balanced across and
some took a helping hand or hiking stick.
We saw large black bear tracks of recent vintage and, eventually,
we saw the bear. We headed north a bit looking for a gully
somewhat opposite the gully on North Maggie on the other side.
We headed straight up the mountain and eventually found a good
way to the ridge. The gulley and the ridges on either side more or
less flattened out at the top so the choice of route could be the
gulley or a ridge, whatever is easiest. However, the gullies to the
south closer to the peak were much more challenging. Once on the
ridge, we traversed south mostly not far below the ridge on the east
side for about a half mile of Class 2 and Class 3 climbing south to
the peak at 9,331 feet. It was rather fun scrambling with some
exposure but never more than moderate Class 3 until we hit one
steep snow crossing. One person got up a steep move across the
snow but I couldn’t do it and there was a steep drop that made the
All 12 of us made the top which was again warm and sunny with
great views so we stayed on top an hour. Among the group
somebody knew just about everybody who had signed the register.
Multiple list finishers appeared multiple times. Moses is apparently
not climbed much and the register goes back to around 1961. We
were the first group of the year and there were no sign-ins for the
entire year of 2008. It was a nice climb and could be done as a day
trip particularly when the gates into the park are open. The Class 3
didn’t seem all that challenging so I don’t know why there were no
climbs in 2008.
We short cut the return by climbing into a closer gully and it went
all the way to the bottom with a good deal of snow and fairly open
forest for a pleasant return. When we got to the Tule River we were
a ways from either of the crossings we had taken before. Some
forded the river in their boots but I had been fairly successful in
keeping my boots dry and didn’t want to start the hike out to the
trailhead in soaked boots. I am not the kind who can walk on a river
bottom in bare feet. I saw a log crossing up river and Eddie Sudol
and I went up and made it across despite some water running over
the log.
We had spotted a lily plant on the climb and took some photos since
it was so pretty. It turns out to be a rare and endangered subspecies
that only grows in the area where we were climbing, maybe a few
miles in either direction:
Page 8 – Scree June 2009
trunk. I was too embarrassed to admit my memory was so poor so I
cheerfully took the caps off and passed out the three Coronas. I
didn’t get the cold Corona until the next day and it tasted nothing
like a Corona does at the trailhead after a long, long day. It is really
a different category of beer. There is trailhead beer and then there is
everything else.
Dana Chaney
Sierra Buttes, May 24, 2009
By Ron Karpel
Erythronium grandiflorum, ssp pusaterii, commonly known as
Hockett Lakes Fawn Lily
We hiked all the way out on the east side of the river and came out
at the Hidden Falls trailhead. There turned out to be no bridge, just
another ford. Fortunately it was paved so everybody could cross
with their boots off.
Participants: Daphne Karpel, Ron Karpel
The road to Packer Lake Saddle was dry and clear, but a sign
at the center of it said “Road Closed”. We didn’t know any
better, so from Packer Lake we took the diagonal trail,
marked “4WD”, going through Tamarack Lakes and joining
the normal trail after climbing the saddle. The penalty for
respecting the “Road Closed” sign was 1 mile and 700ft
elevation gain in addition to the normal trail.
My GPS came in handy on this trip since the trail was mostly
under snow. We followed the waypoints from one trail
junction to the next without seeing the trail. The snow was
very firm. I hardly had any snow getting into my low cut
boots on the way up, but picked up quite a bit on the way
down. Some places were steep enough so that I had to cut
boot platform for Daphne. The summit area and the ladder to
the top were mostly clear. This seems to be a popular
destination despite the early date and the amount of snow.
We then started up a long, long road grade that seemed never
ending, bringing to my mind the five miles slog up the road from
the Kern River coming back from Rockhouse Peak on the east side.
To add interest, the new route back was not on anybody’s map so
we weren’t positively sure it was the way back at all. We had GPS
and we weren’t lost but I was tired enough and the road went on
long enough, I was concerned that we might have to backtrack. In
the end, we came out on the right road near Shake Camp and it was
another mile to the cars. We got to the cars in daylight at about 6:30
PM.
On the way back, we discovered that most visitors ignored
the sign and drove to the regular parking area at Packer Lake
Saddle. The local tour guide minibus driver who gave us a
lift back to Packer Lake said “In Sierra County, whenever
you see a road close sign, just ignore it.”
A round trip of 8 mile and 2500 feet elevation gain (about 5
hours including breaks) got us back to our car.
I had hiked at the back of the pack on the long climb up the road
with Samantha Olson and Eddie Sudol and Samantha said at one
point she wished there was a cold beer at the trailhead. I advised
her that there was indeed cold beer at the trailhead and enough to
share. Unfortunately, I had misremembered the numbers of beers I
had on ice in the trunk of the car. I remembered putting in three
Coronas and a Firestone. Jesper Schou had waited for us at an
intersection and now there were four of us at the back of the pack so
I generously promised three beers to the others who were now very
much looking forward to the refreshments. I therefore could not
renege when I discovered I never did put that Firestone in the cooler
and only three ice cold Coronas greeted me when I popped the
Page 9 – Scree June 2009
Finessin’ Basin
Basin Mtn (13181), May 16-17, 2009
topped the couloir to the outstanding sight of Humphreys dead in
front. Here we de-fanged and all the pointy snow stuff went into the
packs and we stared at the rock pile in front to assess.
By Arun Mahajan
We had word that the Sonora Pass was to open after its winter
hibernation. The last excuse to stay home this weekend thus
eliminated, we four (Bob Suzuki, Ron Karpel, Scott Kreider and
myself) decided to head over to the eastern Sierra to attempt Basin
Mountain (13181 ft).
Basin looks like the rampart of a fort and stays in view for quite a
few minutes as one is driving north on 395 leaving Bishop and has a
moderate couloir that remains 'in' for only a short time after spring.
Our objective was to climb this couloir and then head for the
summit from the top of the couloir via the remaining 400 ft or so of
rock, rated to be everything from 4th class and upward.
There are a few good reports about this peak on SummitPost and
Climber.Org that give good beta on the East Couloir route and we
had some excellent information about it also from our friend, Dee,
who had climbed this route a few years ago.
The hike in from the Buttermilk Road (Horton Creek TH) to base
camp at the base of the couloir (abandoned mineshaft area) took us
only three hours on Saturday afternoon and very soon we were in
bed with an alpine start planned for Sunday morning. We were
walking at 5.30am on Sunday and we had brought along a 50m rope
and some pro for the rock. Knowing the angle of the snow, we had
decided that we did not need pro for the snow/ice. There was a lot
of snow in the couloir but it was not very hardened and we made
good time.
Dee had told us that we needed to look around and we would find
the fourth class and if we ended up in 5th class then we could be off
route. With Ron and Scott leading the way, curving left (west) we
made our way to the top on mostly 3rd class but with definitely a
few moves of fourth class thrown in to spice things up and and
which got our attention. A local climber, from Bishop, climbing fast
and strong soon overtook us on the rock having hiked in that same
morning from the trailhead (!) and we followed him to the top. The
views were wonderful....Humphreys, Tom, the peaks accessed from
Pine Creek, the Dade/Abbott group, etc etc. This climber told us
that he sometimes climbs with Peter Croft. It was no wonder then
that he had come up so fast. It was warm and windless. One of those
Sierra summit days where you do not want to hike back down
again...but we had to, like every other time, go back too, so we said
our goodbyes to Andrew, the Bishop climber and watched him
scamper down the 5th class, without rope. We decided that we
would rather rap down than retrace our way. Ron, leading the way
down, got us to a rap station. We backed up the older slings with
our own and rap-ed down and were soon enjoying our hard earned
lunch at the couloir top. Now the snow in the gully was turning into
mush and we joyfully glissaded down to camp, packed up and hiked
back down.
Scott expertly drove his Outback from the rocky road back to
Bishop and very soon we were on our way home. This was yet
another great trip into the eastern Sierra and we were all wondering
as to why we had not climbed this route before?
Our times (not fast):
Trailhead to camp near mine: 3 hrs, Camp to top of couloir: 3 hrs,
Couloir-top to summit: 1.5 hrs, From summit, back to couloir-top:
1.5 hrs, Couloir-top to camp: 50 mins, From camp back to car: 1hr
40 mins
Thanks are due to the report by Rob Yang (@climber.org), the
SummitPost page on Basin (by misha) and advice from Dee which
helped us a lot and to my companions, Ron, Bob and Scott for their
company and for the care and attention to the anchors and the slings
at the rap stations!
Arun Mahajan
The sun was already up and even at this early hour the snow was
showing signs of softening. We walked past a large wet-slide and
Page 10 – Scree June 2009
Elected Officials
Chair:
Louise Wholey / [email protected]
21020 Canyon View Road, Saratoga, CA 95070
408-867-6658
Vice Chair and Trip Scheduler:
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650-207-9632
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415-606-5760
Publicity Committee Positions
Scree Editor:
Judy Molland / [email protected]
1975 Cordilleras Rd, Redwood City, CA 94062
PCS World Wide Web Publisher:
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1975 Cordilleras Rd, Redwood City, CA 94062
650-261-1488
Scree is the monthly newsletter of the Peak Climbing
Section of the Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter. Current and
back issues are posted on the web in PDF and HTML.
PCS Official Website
Our official website is http://lomaprieta.sierraclub.org/pcs/ or
http://www.peakclimbing.org. Joining the PCS is easy. Go
to http://www.peakclimbing.org/join
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If you join the PCS Announcement Listserv you will receive
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Climbing Classifications
The following trip classifications are to assist you in
choosing trips for which you are qualified. No simple rating
system can anticipate all possible conditions.
Class 1: Walking on a trail.
Class 2: Climbing using hands for balance.
Class 3: Climbing requires the use of hands, maybe a rope.
Class 4: Requires rope belays.
Class 5: Technical rock climbing.
Trips may also be rated by level of exertion: easy, moderate,
strenuous, or extreme.
Deadline for submissions to the next Scree is Monday, June 29th. Meetings are the second Tuesday of each month.
Peak Climbing Section, 789 Daffodil Way, San Jose CA 95117
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