Deadline for submissions to the next Scree is Sunday 8/25/2002 • Meetings are the 2nd Tuesday of each month.
The fog was thick and some of us started with wet gear just from sleeping at the trailhead. We left Lodgepole around 7:15AM and followed the Twin Lakes trail across the ridge North of Lodgepole. As the ridge faces South, it was completely free of snow. At the top of the ridge, when the trail makes a 90 degree turn to enter the forest, we left the trail (at waypoint WILMDW) and headed cross country North East while keeping the main ridge on our right side. To the contrary of our plan, the snow cover was very light and the 2 skiers Steve and I had to constantly take our skis on and off, while the snowshoers marched through the bear spots. We were not on top of the bushes and branches as planned, which forced us to make detours. In addition the thick fog persisted until early afternoon and required us to take frequent navigation breaks. As we started paralleling Horse Creek (near waypoint HORSEO), the snow cover became more consistent but the terrain was very steep. At 4:30pm, we reached the little marshy area shown on the map 1.25 miles South East of Mt Silliman (waypoint HORSEC). It had taken us a sobering 9 hours tocover 4 miles and 3200 of gain.
We left camp at noon toward the Tableland. It was bright sunshine but the snow was holding up well. We headed North East and followed the ridge toward the highest point of the Traverse: 11462, waypoint TRAV2. We rested up there, admired the unobstructed view and took turns trying to use up Steve's week-end minutes on his cell phone. On the other side of this high point, the snow was dramatically different and what was supposed to be the fun part of the trip turned out to be the most miserable. While skiers could manage to stay on top of the snow, snowshoers were punching through waist deep randomly and each time it took 3 people to extricate them and their packs. This exhausting exercise took its toll quickly and we set up camp (near waypoint TCAMP) to allow everyone to rest. Although we were considerably higher than anticipated (11,300 ), we had a quiet and clear night.
For the way down, we followed a small gully immediately before the knife ridge and skirted the rocky ridge. After an easy descent, we were back to our packs around 5:30pm. A group of beginner backpackers stopped by asking if we had found any water. At that time, the closest water point was Beck Meadows, about 2.5 miles North on the PCT. Tired and thirsty, we got there around 7:30pm and immediately started looking for a pond or stream. It turned out what we had seen from Crag was little more than brown algae filled ponds. Clean, clear, water was flowing from a tiny spring flowing in a stream 10 inches wide and about 1 inch deep. Not discouraged, John dug a little hole and demonstrated we could scoop water = cup at a time into a pot while Kirsten and Tony filtered the water out of the pot into the bottles. And so it went...everyone got rehydrated and was able to cook dinner.
It got cold at night: all our water bottles froze solid and a thick layer of frost was covering everything including the sleeping bags of the star gazers Paul and Tony. Sunday morning, we made the decision to head toward Smith Mountain with the option to skip it should we not find water again. We each guzzled one to two quarts and left Beck meadow at 9:00am. The trail between Beck meadow and Jackass crosses many meadows and makes for very enjoyable hiking. It is a little unclear in some sections but we used Jenkins' 'South Sierra' guide book and map/compass/GPS to keep us on track. Coming to Albanita Meadow, we somehow followed a spur trail which lead to the Southern portion of the meadow, 1 mile south of the intended trail. When arriving to Albanita meadow, make sure you keep going west to North West rather than head south into the southern arm of the meadow. Water was flowing in the creeks along the way and allowed us to remain well (too well?) hydrated.
Because of our late departure, and in true PCS fashion ('I don't climb the list but I would rather climb the list peak'), we decided to skip Jackass and focus on Smith. We dropped our packs at 2pm at the saddle North East of Smith and took about 1 hour to reach the summit. We were looking at a storm over Whitney when we suddenly heard thunder approaching. An isolated storm we had not noticed earlier was coming our way from the South and seemed very close. We estimated it would hit the peak in 15 min. We quickly came down and were back at the saddle around 4:00pm. We then headed down the trail to cover the last 6.5 miles to Fish Creek campground which we reached at 7:30pm. We did not encounter any bad weather and figured we somehow stayed out of the storm's path. At the campground we noticed the trail was wet and campers were standing around campfires warming up after a 20 min hail storm. We were lucky!
We packed the whole group in one car for the short shuttle back to Kennedy Meadows and concluded this great trip at 'The Grumpy Bear's Retreat', the closest restaurant open (6 miles from Kennedy Meadows). The waitress announced the extensive menu: CHICKEN OR RIBS'.
As Richard Stover and I drove over Tioga Pass, we observed truck after truck of CDF firefighters returning from the just-extinguished Tom's Place fire, which came uncomfortably close to many homes. It appears that the Mt. Tom trailhead area burned last year, and the result for the prickly poppies seems positive. I have never seen such a spectacular display of these large white blooms massed over several acres.
Pyramid Peak near Lake Tahoe is a well known peak that is climbed quite often. However, I believe that most of the ascents are done from the east and south. I think it is rarely done from the west, which is odd because I think it is the easiest way to do it. I recently climbed Pyramid from the west and offer the following description for those who are interested. From the Wrights Lake road start hiking at the Lyons Creek trailhead. It is about 5 easy miles to Sylvia Lake. Where the trail ends at Sylvia Lake head up to the obvious saddle just to the south of the lake - there is another, un-named lake just south of this saddle. This is the hardest part of the climb. There is some steep scree that you must negotiate and some cliffs you need to avoid
"The summit of Starlight Peak, elevation 14,200 feet, offers the bold mountaineer the most exciting summit of all the peaks in the Palisades. In fact, it would be difficult to find an apex more worthy of this distinction anywhere in the Sierra Nevada."
Starlight Peak is one of the hardest peaks in the Sierras by its easiest route, and definitely the hardest of the 15 Sierra 14'ers. On the weekend of July 13-14, our six-man team set out to climb it -- leaders Rick Booth and Ron Karpel, plus Arun Mahajan, Erik Jensen, Charles Schafer, and myself (Jim Ramaker).
We met at the familiar South Lake trailhead at 8:30 a.m. and hiked up the easy and beautiful section of trail past Long, Saddlerock, and Bishop Lakes. After that came the impressively constructed switchbacks up to Bishop Pass (11,900'), and then a short cross-country jaunt to our camp in Upper Dusy Basin at 11,600', where we arrived about 3:30 p.m. Very uncharacteristically for a PCS trip, we then laid around for a couple of hours, taking naps and gazing up at the towering west faces of the Palisades peaks. Weather was iffy -- we'd had light showers at dawn on Highway 395, and clouds most of the day. A shower drifted in from the south around 5 p.m., but it was brief and didn't amount to much. After an early supper, we climbed into our bivy bags shortly after 7 to rest up for the big day on Sunday. (Interestingly, everyone on this trip had bivy bags -- besides the familiar Outdoor Research model, there were examples from Integral Designs, Mountain Hardwear, and Bibler.)
True to plan, we were up at 5 a.m. and rolling right at 6. We arrived at Thunderbolt Pass in about an hour and were shocked by the lack of snow. Last year when we did Thunderbolt, its chute (the first one south of Thunderbolt Pass) and the talus fan below it were thick with snow -- a nice snow climb. This year they were completely dry. We identified our intended route, which Porcella and Burns call the "Starlight West Chute," describing it as "the third most prominent chute south of Thunderbolt Pass." Actually it's the fifth chute if you count the smaller ones that turn into vertical chimneys higher up. In any case, the correct chute has a wide opening and a very wide talus fan below it. (A photo on page 222 of Porcella and Burns clearly shows the chutes on this complex face.)
We ditched our crampons and ice axes and started up the chute at about 8. Just as on the Thunderbolt climb, we exited the chute by climbing up loose class-4 ledges on the right into a second, higher chute. After several hundred feet of loose class 2-3, this chute ended in a wide slab inclined at about 30 degrees. Pulling over the top edge of this slab, we were confronted with a big drop into the next chute to the south. But a catwalk traverse with several horizontal cracks led off to the left, until it was joined by the steeply rising floor of this third chute.
I requested a rope on this somewhat exposed traverse, but the holds were so plentiful and solid that it wasn't necessary, and we didn't use one on the way down. Once in this third chute, we immediately came to a 30' waterfall pitch. Late in the year with the waterfall dry, you could probably climb straight up it (class-4). But water was pouring down it, so we tackled a section of class-4 ledges and slabs on the right. These continued up for about 100' and were pretty steep all the way, so we used a rope on the upper part.
Above that, we climbed a long section of class 2-3, easy except for the constant care required to avoid knocking rocks down on one another. The third chute continued for about 800' and ended in a headwall leading to the summit ridge. We roped up and climbed a short class-4 pitch up and left to double rap slings, though you can avoid this pitch by climbing up and right to a hidden ramp behind a huge boulder, and then downclimbing about 10'. From the double rap slings, we climbed some class-3 and then another roped class-4 pitch up to a nice rap station with four slings. Unfortunately, the ridge top was another 15' above, at the top of an awkward class-4 chimney that required yet another belay.
Finally, around 11:30, we arrived at an airy notch on an exposed blocky ridge that extends out to the west from the main north-south summit ridge. About 50' away stood the notorious "milk bottle" -- steep, slender, and devoid of cracks or visible holds. We clambered up the blocky ridge unroped, got on the true summit ridge, and then Ron set up a belay for the milk bottle. Rick tackled the south side of it in mountain boots, an awkward lead with a bulge at the top that scared even him a bit. The top of the milk bottle has a manky 1/4" bolt, so Rick clipped a toprope to it and we moved to the north side of the milk bottle, which is taller but has a little arete that appeared to offer some holds.
Most of us used rock shoes, but even then it wasn't easy. There are only a couple of positive holds for the entire 20' -- everything else consists of sketchy counterforce and friction moves using the edge of the arete for handholds. No two of us climbed it exactly the same way. Those of us who've climbed both thought that the milk bottle was at least as hard as the summit block on Thunderbolt, which has a series of tiny holds that fall into a repeatable sequence.
The feeling of sitting on top of the milk bottle (none of us managed to fully stand up) is nicely described by Porcella and Burns: "Upon reaching this diminutive point, the climber's senses are besieged by vertigo as well as euphoria. The ridge below, much like one's stomach, seems to drop out from beneath. More than 1000 feet below to the east lies the magnificent Palisade Glacier. To the west lies the incredible expanse of Dusy and Palisade Basins. The view, like the exposure, is nothing less than exhilarating."
After snacks, photos, and the usual perusal of the summit register (which is at the base of the milk bottle), we started down at 1:45. We belayed down the 15' chimney, then rapped from the four slings. Charles and I then set up a second rap from the double slings, while the others circled around behind the big boulder and started down the 800' chute. While I was rappelling, I felt a jerk and slipped down a few inches. I thought it was just the rope straightening out, but Charles later told me that one of the two rap slings had snapped! The rappel was fairly short and low angle so there was no great danger, but it was a good reminder that existing rap slings are always suspect and need to be carefully checked, and if necessary, backed up.
As we descended the upper chute, big clouds drifted in from the south, and we were grateful they had waited until after we had summited. At the waterfall pitch, we rapped straight down it using existing slings -- a bit wet but faster than going down the slabs we'd come up. Going back across the catwalk traverse, hailstones started pinging on our climbing helmets, but it was a mild storm -- no wind and no thunder. Now we were at the slab at the top of the second chute with just one more hard section below us -- the loose class-4 ledges at the bottom of that chute.
We descended the chute and found the ducks we'd left to mark our traverse line into the lower chute, but it started raining, so Ron wisely decided to set up another rap instead of downclimbing the rubble-covered ledges. This was a full double-rope rappel, from a single strand of thin spectra cord looped around a large boulder. To the uninitiated, this looked like trusting your life to a shoelace, but the stuff has a breaking strength of 4000 lbs. so no problem. Some of us (okay, I'm guilty) knocked down some loose rocks while rappelling, so if you rappel this section in a group, be sure to move out of the way as soon as you get off rappel.
At last, right at 5 p.m., we were all safely down on the talus, and the skies were even starting to clear off. What a great climb! Though not an alpine rock climb, it's a classic mountaineering challenge, with class-4 rock, loose crap, route finding challenges, and oh boy that summit block. In early season with some steep snow in the gullies, the climb would probably be even better.
After collecting our snow gear and taking a much needed snack break, we boulder-hopped back to Thunderbolt Pass and then worked our way down the slabs and boulders to our camp, where we arrived about 7 PM. What a great feeling to sit around cooking supper and look up at that towering 2000-foot wall whose top we had just visited. We suddenly realized that we could clearly see the milk bottle -- a tiny pointed tower between two large blocks. As Rick said (paraphrasing here) "You know, you look up there and you think -- there's no way I could climb up to that thing."
After supper, the sky cleared off completely to a crisp alpine night, and we crawled into our sleeping bags to watch the Milky Way and the shooting stars as we drifted off to sleep.
...a strange sense of apathy seems to have gripped the crew . This paraphrase from Bram Stoker’s Dracula could also describe a recent trip to the Minarets. With great intentions we left the Agnew Meadow trailhead at 8:20 am. Our plan was to hike to camp below Ritter Pass in enough time to climb one of the Minarets before dark. The next day our objective was a fourth class chute on the west side of Michael Minaret.
After setting up the tents and having something to eat four of us set out at 2:30 PM to climb Leonard Minaret. Leonard is southeast of The Gap, a pass that offers a way to get to the other side of the ridge.
The approach was up steep snowfields punctuated by smooth slabs. The snow was soft but not so soft that we plunged too deeply. We reached The Gap at 4:10 pm and started up the crest of the ridge. It is supposed to be fourth class but we quickly got to what seemed more like fifth class. To avoid it we traversed around to the south sometimes getting into a gully. We were not on any particular route but skillful route finding by Bob and Kelly got us to the summit by 5:30 PM without too much fifth class climbing. Our descent to The Gap went even better.
On Saturday morning we started walking at 6:00 am heading up to Ritter Pass to get to the other side of the ridge. The west side of Ritter Pass is rated class 2 but it is very loose. Farther down the slope the loose sand and rock become slightly larger rocks that are no more stable than the ground above. As soon as the hill leveled off, we stopped for a break. Again, lethargy seemed to take hold and we ended up sitting there for about an hour telling stories, laughing and not doing anything to further our progress up Michael Minaret. Finally we got moving and made it to the base of Michael where we could see the three ascent routes. We sat again to ponder which we would take on. There was a party of two or three in the Eichorn chute and there was enough rockfall from these people that we decided not to take that route. Again in the grip of lethargy, some of us began looking for a good spot for a nap.
An hour and a half later after discussing many things and naming a large, pointed boulder the Mahajan Minaret after the venerable PCS treasurer, we decided to climb Adams Minaret. It was noon.
To reach Adams we climbed up another loose, rock strewn slope. Helmets were a must here since it seemed impossible not to kick rocks down.
From the notch at the top of this slope it is a pleasant but short third class climb. At 2:05 we sat on the summit of Adams. We spent a short while on the summit and descended the east side of the slope we d come up. This put us in a glaciated gully with an icy tarn at the bottom.
Skirting a second gully we arrived at the South Notch that put us back on the east side of the ridge. This side of the South Notch is a nasty, slippery slope but fortunately there was more snow than sand. Our reward was the beautiful meadow that Cecile Lake sits in. We descended to the meadow and picked up a use trail that runs along the east side of Cecile Lake following it to Iceberg Lake. At the outlet from Iceberg we crossed and returned to camp. We arrived at 7:40 PM after having made an entire circuit.
By Friday evening we had all arrived at our two campsites at the Tuolumne Meadows Campground in Yosemite N.P. Being a warm and bright moonlit night, many of us stayed up to introduce ourselves and share stories of our past adventures. However we soon grew tired from the day's long commute and headed off to sleep. Our official Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter PCS trip was led by Debbie Benham and Chris MacIntosh with participants Leo Alaniz, Steve Shun, Steven Franchuk, Wolfgang Schweigkofler, Song Bac Toh and myself, Chris Franchuk.
Saturday morning, we started up the Mono Pass Trail from Hwy 120 and quickly met a Yosemite Ranger led nature hiking group discussing the landscape since the Ice Age. After a brief stop, we continued on, passing the remains of an old log cabin, and soon reached a junction with the Spillway Lake trail. The posted trail sign here states incorrectly that it is 3.4 miles from Hwy 120 (this junction is actually a little over 2 miles in). We continued on the steadily climbing trail, eventually reaching the open meadows just west of Mono Pass. The Parker Pass trail junction is easy to miss here, but if you look to the south the trail is easily spotted on the far side of the meadows. The previous trail sign should be posted here since this junction is 3.4 miles from Hwy 120. Here and throughout the trip, Chris MacIntosh did a great job pointing out and identifying the wildflowers that were abundant everywhere. We crossed the meadow, picked up the trail and continued on to Parker Pass, about 5.5 miles in. From the broad expanse of Parker Pass the trail drops slightly into the Ansel Adams Wilderness and passes numerous creeks, waterfalls and tarns to the base of Parker Peak. We stopped here to have lunch, taking in the view of Mono Lake through Parker Creek Canyon and looking at our next obstacle - a 1400 foot climb to Koip Peak Pass via Parker Peak's steep North ridge. Suffering from the altitude, Steven decided to stay and wait while the rest of us continued on. As we climbed, the views towards Mono Lake and into Parker Creek Canyon improved while the weather grew more threatening with billowing clouds. Fortunately the trail was remarkably stable and in good condition and thunderstorms never developed. Once the switchbacks ended, the trail turns southwest and makes a final steady ascent to the pass. Note that this section passes above broken cliffs and can be dangerous if covered in snow. Fortunately for us, no snow was present and we eventually reached Koip Peak Pass, turned west and began the final climb over stable scree slopes to the summit of Koip Peak. The one-way trip total was around 9 miles and 3300 feet net elevation gain from the trailhead. Debbie felt the hardest part of the climb was the steep switchbacks up to Koip Pass, "It's bleep-bleep (unpublishable)!!" The rest of us agreed.
The views from the top were great, extending from Tower Peak in the northwest to the Silver Divide in the southeast. This was everyone's first ascent of Koip Peak and for Song it was his first ever Sierra peak! We briefly celebrated our accomplishment, not lingering too long before heading back down. We intended to continue on to Kuna Peak but our late arrival precluded that. Kuna Peak is class 2 from Koip Peak, but does require some route finding over broken terrain. We kept in contact with Steven throughout the climb using a pair of Motorola Talkabout 200 radios that worked quite well. We met him near Parker Pass and made it back to the trailhead just after sunset.
On Sunday, with the official PCS trip completed, Leo headed home while the rest of us decided to hike up to May Lake and possibly climb Mt Hoffmann - after a long climb up Koip Peak the day before, we intended to make Sunday far more relaxed. We arrived at May Lake via the 1.2-mile trail from Old Tioga Road, where Debbie, Chris M. and Song spent a relaxing time at May Lake enjoying the scenery, reading and identifying woodpeckers, nuthatches, and jays. Wolfgang, Steve, Steven and myself decided to continue and hike up Mt Hoffmann using the popular use trail. We made it to the summit in 1.5 hours and enjoyed the all round views of the Yosemite landscape from its centrally located position in the park. Wolfgang and I took a detour from the summit to explore Mt Hoffmann's central (easy class 3) and eastern summit blocks before heading back and meeting everyone at the lake. We hiked back to the vehicles together and had an enjoyable post climb meal at La Cascada Mexican Restaurant in Oakdale before heading home (note that Ferrarese's in Oakdale now closes at 4 PM on Sundays).
Actually, this is the first time in a long time that the four days prior to the hike, about half the folks cancelled! But, it just worked out -- someone would cancel, and the next day, someone would call and want to come along. We started out about 9am from Murphy Creek trailhead following the signs for Young Lakes. Allen Hu lead our eager group through the forest; up the switchbacks; and finally resting at some tarns just below the saddle on the ridgeline to Tuolumne Peak. On the way, fields and fields of wildflowers greeted us: alpine goldenrod, lupine, Mariposa lily, alpine monkey flower, and shooting star. As we headed crosscountry, I was reminded by Allen and Leo, who had both done this peak, to 'stay left'. Glad they mentioned it! If they hadn't, I would have gone to the high peaked thing to the right. Anyway, Vishal was first on the summit (that young whippersnapper), jumping from rock to rock to get there:-) Seemed to take a long time to return to our cars and Anna remarked, "I don't remember all of this"! Funny how things look different when just changing direction! We figured out about 15-16 miles with an elevation gain of 2400'.
The next day, Allen Hu, lead some of the gang up Mt Hoffman while a couple of us stayed behind and wrestled with the Jay's and chipmunks at May Lake. Those who summited Hoffman said it was still hazy but not too bad. Another glorious day. Just before leaving May Lake, we drank some of the High Sierra Camp's fresh lemonade -- delicious.
Thanks to all who came and special thanks to Allen Hu for being the lead on both peaks. I enjoyed everyone's company and what more could you ask for?
Our adventures weren't over, though. We thought we'd be back home at a reasonable hour, but at the Don Pedro Reservoir Sandy noticed the car's temperature gauge had maxed out - the thermostat had broken and we were stuck. The rest of the journey was spent in the cab of the tow truck that had to be dispatched.
10 days of strenuous dayhikes to 10 of the Mountaineers Peaks accessible from the east side. Don't feel like carrying a heavy backpack and spending several days to climb one of these coveted peaks? Perhaps consider going fast and light, and enjoying a hot shower and a burger at Jacks when you're done. Come out for one or all of them, details at:
Exposed class 3/4 rock and snow on California's most difficult 14,000'ers not requiring a rope. You should own a helmet, ice axe and crampons, and not be afraid of using them.
If interested, please email me asap and include your favourite/mobile phone numbers, mountaineering/Mid Pal experience, where from and in what kind of vehicle you'd be leaving from and your equipment. Sorry if it takes me up to a week to reply,
As the world’s knowledge grows exponentially, the challenge to sort through the information clutter gets more difficult. We have been bombarded with fake online news stories that are sometimes difficult to differentiate from legitimate news. A proliferation of fake online stories during the recent USA presidential election made decision making even more difficult for American voters, as they tried finding out the truth about who to vote for. Recently USA Today College posted a story on seven ways to spot fake news stories. It’s an important list that all online news consumers should remember.
Some of the seven ways are obvious but worth repeating. For example, check the date of the news story to make sure that it has not been repackaged or reposted, which is usually an attempt to generate new “clicks” and start the story trending. The original news story may in fact be true and accurate, but repackaged it may be taken out of context and turned into misinformation. Take a look at the publication date as soon as you load the story.
Check the source of the story and find out what other articles they have posted. Does it seem legitimate with a history of good posts or do most of their articles read like a checkout counter tabloid. After that, do a quick Google search and see if any other legitimate news sources are running similar stories. If you can find it on www.cbc.ca or www.cnn.com it’s probably real news. Another simple way to determine if a news story is fake is to do some fact checking and find out the source of any accompanying images. Websites like Snopes, Factcheck.org, and TinEye allow you to compare the information to the facts or determine where images, that often add great credibility to a story, come from.
Finally, don’t get trapped by Clickbait – headlines, stories, articles and images that are so funny, so scary or so frustrating that you feel compelled to read or even re-post. After a minute of reflection, ask yourself if this story is too funny or too scary to really be true.
There are other tools available to check news story sources, but it’s also important to use good common sense and a healthy dose of skepticism about anything you read from an online news source, at least until you are certain it is real and credible.
Laura Langston is the award-winning author of twenty books for children and young adults including Mile-High Apple Pie, The Art of Getting Stared At, and Lesia\'s Dream. When she\'s not writing, reading, or walking her Shetland sheepdogs, Laura can usually be found spying on people in the grocery store or twisting herself into a pretzel in a yoga class.
Sheldon Dawson has illustrated over 40 children’s books in various genres, including fantasy, historical and educational. Dinosaur Rodeo is the first book he has both authored and illustrated. Sheldon balances a career as a freelance illustrator with his long-standing commitment to produce fine art that explores his own personal vision. His paintings have been exhibited in several art galleries in Winnipeg and Calgary.To view Sheldon's other books and artwork, visit sheldondawson.com.