The fall classic of Ben and Luke standing on a summit, in sideways snow, with zero visibility finally came to an end in 2018. We enjoyed seven days of absolutely bluebird skies in the Sierras; thanks Pacific ridge! When Ben saw the forecast he lobbied for us to scrap our southwest plans about 72 hours before departure and put together a few trips. One trip ended up being canceled because of a road closure, but we did two day trips and two one-night backpacks, covering a total of 130+ miles with 31,000'+ of gain; about the same amount we did in 2015.
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Mount Conness
Sea level to 12,000'+ was a bad idea...bleh... Ben scrambled the last section while I nursed a headache at ~12,300'.
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| Interesting lake below Conness |
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| 12,300' on Conness, looking south |
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| Ben on the final scramble to the summit |
Tuolumne - Sierra High Route loop
We started with a nice long day of on-trail strolling at lower elevations (almost all below 11k') to help me acclimate more, camping at the PCT-Virgina Canyon junction, on the beautiful Return Creek. From Return Creek we took the Sierra High Route south over Sky Pilot (or Secret) Pass and all the way back to Gaylor Lakes. This included some very cool cross country sections, like the climb to mine-shaft pass which requires a bit of involved route finding.
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| 40 miles, 9700' gain |
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| Lower Gaylor Lake |
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| Lower Granite Lake |
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| Looking down toward the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne |
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| Old growth Juniper along the PCT |
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| PCT through Cold Canyon |
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| Climbing out of Virginia Canyon, Sierra High Route; Ben's photo |
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| Looking up toward Sky Pilot Pass |
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| Shepherd Lake below Shepherd Crest |
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| Shepherd Lake below Shepherd Crest |
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| Climbing to Sky Pilot Pass; Ben's photo |
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| Climbing to Sky Pilot Pass; Ben's photo |
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| Sky Pilot Pass |
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| Sky Pilot Pass |
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| Looking south at the Sierra High Route ahead |
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| Cascade Lake below North Peak |
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| North Peak; Ben's photo |
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| Looking back north toward Sky Piot Pass at top right |
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| Lots of slab travel |
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| Might be Gren Treble Lake |
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| Climb to Mine Shaft Pass; cold in the shade... |
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| Icy slabs, climbing to Mine Shaft Pass; Ben's photo |
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| Gaylor Lakes |
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| Gaylor Lakes; Ben's photo |
PCT - Mt. Whitney - Southern Sierra High Route loop
This probably was my favorite trip, mainly because the PCT through here spends a lot of time around 11,000' through stands of foxtail pines, a relative of bristle cones. The Southern Sierra High Route section we did had a few crappy sections, but also an impressive basin of countless lakes. The weirdest section by far was Mt. Whitney: the lower-48's highest Mailbox Peak (totally packed on a random Wednesday in late October...and a quite varied crowd!)
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| 48 miles, 10,800' gain |
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| New to me Wilderness area and National Parks |
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| Not much climbing when your trailhead is at 10k' |
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| Large Jeffrey Pine |
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| Big Whitney Meadow |
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| Awesome foxtail pines |
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| Siberian Outpost |
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| Foxtail pine |
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| Coyote at Guyot Flat |
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| Sunset light up Whitney Creek basin |
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| Sunset light up Whitney Creek basin |
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| Sunset light up Whitney Creek basin, from Crabtree Meadow |
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| Mostly frozen Timberline Lake |
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| Guitar Lake, Mt. Hitchcock |
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| It was 19F when we started hiking this morning; Ben's photo |
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| Hitchcock Lakes, Whitney Creek lakes basin |
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| Mt. Whitney summit, 14,494' |
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| Southern Sierra High Route, descending to unnamed lake below Crabtree Pass |
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| Descending... |
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| Unnamed lake below Crabtree Pass |
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| Looking back at our descent route down the middle; as loose and crappy as it looks |
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| Looking south toward Rock Creek lakes basin, from Crabtree Pass |
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| Looking back up Rock Creek lakes basin |
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| Sunset light, maybe Mt. LeConte (?) |
Cloud's Rest - John Muir Trail loop
On our last day we elected for a casual on-trail jaunt to some nice touristy spots. They're popular for a reason and it was nice to get some quick miles in before beginning the drive back home.
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| 21.7 miles, 5700' gain |
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| Tuolumne from Cloud's Rest |
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| Half Dome, Tenaya Canyon, and Yosemite Valley |
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| Half Dome, Tenaya Canyon, and Yosemite Valley |
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| Half Dome |
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| Old growth Juniper |
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| Sunrise Meadow along the John Muir Trail |
