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This is the EScree - the Electronic version of the Scree newsletter from
the Peak Climbing Section of the Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club.
It should be viewed or printed with a fixed-pitch font such as Courier.
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This publication may not be posted on any public news group.
October, 2000 Vol. 34 No. 10
Deadline for submissions to the next Scree is Sunday 10/29/2000
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This issue of Scree will be on the Official PCS Website at
http://lomaprieta.sierraclub.org/pcs/scree
The EScree is distributed to email lists as described on "the back page".
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Next general meeting (PCS meetings are the second tuesday of each month)
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Date: Tuesday, October 10
Time: 8:00 PM
Program: "Climbing Mt Killimanjaro" Slide show by Charles Schaefer.
This trip was organized by PCS individuals and included many PCS and DHS members.
Directions: Western Mountaineering 2344 El
Camino Real, Santa Clara (between San Thomas and Los Padres).
(PDF version has a drawn map here)
From 101: Exit at San Thomas Expressway, Go
South to El Camino Real. Turn left and the Western
Mountaineering will be immediately to your right.
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Christmas Party Location Needed
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Over the past several years the Christmas party and meeting has
been held at the SGI cafeteria which has been graciously
arranged by John Wilkenson who was an SGI employee. This has
changed so I need suggestions as to another venue for the party
location. It will be hard to beat the nice SGI cafeteria! Please e-
mail me with any ideas.
--Rick Booth, PCS Chair,rwbooth@home.com
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Letter from a Yugoslavian Climber
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I am Vladimir Djordjevic from Yugoslavia, Your fellow climber. I
am a graduate student of mechanical engineering and also a
passionate mountaineer. The situation in my country is a
complete disaster with average salaries at $40. There is no way
for me and my fellow climber Milan Popovic to buy some reliable
equipment for climbing (For example, we are using an ice axe
with a wooden handle, and ropes as old as myself). I am
therefore asking you if you have any extra equipment (anything
will work: ropes, ice axes, crampons, locks, etc.), which you have
used and don't use anymore, to share with us. We would be most
grateful to you. This would further enable climbing for the two of us.
Sincerely and gratefully yours, Vladimir D. Djordjevic
My address is:
Vladimir D. Djordjevic
Nikole Pasica 8/4
34000 Kragujevac
Yugoslavia
My email address is: vladd@ptt.yu
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PCS Elections
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It that time of year again. If you are interested in serving as an
officer in the PCS in 2001, then let one of the current officers know.
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PCS Trips
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PCS trips must be submitted through the Scheduler (see back
cover for details). Trips not received from the Scheduler will be
listed as PRIVATE, without recourse.
*** NO FUTURE TRIPS HAVE BEEN LISTED!
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CloudRipper - Sunday, June 2, 2000
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Arun Mahajan, Scott Kreider, and Stephan Meier set off for the
imaginatively named Cloudripper, a 13525 foot peak located
south east of South Lake. After enjoying some delicious and very
European pastries and croisants at Schatts Bakery in Bishop we
set off on South Lake road for Parcher's, a small resort mainly
frequented by fishermen. We left the cars shortly after 8 AM,
fortunately we saw someone who told us where the trail started,
as it was from a descreet unmarked spot off the side of the dirt
road in Parcher's, and might have been hard to spot. We followed
the trail up a series of switchbacks, crossing a pipeline from
South Lake, where we met a solo hiker who had followed the
more gradual climb of the pipeline from South Lake to intersect
the trail; from this point a sign indicated 3 miles to Green Lake,
the trail continued to climb fairly steeply for a bit before
flattening out near Brown Lake. We found pleasant alpine
meadows on this section which made for fast and easy hiking to
Green Lake, where we opted to continue off trail.
Looking due South from Green Lake it was apparent that the
picnic was over: a seemingly endless boulder field climbed into
the distance... Arun observed that it might be possible to scamper
up a slightly steeper but much shorter gully to the South East
and then follow the ridge around to the South. After a few
glances at the vast boulder field to the South, despite uncertainty
about the ease of following the ridge, Arun's comparatively short
gully was an easy sell, and off we went. Other than a little lose
scree in the middle, the chute posed no problems and we gained
~1000 feet rapidly. At this point we were happy to find that
Arun's instincts had been good, and that while the ridge was
steep on the West side, on the East it opened to a gentle plateau
free of boulders, making for easy going... We could now see that
the trail would have provided another option to bypass the
boulder field as it too made up to the lower limits of the plateau,
albeit very indirectly. From the plateau we followed Scott's
compass bearing as the summit was not yet visible. After a
gradual climb we reached a local maximum and saw the plateau
slope downwards for a while, with a peak visible to the South
East - Cloudripper? Brief debate ensued, ending with Scott
saying "if that is Cloudripper then I'm very confused", and Arun
and I pretty much convinced that despite it's very respectable
appearance it was indeed but a false summit at 13374 that we
needed to bypass. Scott and Arun set off climbing diagonally
across what turned out to be table sized boulders while I opted to
stay low and walk the plateau and then make a direct climb up
the boulders - we both reached the ridge at about 13300 feet just
below the false summit at about the same time. From this ridge,
the true summit of Cloudripper was visible, while only 200 feet
higher, a descent to another plateau was required first, making for
a ~500 foot final climb, most of which was on snow. Scott and I
opted to use our ice axes, while not strictly necessary given the
moderate angle and softness of snow, they provided some extra
security, while Arun climbed confidently without one. The final
summit ridge was class 3, though only a few spots were
significantly exposed provided you stayed on the left side of the
summit ridge, and we had little trouble finding a good route to
the summit, which we reached just after 2 PM; a 6 hour trip.
From the summit we were rewarded with gorgeous views of 3
drainage basins and their associated lakes, as well as Mt Sill and
the Palisades, and countless other peaks that as it was getting a
little late in the day we didn't loiter to identify... The weather
was perfect, and while this forced us to to imagine 'cloudripping'
rather than witness it, no one was complaining!
For the return we opted for the most direct route, and yes this
gave us the chance to experience the dreaded boulder field that
we had skirted... While it started OK, it soon took on the
character of a really long and bad movie, as time progressed it
seemed to get no closer to ending, all the while one getting more
and more sick and tired of it... Finally somehow it did end, at
which point we rested and finished off most of our food - and
Arun finally got to use an ice axe - to cut a piece of chocolate
from a large slab I'd purchased at Trader Joe's... The rest of the
return progressed rapidly and we made Green Lake by 5:45 and
the cars by 7 PM, making for an 11 hour day.
-- Stephan Meier
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Mount Thompson "Caillasse" - August, 2000
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Short report (useful trip planning info):
Topo: Mount Thompson Quadrangle, 7.5' series trailhead:
Sabrina Lake Time of year: early August (00) Conditions: little
snow, great weather, some smoke afar from Sequoia fires
Length: 2 days elevation: 13494' Mt Thompson summit, 4400'
elevation gain from trailhead, camped at 11484' (Sunset Lake)
drive: about 300 mi to trailhead from Sunnyvale, up Tioga Pass
(120), down to Bishop (395) equipment: ice-axe summary:
camped at Sunset Lake the first night, summited and hiked out on
the second day
Summit Route: Easy route finding , but very loose scree in
steep North facing chute to the col between Thompson and Powell.
Long report:
"Caillasse" means scree in French. This was a private and
bilingual trip, as we conversed in both French and English. And
the word "caillasse" kept coming to mind while climbing Mount
Thompson.
Peter Maxwell and I hiked in leisurely on Saturday. We set up
camp at Sunset Lake, in one of the few rock free sites. On the
way, we passed 2 beautiful meadows, above Baboon lakes.
Sunday was going to be a long day, and lazing around camp in the
afternoon seemed essential. And it was essential.
Up at 5:30am, we were on our way by 6:15am. Back at the car
around 7pm. Tired, but safe.
So what happened?
I'll start with detailing the route.
We went around Sunset Lake by the right, then reached the
yellowish rocky outcrop that separate two huge grey boulder
fields, made of large rocks coming down from Thompson and
Powell. We followed that outcrop almost to its end, at the base of
Powell, but started traversing the so-called glacier [technically it
is one, but it is more like a permanent snow field]. We reached
the bottom of the gnarly chute, in the rightmost couloir to the
col. Steep, with ice slabs, loose rock, unconsolidated scree. The
alternative was very steep rock. We proceeded with care, close to
each other so that rock loosened by one of us would not have time
to pick up momentum before hitting the other. At the col, we left
the ice axes, and contemplated the chute on the other side. Not
very appealing either, but better. We descended it to the bottom of
the cliffs: no use trying to cut through the slabs. We then crossed
to the bottom of the obvious class 2 couloir to Mount Thompson
summit plateau. Another scree filled couloir.... We reached the
summit at about 10:45AM: the summit looks like a tall stack of
pancakes placed at the top of the plateau. Can you tell I was
hungry by then? We came down the same way, filled with anxiety
about having to go down the gnarly North facing couloir. It
actually was worse than on the way up. I think it was partly due
to the fact that the soil had loosened up with the heat. I opted for
the "I'll try to stay on my feet while this whole side of the
mountain is sliding from under me" approach while Peter gave a
go at the class 3 loose rock. The amazing thing is that we did not
get hurt. The return to camp was the usual slog. And the return to
the car was also the usual interminable slog, with a special class
3 move on a cliff above Baboon Lake - just for fun ;-).
A few words about fauna and flora for the avid nature lover in
you: I only saw chipmunks, and mule waste all over the lower
part of trail. And a handful of backpacking bipedes, including a
kiwi. Not a trace of bear. There were more flowers than I
expected, in the blue and yellow tones.
The drive home was probably the most dangerous part of the day.
We saw a bear who was crossing highway 120 in front of our car
after doing his/her [could not tell - I was driving pretty fast]
shopping at the Mono Pass trailhead. A lot of trucks and cars on
580, even this late in the night.
After complaining so much about scree, I know that I will
experience "caillasse" amnesia, a well-known phenomenon of the
brain forgetting the bad, and remembering the good. It was a
great climb.
-- Anouchka Gaillard
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The Kaweahs - Jim and Dot's Summer Vacation - August 27-September 4, 2000
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"It's summertime and the living is easy"
Primary Objectives: Eagle Scout Peak, North Face Grade III 5.7;
Black Kaweah, Southwest Face, Class 4; Mt. Stewart, North
Face, Grade III, 5.6.
Secondary Objectives: Hamilton Dome, North Arete, Grade II,
5.7; Lion Rock, South Ridge, Class 4; Mt. Kaweah, South Slopes,
Class 1.
Climbing Gear: 2-8.5 mm x 50 m ropes (dynamic, NOT static); 2
Alpine Bod harnesses; 2 helmets; 1 pair Boreal Aces; 1 pair
Boreal Zephyrs; slings; alpine climbing rack; Estimated total
weight 20-25 pounds.
Short report: We got skunked! We carried 20-25 pounds of
technical gear 21 miles into and out of the backcountry, and did
not use any of it.
Long report:
Day 1 (Sunday, August 27) - After the obligatory bear lecture by
the Sequoia Park Ranger and renting 2 nearly useless Garcia bear
canisters, we drive to the Crescent Meadow trailhead. As we are
packing up to head in to Bearpaw Meadow, 3 guys come out from
an attempt on Black Kaweah. They tell us that they had perfect
weather, except for summit day. Jim and I then realize that
neither one of us has bothered to check the weather predictions
for the coming week, not that we would have believed them
anyway. As Jim says, it never rains in California. There are a
few clouds as we hike in, but nothing threatening. A few people
with daypacks are heading out as we head in. They mostly look
like clients of the High Sierra Camp at Bearpaw. The
campground at Bearpaw meadow is deserted. We are visited
later that evening by two curious bear cubs, but they soon leave.
Day 2 - We leave Bearpaw and head up to Hamilton Lakes and
beyond. Have I mentioned how heavy the packs are? In addition
to all of the climbing gear, we are carrying 9 days of food and
personal gear and those two dang bear canisters. Our food
doesn't even begin to fit into the bear canisters. Jim originally
wanted to carry just bivy bags, but I insisted on a tent. It rained 7
days out of 8 on our last long Sierra trip. As we are hiking
towards Hamilton Lakes, we check out Hamilton Dome - it is a
very appealing looking arete, but it looks like the crux of the
climb may be getting to the arete. Maybe we will try it on the
way out. We get to Upper Hamilton Lake in time for lunch.
There is a trail crew stationed there. They seem to be trundling
some big rocks on the trail high above the lake. As we are eating
lunch, a backpacker stops to talk to us. He says that the weather
people are predicting a 30% chance of rain today and tomorrow,
then clearing out to beautiful weather. We notice clouds
gathering over Kaweah Gap. By the time we finish lunch and are
ready to head up to Kaweah Gap, the clouds have darkened and
there is the sound of distant thunder. Jim gives it a 1 to million
chance of raining that day. As we climb up out of Upper
Hamilton Lake, the clouds darken and the thunder is more
frequent. I am hoping that we make it to Precipice Lake, a little
below Kaweah Gap, before the rain hits us. The section of trail
from Hamilton Lake to Precipice Lake is quite spectacular. It
includes a short tunnel through rock. It is hard to piece it all
together when looking at it from below - it looks like the trail
must go across shear cliffs. Just as we reach the small lake below
Precipice, we pass two backpackers coming down from Kaweah
Gap. They report that it has been raining and lightening and
thundering for quite a while in Nine Lakes Basin. When we tell
them that we are headed to Nine Lakes Basin, one of them warns
us that the finger of God will smite us. By the time we reach
Precipice Lake, it is raining. The temperature has probably
dropped 20 degrees. We decide to set up camp there. We find a
good spot that puts us close to the base of the North Face climb
that we covet on Eagle Scout Peak.
Day 3 - It rains all day. The clouds are low, enveloping us in a
fog. We might as well be in San Francisco. We spend the day
reading and resting our sore muscles.
Day 4 - About 38 hours after it started to rain, it stops. The rock
on Eagle Scout Peak is too wet to climb, and the weather too
uncertain for a committing climb. We decide to go over to Nine
Lakes Basin and check out the 4th class route on Lion Rock,
described as two class 4 moves. There are a scattering of stratus
clouds in the sky over Kaweah Gap as we head out. The hike to
Lion Rock takes a little longer than expected, and we got a late
start due to the early morning rain. We start up the ridge of Lion
Rock, aware that clouds are building over Black Kaweah and
Kaweah Gap. The skies are still clear over Lion Rock. We reach
a point on the ridge that looks like exposed 4th class, and look for
ways around it. We aren't sure that we are on route - we can
imagine ways that this route may go, but there are some blind
corners and gaps. We do have the rope and rack and harnesses.
In the meantime, the summits of Black Kaweah and Mt. Stewart
have disappeared into clouds and more and more clouds are
swirling around Lion Rock. We debate whether to go for it or to
back off. We finally decide to back off, cursing the weather,
cursing Secor's route description, but vowing to return. We can
imagine the story in Accidents in North American
Mountaineering: 2 climbers off to a late start, off route,
continued under deteriorating weather conditions. Slung out in
screamer suits (whatever the hell that means). Actually, we
would be lucky if anyone found us for quite a while. We haven't
seen anyone in over 24 hours. As we descend, the clouds abate
revealing blue sky. Then they build again. We realize that one
maxim of mountaineering is that the further you descend, the
better the weather appears. Another maxim is that the further
you descend, the easier the route that you didn't do appears. The
clouds continue to build, but it doesn't rain.
Day 5 - We had been prepared to attempt the North Face of Eagle
Scout, but woke to winds and colder temperatures. Being either
optimistic or chicken-hearted, we decide that this is a good sign
and the weather is improving. We decide to hike down towards
Mt. Kaweah today, and give the weather another day to settle
down. As we are hiking through Nine Lakes Basin, we realize
that climbing Mt. Kaweah will mean an 18 mile and close to a
6000 foot day. We continue, hoping that it doesn't tire us out too
much for a climb the next day. It feels like a late autumn day
instead of an August day. As we are climbing up the south slopes
of Mt. Kaweah, we can see the clouds building to the north of us,
over Kaweah Gap. There is also a lot of low fog blowing over
Kaweah Gap. From the summit of Mt. Kaweah, we see that
there are clouds over both the East and West crests of the Sierra.
Mt. Kaweah seems to be the only area in sunshine and free of
clouds. The storms are more widespread than we had realized.
We quickly scan the entries in the register. One signee laments
missing RJ Secor by six days! We race back towards Kaweah
Gap, trying to beat the dark and the rain. We reach the top of
Kaweah Gap just as it gets dark enough to need headlamps. The
fog is thick and the reflection of the light off of it is disorienting,
but we make it back to our tent. It is late and we are tired. We
realize that we may have ruined our opportunity to climb the next
day.
Day 6 - We wake up to a fog enveloping our tent. We can't see
the trail, the Gap, 5 feet in front of us. As I get out of the tent, I
tell Jim that it is snowing. He doesn't believe me; then he thinks
that it is funny. Four hours later when he is digging the tent out
from 5 inches of snow, he isn't laughing any more. It snows until
about 4:30. Then it gets cold. It has been an eerily quite storm -
very little wind. The world around us is transformed. There is
snow on the north face of Eagle Scout Peak, there is snow on the
trail. Another day spent reading and playing cards and
wondering why we hauled 25 pounds of technical climbing gear
21 miles into the backcountry.
Day 7 - The temperatures have dropped a lot overnight,
transforming our world into an icy one. The talus is glazed with
treacherous ice. Our friendly world has become a little bit more
threatening. It is sobering to realize how quickly things can
change. The good news is that the skies over us are sunny. The
bad news is that fog and clouds are already streaming up from
below. We hope that the sun lasts long enough to melt the ice
and free us from our camp site. Fortunately, the fog stalls over
Hamilton Lake. The ice melts and the tent dries out before we
pack up to head out. Originally, we had planned two more nights
at Precipice Lake, to squeeze out every climb we possibly could.
But now we are running from the fog and the uncertain weather.
We head down through the fog to Upper Hamilton Lake. There
are 4 or 5 tents set up there, and people, and noise. We have had
Precipice Lake to ourselves. The fog rolls in and out most of the
evening and into the night at Hamilton Lake. One minute you
can see Eagle Scout Peak, the next it is gone. Occasionally it
pokes out above the clouds and looks a bit like a Himalayan
peak. We are 7 days into a 9-day trip, and our food just barely
fits into the Garcia bear canisters. Jim amuses himself by
calculating how many calories he needs a day, and then
multiplying that by 9 days. He figures that the only way he could
fit the appropriate number of calories into the bear canister is by
buying 45 packages of Walkers shortbread, pulverizing the
shortbread, then pouring it into the canister. He wonders if it
would be tasty reconstituted as porridge. I make a mental note to
do the food planning for our next long trip.
Day 8 - The fog finally dissipates by 4 am. We wake to beautiful
blue skies and feel the anguished pain of having run away too
early. It looks like a beautiful day to climb, and we are
retreating. We load up our packs and head down the trail. We
want to get out and home by midnight. The packs are still heavy
and the trail undulates. We regret having given up too soon.
Then we reach Bearpaw meadow and are enveloped in a cold fog.
The clouds are streaming up to Hamilton Lake and Kaweah Gap;
they are just a little later today. We feel better about our
decision. By the time we reach the trailhead, the fog is thick.
There are families having the ritual Labor Day weekend BBQ at
Crescent Meadows. Everyone is bundled up in fleece and down.
We get back to San Francisco about 11:30 PM. And there is no
fog.
Day 9 - Misery loves company. We are delighted to read in old
newspapers that Donner Summit got 5 inches of snow on Friday
or Saturday, there was snow in Tuolumne on Friday, and the
predictions for the mountains include cold and wet conditions.
We had been feeling that just maybe the backpacker who
predicted the finger of God smiting us had been right. But now
we realize that it isn't personal. We will probably go back - the
climbs looked mighty tempting. But there are days when I begin
to think that sport climbing may not be all that bad.
-- Dot Reilly
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Matterhorn Peak & Excelsior Mtn - August 19 & 20, 2000
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On Saturday I hiked Excelsior Mountain (12,446') from Virginia
Lakes (9,600'). It is a straightforward hike, following a good trail
to a 'pass' at about 11,000' where the trail starts dropping down
into the Green Creek drainage. From that point, the route goes
continues toward the Sierra crest cross-country. One can either
go over top of, or count our up and around the north side of, a
large two-humped red hill that is the one clearly unpleasant part
of the hike (no alternatives, the ridge drops off on either side). I
did the contour going up and the over-the-top coming back, which
may be the best combination since the backside is totally firm
and a lot less high. Once over this hill, I hiked up towards the
crest aiming for the lowest point in the ridge along the right side
of the snowfield. Once over the crest, an easy traverse south took
me to the peak, which had fine views of most of the peaks of
Yosemite from Lyell to Tower. Register was about 2/3 full, many
hikers this year. Signing in, I took the opportunity to answer the
question Joe Budman asked when he signed in April 30. Award
for best register entry, serious category, won by "Live with intent,
don't settle for content". Award for best entry, non-serious, won
by "Life On The East Side Is Good". Having absolutely no
acclimatization, I took the hike slowly, taking about 4 1/4 hours
up; after 45 min. on top, got back to the trailhead in 2 hrs. It
looks like about 6 miles each way.
Feeling somewhat acclimatized, on Sunday I climbed Matterhorn
Peak (12,264'), from Twin Lakes, ascending via the East Couloir,
returning via Horse Creek Pass. Started at 7.30am carrying a
new register book. Reaching the signed intersection with the
Cattle Mountain trail at 8.45, I realized that the day's agenda
would probably demand more than the 8-10 hours I had assumed.
The trail went fine up to the first big 'bowl' at around 9,000'.
There are trails all over this area. I followed someone up a trail
on the left side that was slow going through loose steep scree;
then halfway up the 'real' trail on the right side on firm dirt
became apparent, so I sidehilled across to it. Above the bowl
where the terrain leveled out, I followed a steep use trail up and
to the right for several hundred feet, ending atop a ridge just
above a pond. The now faint use trail continued logically given
the terrain along the ridge towards Matterhorn, and I followed it
to the bowl below the peak, reaching this point at about 12noon,
where I stopped for lunch. Around 12.30, I pulled out my ice axe
and started heading across the bowl, catching up with two
climbers who I teamed up with rather than risking rockfall in the
couloir. John had done North Palisade; he was taking George on
his first peak climb of any kind ever. George did quite well
although the going was slow. The east couloir is mostly snow
free at this point, unfortunately without snow it is a lot of loose
rock and scree. There were maybe a dozen people, all told, on
various parts of the peak that day. We finally summited at about
3.00pm, to outstanding views. There are literally about three
dozen listed peaks visible from the summit. I placed the register
book into the ammo box along with pen and pencil, and signed
in. The award for the most creative item placed in a summit box:
rubber ducky. Realizing that I am not entirely versed in Sierra
Club rules, I did not remove said item. Around 3.30 we headed
back down. The climb and hike down to Horse Creek Pass and
out was long, slow and uneventful. After confirming that they
had headlamps, at about 6pm I left the other two upon reaching a
point where I could show them where they were headed (they
were mapless), then turned on the jets. Back at the car at
7.45pm, 12 1/4 hrs, about 5,300' gain. Thankfully the Bridgeport
Market and deli was open; with a turkey sub and a quart of Coke,
the drive home was uneventful.
-- Mike Mc Dermitt
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White Mountain - 14250 ft, 3 September 2000.
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It did not look likely that anybody would be in the mountains this
Labor Day weekend as we slept in the car at Camp-9 with the
cold wind rocking it and the rain pattering on the windshield.
Dawn looked even worse but we still decided to race to the Lake
Sabrina trailhead to meet up with Kai Weidman and Cecil Anison
to do the scheduled trip to Mt Goddard. The sky was remarkably
clear at Mammoth and points south but it was still cold at Lake
Sabrina and Cecil and Kai had heard from the locals that the
weather would continue to be unsettled. So, changing gears, we
decided to head up White Mountain. Cecil had hiked it before
and Hal had ski-traversed from halfway between Boundary Peak
and White, all the way up to White.
Up Highway 168, closed 30 miles up from Big Pine due to the
danger of flash floods to the Grandview Campground at approx
8000 ft where fortuitously, a SUV leaving a camping spot made
one available to us and then a 4.5 mile hike in Schulman Grove
among the venerable Bristlecone Pines exuding a youthful
fragrance that belied their millenial geriatry with a backdrop of
the Sierra crest, completed the Saturday.
Sunday morning and the unpaved 16 mile stretch from Schulman
Grove to the now opened gate on the White Mtn road gave no
problems to my car and I am sure Mike's Landrover treated it
with even more disdain. Since the Barcroft Lab that is two miles
up the road from the gate has an open house on the Sunday of
Labour Day and gets enough visitors that clog up it's limited
parking, all White Mountain bound hikers were asked to park
their vehicles at the gate and to either hike from there itself or to
take a shuttle bus that runs every half hour till 5 pm by the two
uniformed volunteers who sat shivering in the cold wind, bravely
manning their posts. Like hardcore mountaineers, sneering at the
people who were hiking like hicks, the six of us choose to ride up
in the shuttle to the
Barcroft Lab, Kai Weidman (leader), Cecil Anison (leader), Hal
Tompkins, Noriko Sekikawa, Mike McDermitt and myself, Arun Mahajan.
9.40 am, fortified by the free cookies generously provided by the
Barcroft staff, a cold wind making us wear multiple layers, we set
off on the road. Hal took off, his lungs acclimated by his recent
stint in the Peruvian Andes, fuelling his rocket like speed, while
we followed at a more stately pace. White had received a nice
dusting of snow and presented an imposing sight and despite the
cold cold wind, amidst several parties of hikers, we summitted a
little before 12.20 pm to the sight of a rather solid looking hut
and dutifully signed the register and departed soon after, the cold
making it inhospitable to linger long. Back at the lab to check out
the highly singular Barcroft Lab avoiding the doleful gaze of the
research sheep and then to take the ride back in the shuttle bus.
A small walk in the Patriarch Grove, a few miles down the White
Mtn Road, on the way back to Grandview to see the Methusaleh,
the largest Bristlecone Pine tree, completed this scenic but not
unduly taxing PCS trip.
Trip stats: 10 miles RT from the Barcroft Lab to the summit of
White Mountain in under 5 hrs. Due to the drastic altitude gain
and the cold wind that whips up, despite being entirely class-1,
lots of warm and wind proof layers are recommended while doing
this high and wonderfully scenic mountain.
-- Arun Mahajan
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Climbing - A Real Pal - September 16-18, 2000
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North Palisade, 14242', class 4 Clyde Variation
Lead by Steve Eckert, Organized by Chris Franchuk
Participants: David Shaw, John Cheslick, Jeff Fisher, Michael
Rinaldi, Linda Roman
NOTE: An HTML version of this report, with waypoints, is at
http://www.climber.org/eckert/recent/index.html
including some pictures. It will be there only until it gets into
http://www.climber.org/TripReports/
Those who read my too-common or too-long trip reports know
that I do mostly "mountaineering" climbs, not technical climbs.
This was a "make a wish" climb for some who asked me how
they could ever get accepted on a fourth class climb when there
was always a prerequisite of having been on someone ELSE'S
fourth class climb: The answer was "let's go try it and you can
turn around if you don't feel comfortable". We got 6 out of 7 to
the top, no injuries and no headlamps required, on a route none
of us had ever done before. That's a success all around! [The one
person who did not summit was smart enough to know his limits
and stop before the rest of us detected serious trouble - the
mountain will be there next year, and so will he.]
I'll skip the boring stuff about hiking to Thunderbolt Pass -
everyone agreed that our compromise route stayed low enough to
avoid the boulders and high enough to avoid wasting time in the
tundra. We camped at the upper reaches of the Barrett Lakes
drainage (waypoint HICAMP), and 12000' for the first night in
convinced everyone to sit around talking instead of going for an
afternoon walk. The wind was howling at Bishop Pass, making us
stagger a bit, but decreased long before the alpenglow lit up the
ridge.
We left camp about 6am on summit day. After being treated to a
stunning Palisades sunset, the not-too-shabby western sierra
sunrise was good enough to snap a few pictures but not good
enough to linger. We turned our attention to the western approach
toward the U-Notch and climbed in the shadows as the sun
warmed the other side of the ridge.
I had followed John Kerr across "the catwalk" and up the
LeConte route back in 1993, but I was wearing plastic boots at
the time (which helped kick steps in the snow right over the
chockstones, but which didn't feel good on the highly exposed
and downsloping wet friction slabs of the catwalk). This time I
hoped to do something different, but several participants wanted
the easiest route and thought LeConte fit the bill. Lucky for me,
looking at those friction slabs convinced everyone we should go
for the Clyde Variation instead. (It also helped that two women
camped near us said the chockstones on LeConte were very hard
4th class indeed, probably 5th class.)
I haven't read a report on the Clyde Variation, so I'll go into a bit
too much detail. It's a great route if you are confident, but take a
rope to rap off. The holds are great, the rock is solid (once you
are out of the main U-Notch chute) unlike the LeConte chute, and
it's got better views all around. Much better asethetics!
Secor says the Clyde Variation starts 120' below the U-Notch on
the west... I'd say it's more like 50' vertical. He also says it's 40' of
easy 4th class, but we must have been having a bad day: The first
20 or 30 feet (up to a 2" rap sling and a nice ledge) is really class
3 but most people wanted a belay anyway. The next bit, unless
none of us saw the easy way, is actually hard class 4 for another
30 or 40 feet (I put in a cam and a sling for pro on the way) up to
a large ledge that goes west around a corner. This ledge is above
the level of the U-Notch but just a bit, and was our first sunny
spot of the day.
Going around the corner was more excitement than some wanted,
even though it amounted to very exposed class 2. We got out the
rope again, and I started checking my watch. The ledge,
according to Secor, leads to a 3rd class chute: Mark that "hard
3rd class", note that it's very steep, convince your head to ignore
the cliff at the bottom, and you won't need a rope. I climbed
without a belay, dragging the rope almost full length to a good
belay spot and brought people around the corner.
We noted the headwall above and angled a bit to the right as the
chute turned into more of a face, and soon the rope came out
again. One person called it quits here, and we discussed
turnaround times since it was already 1pm. This time I took a
belay to go around yet another corner: Our chute had intersected
the "chimney variation" at the southern end of the southeast
arete, and you had to wave your butt over 300' of air to get
around the end of the arete, looking down the chimney at the
Palisade Glacier. Once over to the east side, a short friction slab
lead to a small saddle and easy class 2-3 into the same bowl the
LeConte route leads to.
From the bowl we followed a light rock seam up and left, then
cut back under the peak and wriggled through the keyhole to the
final summit block: Two awkward but not highly exposed moves
and we were on top! Several used a rope on the way down, but
none needed a rope above the arete/chimney corner.
This was the toughest peak several participants had done, but
everyone accounted well for themselves. I had a lot of competent
help handling he rope and spotting other climbers, and it was fun
to give back on a peak where I had once been the tentative guy
asking for a top rope. (Summit and rappel photos are also at the
URL above.)
We hurried back down, realizing that for the return we could rap
off the arete near the small saddle instead of going back around
the corner. Basically we slid down a straight line from there to
where we left the main U-Notch chute, with two long and one
short rappels on a single 50m rope. Back in camp by 7pm, we
basked in our accomplishment and sat around talking until after
9pm since the night was warm and calm.
-- Steve Eckert
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Tenth Annual Family Camp - September 23-24, 2000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trip participants: Kai Wiedman, Cecil Anison, her
children Joseph, Joanna, and their friend Austin; Jim
Ramaker and his friends, Joe Clay, Tim Halloran, Michelle
Valdez; John Cordes and April Cordes; Scott Kreider,
Marilyn Kreider, and their infant daughter; Bob Bynum,
and Gretchen Luepke Bynum.
The tenth annual family camp was a great success with fun
for people of different ages and hiking abilities. This year
we all camped out in the North Pines campground in
Yosemite Valley. Some people went on strenuous peak
climbs while others took leisurely strolls in the valley or
just hung around camp.
Gretchen and I were able to leave home at around noon
and after a pleasant lunch in the Knight's Ferry we arrived
in Yosemite Valley at 5:00 PM. After setting up the tent,
we took the shuttle bus over to the LeConte Memorial
where we viewed a Yosemite backpacking slide show by
Kent Gill. Kent was the president of the Sierra Club 1974-
1975. It was very interesting to get the perspective of a
Sierra Club former president on a variety of issues. Kent
has been an avid backpacker for many years and has been
active in conservation causes. After the show, we went to
bed relatively early and noticed the arrival of John and
April Cordes around midnight.
On Saturday morning, we were surprised that Cecil and
Kai had not yet arrived. Jim Ramaker and his crew pulled
in as we were making breakfast. They had arrived late and
had spent the night at another campsite. For the day all of
us except Gretchen decided to hike from the Tuolumne
Lodge parking lot and head in the direction of Ragged
Peak. Gretchen wanted to hang around in the valley. John,
April, and I rode up together and Jim took his group.
Somehow at the trailhead we missed Jim's group so John
and I went on a hike while April and their dog Britches
stayed near Tuolumne.
It was a perfect day for a climb. There were no clouds in
the sky and a very slight breeze. John and I headed up the
Young Lakes trail and turned towards Dog Lake. We hiked
around Dog Lake and then bush whacked our way through
a forest and finally up a peak whose name I am not sure of.
John said that it wasn't Ragged Peak, but a smaller peak
above 10,000 Ft. We summited at about 2:00 PM. The
temperature was 50 degrees with a slight wind. Due to
sleeping in the valley and I was not at all acclimatized to
the high altitude and really felt out of shape.
Upon our descent, we intersected the Young Lakes trail and
then ran into Jim's group sitting out in a meadow. They
had seen us at the trailhead, but somehow we didn't see
them. During the day they had climbed Lempert Dome and
then hiked up to the meadow. We all hiked back to the
trailhead together.
When we arrived back in Yosemite Valley, we cooked
dinner and found out what everybody else had been doing.
Kai, Cecil and her children had arrived around noon.
During the day they along with Gretchen took a walk to the
Indian Caves area. Scott and Marilyn had also arrived on
Saturday. After dark, we built a fire, roasted
marshmellows, and then celebrated Kai's birthday with a
cake that Cecil had brought
On Sunday we again split into several groups. John Cordes
and April said they were going to do a trail from Foresta to
El Capitan. Scott and Marilyn headed for home. Two of
Jim's friends went for a hike to Mirror Lake. Kai, Cecil
and the children parked at Sentinel Beach and then hiked
over to the rock area near the Yosemite Falls trailhead to
do some rock scrambling. Gretchen, Jim, and I met them
over there. All of us had fun doing some scrambling on the
rocks, but it was especially fun for Cecil's children.
Later that afternoon Gretchen and I rode the shuttle bus to
see its complete route. We got off at the Ahwahnee Hotel
and on the spur of the moment decided to partake in the
Sunday brunch. This was a very elegant dinning
experience that I highly recommend.
After brunch, we walked back to our car at the Yosemite
Lodge. On the way we spent some time at the visitor's
center and the Ansel Adams Gallery. I highly recommend
both of these. At the visitor's center there are many
informative exhibits about the Yosemite geology and
history. These exhibits will make us appreciate the peaks
we are climbing.
We spent the last hour in the park watching the sun set on
half dome from the side of North Drive. This completed a
most memorable weekend in Yosemite.
-- Bob Bynum
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Private Trips
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Private trips may be submitted directly to the Scree Editor, but
are not insured, sponsored, or supervised by the Sierra Club.
They are listed here because they may be of interest to PCS
members.
*** Mt. Ritter
Peak: Mt. Ritter (4006m, class 3)
Date: Sept. 30-Oct. 1 (Sat-Sun)
Contact: David Harris David_Harris@hmc.edu 909-607-3623
Enjoy post-Labor Day climbing on the foreboding North Face of
Mt. Ritter. On Saturday we'll pack in to the Ediza Lake area. On
Sunday we'll scale the Ritter-Banner Saddle, then ascend John
Muir's famous North Face route of Ritter. A descent of the
Southeast Glacier should round out our mountaineering adventure.
Ice axe and comfort with exposed 3rd class climbing required.
For more information, see Muir's trip report:
http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/writings/mount_ritter.html
*** Langley the Easy Way
Peak: Langley (14,043) and Cirque Peaks
Date: October 20-22 (Fri-Sun)
Contact: Nancy Fitzsimmons, 408-957-9683 Pkclimber@aol.com
Adrienne Van Gorden 408-779-2320 avangorden@sccs.santacruz.k12.ca.us
This will be done as a backpack trip not as a dayhike so the plan
is to meet Friday morning and set up camp at one of the
Cottonwood lakes. We will get an early start Saturday and climb
Langley with an optional climb up Cirque Peak (class 1).
Sunday we will hike out and drive home. Stormy weather cancels.
*** Moses/Maggie/Homer/Vandever from Mountain Home
Peaks: North Maggie (10235), Moses (9331), etc
Dates: October 27-29 (Fri-Sun)
Contact: Steve Eckert, eckert@climber.org
Contact: Aaron Schuman, aaron_schuman@yahoo.com
Mountain Home State Forest is stunning in the fall: Colors, big
trees, no people, and a quick exit if you're snowed on like I was on
my first visit. Most people go only a few miles in, to bag Moses
(3rd class) and Maggie (brush and boulders), entering at an even
brushier and nastier trailhead for Homer's Nose. I happen to know
that the east side of Maggie is beautiful, and I'm hoping the east
side of Homer is also... but mostly I'm hoping to visit a drainage I
haven't been in before. Aaron is concentrating on Moses and
Maggie, so we may split up on Saturday but will camp together (at
Summit Lake) both nights. From camp you can explore the upper
Kaweah River's south fork, climb Vandever, or stroll up to Soda
Butte for a view of the Little Kern Valley. Join us no matter what
your skill level, as long as you're comfortable navigating on your
own if you don't like our pace or agenda!
*** Khumbu region of Nepal
Peak: Island Pek or Mera Peak
Date: Oct-Nov 2000
Contact: Tim Hult 408-970-0760, Timdhult@aol.com
Four week trip into a spectacular and storied region of the
Himalaya. These are "minimal" trekking peaks open to qualified
class 3 peak baggers with snow experience. Views of Everest
and all those places you've heard about. Experience and
compatibility with groups on long "wilderness" trips a must.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE BACK PAGE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scree is the monthly journal of the Peak Climbing
Section of the Sierra Club, Loma Prieta Chapter.
Our mirror website is
http://www.climber.org/pcs/
and our official website is
http://www.sierraclub.org/chapters/lomaprieta/pcs/
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Elected Officials
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Chair:
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408-354-7291 home
237 San Mateo Avenue, Los Gatos, CA 95030
Vice Chair and Trip Scheduler:
Dee Booth / pcs-scheduler@climber.org
408-354-7291 home
237 San Mateo Avenue, Los Gatos, CA 95030
Treasurer and Membership Roster (address changes):
Bill Kirkpatrick / pcs-treasurer@climber.org
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Scree Editor:
Bob Bynum / pcs-editor@climber.org
510-659-1413 home
PCS World Wide Web Publisher:
Aaron Schuman / pcs-webmaster@climber.org
650-943-7532 home
223 Horizon Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043-4718
Publicity Chair:
Steve Eckert / pcs-pub-chair@climber.org
650-508-0500 home
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Subscriptions and Email List Info
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Hard copy subscriptions are $10. Subscription applications and checks
payable to "PCS" should be mailed to the Treasurer so they arrive before
the last Tuesday of the expiration month. If you are on the official email
list (lomap-pcs-announce@lists.sierraclub.org) or one of the email lists
the PCS feeds (either the sierra-nevada@climber.org discussion list or
the california-news@climber.org read-only list), you have a free EScree
subscription. For email list details, send "info lomap-pcs-announce" to
"listserv@lists.sierraclub.org", or send anything to "info@climber.org".
EScree subscribers should send a subscription form to the Treasurer to
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both plain text and fully formatted Adobe Acrobat/PDF.
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Rock Climbing Classifications
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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: Walking cross-country, using hands for balance.
Class 3: Requires use of hands for climbing, rope may be used.
Class 4: Requires rope belays.
Class 5: Technical rock climbing.
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Deadline for submissions to the next Scree is Sunday 10/29/2000.
Meetings are the second Tuesday of each month.
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"Vy can't ve chust climb?" - John Salathe
First Class EMail - Dated Material as soon as it's published!