Owens Peak and Mt. Jenkins

All maps and photos

Google Photos

Sunrise at the trailhead

Leaving the drainage

After spending the night in Ridgecrest, Sarah and I drove up to the Owens Peak trailhead in Indian Wells Canyon planning to summit Owens and Jenkins. The driving directions at climber.org were right on, and we had no problem making it to the trailhead in my 4runner even in the dark. Like some reports online said, high clearance is probably good idea, but 4WD is probably not required. It took us around 30 minutes to get the trailhead from highway 14. From there, we enjoyed an amazing sunrise at the trailhead then started hiking around 6:30. I recalled the saying "Red skies at night sailor's delight. Red skies in the morning sailor take warning." I learned it on the JMT. 

Icy conditions

It was in the mid-thirties as we headed out. We followed the trail up the drainage and it eventually led us to the right and up the south ridge of the peak. Obvious cairns marked the entire route though a well-beaten trail wasn't always present. Around 7,600', the conditions turned abruptly wintery. The final 800' to the summit were marked by snow, ice, and wind. We got to the top after about 2.5 hours of hiking, spending only a few minutes there since it was so cold. 

Heading down the ridgeline toward the PCT and Jenkins

The beginning of the route down the southwest ridge to the PCT wasn't immediately obvious from the top. We initally started down a gully a bit too far west but eventually traversed east and picked up a trail of cairns that followed the ridgeline. As we followed the cairns, conditions alternated between moderate with little snow (on the east side of the ridge) and wintery (on the west side of the ridge). Fortunately, none of the downclimbing was too tricky. We reached the PCT about an hour from the summit. 

On top of Jenkins

We followed the PCT for a couple of flat miles to the point where I had marked on my GPS that we should leave and ascend to the east ridge of Jenkins. It looked a bit improbable from below with all of the snow. The first part of the ascent was steep, but once we were up on the ridgeline, we were able to follow an obvious use trail with cairns all the way to the summit. By this time, it had started to rain/snow a bit and there were no views to be had in any direction. We got to the top about 3 hours from Owens and 5.5 hours from the trailhead, again not spending too much time at the top on account of the weather. 

Descent from Jenkins

Back at the car

The descent to the car was quicker and easier than I had expected. We walked all the way down the east ridge straight to the car getting there an hour after being on top. The entire loop took 7 hours including breaks.

Mt. San Jacinto (C2C)

All maps and photos

Google Photos

Sarah and I carpooled down from the central coast to Palm Springs, arriving around 6:00 p.m. After a quick stop at Chipotle we set out to try and find a place to sleep from 7:00 p.m. until 1 a.m. when we planned to start hiking. The weather report called for a chance of afternoon nastiness, so we really wanted an early start. We ended up sleeping at the Lykken Trailhead in Palm Springs figuring correctly that there'd be a semi-rural place to park there. What we didn't figure was that there would be so many yelling people walking by. 

4,300' pebbles

We woke up around 12:30 a.m. and made the short drive over to the Palm Springs Art Museum, parking in the free structure across the street. It was about 1:00 a.m. when we started up the trail. The first section was easy to follow even in the dark, though we relied heavily on the white dots that were painted on rocks. At some points the route split into a few options, but they all seemed to head in the same general direction...up. We got to the junction with the Lykken Trail after about 45 minutes of hiking. We got to the first rescue box after 1.5 hours then the 4300' pebbles after 3 hours. 

Moon over Palm Springs

Tram light

At that point the trail flattened out a bit, and we took a few breaks to take in probably the most amazing moon scene and sunrise I've ever seen. I used a cactus as a makeshift tripod to try and get a decent photo. We passed rescue box 2 after 4.5 hours. Even though it's "unmaintained", the trail never felt very difficult to follow. We used the really bright light at the tram station to gauge our progress, but it never seemed to get any closer until we got to the "flat rocks" after 6 hours of hiking. From there, the trail climbed steeply up to the plateau where the ranger station and tram are located. We got to that point around 8:15 a.m. after 7.25 hours of hiking. There was no one around since neither the tram nor the ranger station were open yet. It was strange to see buildings, touristy trail signs, etc. after ascending 8,000' on a route that felt so remote. We wouldn't see anyone else until after we reached the summit. 

Finally some real trees

Weather rolling in

We filled out a dayhike permit at the ranger station then started up the well marked route toward the peak. At some point earlier in the day we incorrectly recalled that the summit elevation was about 10,200'. So when we got to 9,600' and it started snowing, it turned out to be a big deal when we looked at the map and read off a summit elevation of 10,800 something. The top was covered in clouds, and the wind picked up, but we pressed on. The forecast had called for a 30% chance of afternoon rain/snow, so we expected something to roll in. We tried to pick up the pace to beat the storm to the top, but we were too tired really do it. We finally made it to the top at 11:11 a.m. after just over 9 hours of suffering. It was cold and windy, and we couldn't see anything to the west. The tram station and Palm Springs came in and out of view to the east as patchy clouds blew past. We hid underneath some rocks for a few minutes and ate. I had carried 5 liters of water to the top but probably drank less than 2. 

At the top

Looking back toward Palm Springs

Heading down

On the way back we passed two guys who were hiking to the top from Idyllwild. They were the first people we had seen. As we continued further down, the storm died down for a short while then became stronger than before. We were glad to have made it to the summit when we did. We started passing lots of people who had taken the tram up for an easy dayhike, but most of them were on their way back to the tram on account of the storm. 

Snow along the trail

We got back to the ranger station around 2 p.m. and decided to take the tram + taxi route back to our car instead of retracing our steps all the way. I figured we'd get back around 7 p.m. if we walked the whole way. That would have made for a 30+ mile day, and we both had to work the next day. It was strange to be inside thetram station as we must have looked pretty tired/haggard because people gave us some interesting looks. I had flashbacks to finishing the JMT by walking down the uber-touristy mist trail... 

The tram ride and taxi rides back to the car were uneventful except that there was a guy in the tram wearing an XFL jacket. When we got back to the trailhead, we looked up at the first part of the route, and it looked brutal. So thankful to have started in the dark!

Needham Mountain and Sawtooth Peak

All maps and photos

Google Photos

Climbing above Lower Monarch Lake

I had had my eye on Needham Mountain ever since my failed attempt with Nick in June, so I talked Randy and Juli into making an overnight trip to Mineral King with me. We drove up Friday after work and camped at Cold Springs. Saturday morning we were up by 5 and hiking up the sawtooth pass trail by 5:30. 

Route up Needham

They planned to run to the top of Sawtooth Peak via Sawtooth Pass while I hoped to summit Needham by crossing the south ridge of Sawtooth Peak above Upper Monarch Lake (same route Nick and I followed in

 June). Thus we parted ways at Lower Monarch Lake after 1.5 hours of hiking. I headed up the familiar use trail to Upper Monarch Lake then continued on to the South Ridge of Sawtooth Peak. I knew where to find the easy class 3 route off the east side of the south ridge that leads into the basin below Needham. I reached that point after 3 hours of hiking. 

Once I was in the basin I dropped down below the ridgeline (lesson learned from the previous outing) down to the green patch described by Secor following this route to the summit without much issue. I was at the top after 4 hours of hiking. This time I didn't have to deal with a hail storm. 

Kaweahs from the summit (north)

Whitney Crest and Kern River canyon from the summit (east)

Looking south from the summit

Looking west from the summit.  South ridge of Sawtooth pictured.

Starting back down the ridgeline toward Sawtooth

Needham from the north ridge of Sawtooth

After 15 minutes at the top, I retraced my steps back to the green patch then ascended the class 2/3 southeast ridge of Sawtooth. I was at the top after 5.5 hours total of hiking. This was my second time summiting Sawtooth Peak. It was a beautiful clear day, so I spent almost an hour at the top taking in the views of the Whitney crestto the east and Kaweahs and Great Western Divide to the north and northeast. I found Randy and Juli's names in the register. 

Looking down the south ridge

Mineral King area from Sawtooth (west)

Blackrock Pass, Mt. Eisen to the north

Kaweahs to the north

Whitney Crest to the east

Needham to the southeast

Looking south-southeast

Descending toward Monarch Lakes from Sawtooth Pass

I descended the sandy class 2 slopes back toward Sawtooth Pass passing several parties that were on their way up. I was back at Upper Monarch Lake after 7 hours of total hiking and back at the car an hour after that. I took the "old trail" back. Once back at the car I waited for Randy and Juli for an hour or so; they had some routefinding difficulty on their way down from the summit of Sawtooth.

Langley, Muir, Whitney

All maps and photos

Google Photos



Sufferfest 2015. Matt, Jack, Dan, and I had high hopes of summitting 6 14ers in 3 days: Langley, Muir, Whitney, Russell, Williamson, Tyndall. This was our fallback plan after we couldn't do the Great Western Divide Traverse on account of highway 168 to Road's End in SEKI being closed because of the Rim Fire. The car shuttle logistics were interesting. I came up from the south and met Dan and Jack in Independence late on Thursday night. We drove two cars up to Onion Valley to sleep at elevation. Early the next morning we met Matt at the Shepherd Pass trailhead where we left his and Dan's cars. Matt had slept only a couple of hours the previous night near Tioga Pass. From Shepherd Pass we all headed in my car to the ranger station in Lone Pine to pick up permits then up to Horseshoe Meadows where we were hiking toward Langley by 9:30 a.m.

Old Army Pass

Miter Basin

We made quick progress to the base of Old Army Pass then took a long break. We topped out at the pass 3 hours from the trailhead then began the slog to the top of Langley. I found that the NPS had added many giant cairnssince the last time I made the hike in 2008, apparently in an effort to consolidate the many use trails that led to the summit into one. We followed them up the sandy route to the summit, getting there about 5 hours from the trailhead. After a lengthy stay at the top we descended Langley's west face down to the Miter Basin. It took some effort to find a chute that was suitable for descending, but we eventually found one by continuing to traverse south. Once reaching the bottom of the Miter Basin, we walked a few easy miles then ascended to Sky Blue Lake where we made camp. The Miter Basin felt really remote and we saw only one other person. Matt struggled that night with altitude sickness and there was some doubt as to whether he'd continue on with us the next day or hike back out to Horseshoe Meadows (this would have really messed up the logistics). We slept that night out under the stars.

Leaving the Miter Basin

Almost to trail crest.  Langley in the background.

The next morning we were up and hiking by 7:30 and made it to upper Sky Blue Lake by 8:00. From there we continued around the east side of the lake then ascended to Crabtree Pass. Nothing was much more challenging than class 2. It took about an hour to get to Crabtree Pass from camp. Matt made the final decision to continue on with us and we descended down to the unnamed lake at the upper reaches of the Crabtree Basin. We crossed just below Mt. McAdie, which looked pretty impressive from below. The unnamed lake below was equally impressive; it felt really remote and its water was crystal clear. We traversed around the north side of the lake until we found a suitable entry point to the class 2 slog up to trail crest. We made it to trail crest about 3.5 hours from camp.

Downclimbing the class 3 section on Muir

It was a strange feeling to be hiking "in civilization" again. We followed the Whitney trail for a mile or so until we found the spot we were supposed to leave and head up to Muir. I recognized it from my failed attempt from the previous summer. The summit is only 300-400' feet above the trail, but the final part is a solid class 3 climb. I followed the real climbers to the top, getting there about 3 hours from camp.

Looking north from Muir

After that we hiked to the top of Whitney, getting there about 4 hours from camp. By that point, we had all already decided to forego Tyndall and Williamson and to hike back along the JMT to Shepherd Pass. We just weren't moving fast enough to make it to the Williamson Bowl by sunset. Matt opted to descend the trail. Dan, Jack and I chose to descend the mountaineers' route and try for Russell. We would meet at the Wallace Creek campsites along the JMT. Weather was beginning to look like an issue so we parted ways in a hurry.

Descending the mountaineer's route

We passed several other parties descending or ascending the mountaineers' route and got a bit nervous that we weren't wearing helmets. We made it safely to Iceberg Lake about an hour from the summit. After filling up water, we headed up to the pass between Whitney and Russell getting there about 30 minutes later. At that point it started to rain, and we decided to forego Russell. We disappointedly hiked back to the JMT past Arctic Lakes and randomly happened upon Matt beneath a tree along the JMT near Crabtree Meadows. We continued on to Wallace Creek camp as planned, arriving around 6 p.m.; 10.5 hours from camp. We covered about 16 miles that day.

Tyndall in the rain

We were up the next morning around 7:30 ready to hike the 20 trail miles back to the car. Views to the west toward the Great Western Divide were great, so we stopped several times to take photos, each time doing our best to pick out Picket Guard Peak (Sufferfest 2014). As we continued along the JMT, it started to drizzle when we got to the Bighorn Plateau and continued until we got to the car 8 hours after leaving our camp at Wallace Creek. We gave up on half-hearted plans to summit Tyndall as it was raining hardest while we passed it by. We were back to the Shepherd Pass trailhead by mid-afternoon. From there Jack and Dan headed north and Matt drove me back to my car at the Horseshoe Meadows trailhead.

Center Peak and Mt. Bradley

All maps and photos

Google Photos

University Pass

Sierra Challenge 2015. Randy and Juli joined me for a weekend on the eastside. They planned to run up and over Kearsarge Pass on Saturday while I hiked Mt. Keith with the Challenge group then on Sunday they'd do something in the Alabama Hills while I joined the Challenge leaving from Horseshoe Meadows. It ended up that I only did one day of the Challenge. 

I showed up at the Onion Valley trailhead at 5:00 planning to tag along with the crew up to University Pass then head south toward Mt. Keith on my own. Bob Burd took a quick group photo at 4:59, then we (~20 of us) were off in a hurry through the campground to the Robinson Lake trailhead. I think most folks were planning to summit an unnamed peak below Forrester Pass, which was the main objective of day. As we headed out, I somehow ended up near the front of the pack. I did my best not to hold anyone up, and we got to Robinson Lake after about 45 minutes of hiking. 

Looking up University Pass

The official trail ends at Robinson Lake. As the 5 of us at the front of the pack headed up the boulder fields below University Pass I struck up a conversation with Craig who was just in front of me. It turns out that we had met 6 years earlier at Red Lake when Nolan and I were climbing Split and Craig was climbing Mt. Prater. He invited me to climb Center Peak and Mt. Bradley with him that day as an alternative to Keith and I accepted. I figured it would be more fun to hike with someone else and besides I would be knocking out two class 3/class 4 SPS peaks. 

As we continued on toward Unviersity Pass we were treated to an amazing sunrise. We reached the top of the pass after 2.25 hours of hiking. From the pass, Mt. Keith, Center Peak, and Mt. Bradley were all clearly visibile. I reconnected with Craig who had beaten me to the top of the pass, and we descended the extraordinarily sandy slopes together to Center Basin. Most of the rest of the crew descended all the way to the JMT then headed toward Forrester Pass. We were down in Center Basin 3 hours from the trailhead. 

Center Peak

After a short stroll along the creek in the basin we headed up the east ridge/face of the Center Peak. The first part was solid class 2 and continued to be solid class 2 until we got to the class 4 summit block. Craig and I both summitted then watched Eric climb the summit block with one hand (he had injured his other hand earlier in the week). We were on top 4 hours from the trailhead. 

Looking north toward Vidette Meadows

Looking northwest

Looking west

Looking southwest

Looking south (Mt. Keith)

Looking southeast

Looking east toward Mt. Bradley

Looking north again.  Palisades in the distance.

From there Craig and I descended back to Center Basin following a route slightly further south that was more suitable for descending than ascending. Eric continued on to the unnamed Challenge Peak. Once back in Center Basin, we examined the class 2 route up Bradley. It looked a bit daunting and reminded me of looking up at Mt. Williamson. We headed up the lower part of the boulder field and found the correct chute. I relied wholly on Craig for routefinding since I had only done research for Keith. 

Route up Bradley from Center Basin

The chute that Craig chose offered solid class 2/3 climbing without much slogging. We spotted a flower-carrying Pika near 13,000'. We followed the chute for 1000' or so up and to the right snaking around the west side of the summit, then from a small plateau we scrambled through a notch around the east side of the summit block and found an easy walk to the top just south of the summit, getting there about 7 hours from the trailhead. We sat on top for about 20 minutes enjoying the views and eating leftover pizza. 

Looking west from Bradley toward Brewer, NG, Farquhar

Looking south toward Keith

Looking north

Route from Bradley back to University Pass

Then we started the descent down the sandy north ridge back toward University Pass. On the way back we would traverse over the top of the unofficially named Ph.D. Peak. This leg of the journey was by far the most difficult for me as we had to descend quite a bit below Ph.D. Peak then slog back up a hellish class 2 bowl. 

Class 3 on the way to Ph.D peak

Above the hellish class 2 bowl there was a short stint of fun scrambling we topped out on the ridgeline, summitted the peak then descended back to Unversity Peak, getting there 9 hours from the trailhead. Craig and I made the horrendous slog back to Onion valley going about as fast on the way down as we did on the way up. We arrived just under 10 hours after our 5 a.m. start. 

I was pretty dead after the hike, so I opted out of my original plan to hike Mt. Pickering the following day. Randy, Juli, and I stayed in a motel in Lone Pine that night, hung out in the Alabama Hills the next day for a few hours, then drove home.

Alabama Hills