Climbing in the Sierras: Mt. Whitney East Buttress

yet to come

Backpacking in the Southern Sierras: Upper Boyscout Lake to Whitney Portal

The last day is always tricky, this was no exception. :-)

We are in no hurry, so we do a bit of a morning walk and aren't packed and underway until shortly past 9. The route down isn't 100% obvious (lots of cairns and potential paths) and we don't have a description, so we just pick a likely looking path and, with a comment of "I really don't feel like doing an hour of bushwhacking" from greg, start down. And thus begins an hour or so of bushwhacking... this is definitely type 2 fun for greg, but there are some funny pictures.

We eventually find our way down to Lower Boy Scout Lake and continue the route down, along a not particularly inspiring, but at least mostly easy to follow trail. Which, after a while, vanishes. Shit. Luckily Andrea remembers reading something about ledges. So we head up a bit again and re-find the path following a set of ledges in the granite walls. Luckily for us we come across a group heading up (two guides with five clients) when nearing one of the less obvious turns and get to wait a bit while the guides shuttle a couple of guests across an exposed bit. Onwards and downwards, losing the trail again at a river crossing, realizing our mistake later, coming back up, and more descending.

Down, down. Meeting the trail coming from Whitney - plenty of wiped out looking hikers on their way down after this point - down down to the portal and the shop. Cool beverages there and then along to our car (still there! still with a live battery!) for the drive down to Lone Pine and "civilization".

Track:

Stats: 6km, 110m up, 1020m down

Backpacking in the Southern Sierras: Wallace Lake to Upper Boyscout Lake

Normal start time under a cloudless skies. We start up the side of the valley, retracing the beginning of the walk to Wales Lake yesterday. It's warmer than expected and the walking is very good. After crossing over to the cool marsh area below the head wall we move to the obvious weak spot and have a really nice talus scramble to the top. Really nice. Up top we do a short break and then move on across the lovely hanging valley that leads to Tulainyo Lake. The valley is pretty long, so this takes a while and anticipation for the lake and the first views of the head wall to the col builds.

The lake is spectacular, like a caldera but filled with water and surrounded by cliffs. There's still ice on the lake and snowfields around the edges. The wall to the col is impressive! It's one of those "if we didn't know it's possible it wouldn't ever cross our minds to try" things. We have a another break surveying the situation and then cross the snowfield to the talus below the col. After some water pumping on the other side of a huge cloud of young mosquitoes we start heading up.

The first 1/2-2/3 is more fun talus, with some bigger bits up top that are somewhat scrambly. Good warm-up for the wall itself. We start near the obvious point in the middle and then just follow a sensible route to the top. It's easy scrambling, intentionally made a bit more challenging at times by route choice, and we're at the top with big smiles on our faces. That was fun! And it's nice to know that it was doable (the alternative would have been complicated and several days long...).

Another break and quick discussion of what to do next. Given that the weather is still perfect, it's pretty clear to both of us that we're going to do the East ridge to Mt Russell - we've read a lot about it and the ridge looks great. We pack stuff into hip packs, set ourselves a sensible turnaround time, and then set off. I could spend multiple pages on the ridge, but I won't. It was really, really good. We spent much of the route out to Russell on the ridge (more exposed and scrambly) and then did the easier lower route to return. The rock was mostly great, the views were fantastic, and the exposure was huge. Again, a really fun scramble.

Back at the packs with even bigger smiles on our faces, we repack and then head down to Upper Boy Scout Lake. The first part of the steep bit here is kind of shitty because there are too many different paths that people have taken (insert ranting from greg here), but after that things consolidate to one path and the descent is pretty easy. The ascent, on the other hand, would suck (you have to earn that nice ridge hike!). We find the turnoff to the lake and descend easily. At the lake we look for camping spots and end up not too far from the other two guys here (the spot we picked is nice). Have a snack (we're learning!), pitch the tent, pump some water and wash a bit, then laze around until dinner time.

The lake and spot are beautiful, but it's damn windy... may be a long night despite the wall we build on the windward side of the tent. Let's see how it goes.

This was a great day with perfect weather. Lots of good scrambling too... just right for us!

Dinner: black bean soup. Tasty!

Track:

Stats: 10.5km, 960m up and down.

Backpacking in the Southern Sierras: Wright Lake Basin to Wallace Lake

Underway beneath a mostly cloudless sky shortly before 7:30. It's cold this morning! We are sure that's a good sign. Start by heading through lots of really wet grass along the long, lovely Wright Lake Basin. Follow this quite a while before reaching the bend in the stream signalling that we should cross and head cross-country over a slight ridge towards Wallace Creek.

Nice break in the woods on the other side of that ridge and then we continue with some very nice forest walking along the valley, heading down to the creek. Shortly before hitting the creek we cross the old path up the valley, which we turn onto and follow up, slowly up, through the woods. This is nice walking! At some point the path vanishes and we do the rest on our own. Encounter a footstep at a marshy area (first sign of other people today). Have a nice break at another marshy area, lots of fun walking and path finding. As we near the top of the valley we re-run into the trail and start following that again. After not too long the trail ends at a creek. We look around a bit, fail to find any stones across, and do a barefoot creek crossing. Yeah! Fun fun! :-)

Further along the path, across a high stony plain until the lake comes into view. We ditch the packs near a very bold marmot and start looking for the campsite. We also see another hiker getting ready to do some fishing. We find a good campsite, pitch the tent (several attempts required due to hard ground... flaring tempers due to hunger... note to selves: snack before pitching the tent if the weather allows). Quick chat with the fisherman (who ended up in the wrong valley but is making the most of it for an hour or so before trying to get back on-route). Snack by the tent, water pumping, washing, a quick (very quick) swim for greg that almost didn't happen, but luckily the sun came out at just the right moment.

Walk up to Wales Lake, allowing a reco of the first bits of tomorrow, and then a truly stunning lake theater with crazy vertical stone walls (and much less talus than normal) all around. Maybe some weather coming, so we hurry down to the tent and do a quick cup of tea/coffee, ready to run for the tent at the first drop, but everything behaves, it stays nice, and we get to enjoy our beverages outside. Greg moves into the shade of a convenient rock to read and Andrea goes for a stroll. We do dinner in the sun and another quick bit of water pumping, say hi to the two new fisherman who have shown up and are planning on staying the night, and then head back to the tent. Quick stroll, chocolate, blog writing, bed!

This was our first entire day without rain! Wow! Let's see what happens tonight.

Dinner: Black Bart Chili, downright edible!

Track:

Stats: 10.3km, 300m up, 280m down.

Backpacking in the Southern Sierras: Meadow above the Pothole to Wright Lakes Basin

Normal efficient morning and we are underway by 7:30. We pump a liter of water and then head onwards and upwards to traverse some talus to meet the trail to Shepherd Pass without going all the way down into the Pothole. After the loose talus, the nice patch is a real treat. The route up through the pass, with its big snowfield, still isn't clear, which is a "fun" piece to all of this.
It starts to sprinkle, we cover the packs and break out the hard shells, and continue. Along the way we see switchbacks up through what otherwise seems to be an unpleasant chute to the right of the snow, which answers the questions of how one gets through the pass. Yeah! No dealing with steep snow today!

The rain gets harder and harder. Greg has spotted what looks like a sheltering group of rocks (leaning against each other with space underneath), so we head over there. Andrea crawls into the crack, we shove packs wherever they will go, and greg crams as much of himself as possible into the crack. The waiting begins... It rains, it starts to drip under our shelter, maybe it's raining less, maybe not, greg is antsy, Andrea is calm, it drips more, maybe it's raining less, maybe not. After about 15 minutes of this it really stops raining and we continue on our way.

The switch-backed path up to the pass is very nicely made through some dodgy terrain and cleverly avoids the snow patch. Something has eaten at least one deer on this slope because there are bones and bits all over the place. We come out up top, enjoy the last of the views back, and then move on 'til we can see down the very broad valley in front of us. Time for a snack break, but it's windy and threatening rain (the top of Mt. Tyndell, and much of the ridge is in clouds), so we make it quick and continue on. Past a couple disgruntled backpackers on their way out and onward. At some point we leave the trail and start traversing the slope that leads up to the saddle over to the Wright Lakes Basin. We see a third hiker down on the path. It's great to walk along this level, broad high valley! Once close to the slop up to the saddle we plan a route and then start up through the talus. The actual conditions blow the plan up more or less immediately: there's a nice easy weak spot that we can follow up, up the slope until it hits a switch-backed path coming more directly from the main trail far below. We follow this to rest of the way to the broad saddle. 

We say goodbye to the valley and head across to say hello to the Wright Lakes Basin. Time for another snack break, which we end up doing huddled behind a rock to get out of the wind (tja... views...). We discuss and reject the idea of continuing along the ridge to its end and then descending into the basin and choose instead to just head directly down. On the way down we pass two other backpackers somewhat confusedly making their way up.

Down, down. The basin really is pretty: cool dead pines, nice views, dark dark clouds heading our way (again). We scout around a bit, find a campsite, pitch the tent, toss the stuff in it, and the sun comes out. WTF? We go pump some water, have another snack, and then set off for a stroll up the side valley between Tyndell and Barnard peaks Lovely walk up the moraine with cool vegetation and impressive granite walls and dark, dark clouds. We formulate a plan involving heading up onto a bit of a ridge and the thunder starts more or less immediately thereafter. So much for that plan. We turn back and take an alternate way past a couple of other really nice lakes. The thunder is getting worse, the clouds look evil, the wind picks up, we pick up the pace. We get back to the tent about five minutes before the hail starts. Yeah! The rest of the afternoon passes with us occasionally leaving the tent to enjoy the views and gawk at the approaching threatening clouds; it's somehow all quite entertaining. The tent mostly behaves.

At around 17:00 there's a larger break in the hostilities and we move around a bit outside. The wind has changed direction... that's got to signal a change in the weather... good sign! Around 17:45 we realize that the clouds heading our way from the new direction no longer look so innocent, so we quickly make dinner and enjoy a very cool cloud show on Mt. Barnard while waiting for the pasta to cook, then eat quickly and (mostly) tidy up really quickly to avoid getting soaked by the now dark clouds blowing our way. Retreat to the tent, write some blog, listen to some thunder, and we'll see if we get out of the tent again today.

The weather was particularly weird today because this is the first day that it has rained in the morning and the first day that it's rained much after 17:00. Let's see what the rest of the evening and the morning brings. Andrea is being an optimist: "it's all a good sign!"
Dinner: Pasta with spicy sausage. Meh... not as good as the last two nights (and that's not just because we were eating really fast).

Track (includes both the hike and the afternoon walk):

Stats:9.1km, about 450m up and down. Then ~3km with 150m up and down for the afternoon walk.

Backpacking in the Southern Sierras: Golden Bear Lake to the meadow above the Pothole

We get up at 6:00 and are underway by 7:45. Down to the lake to pump a bit of water and then onwards along the lake under scattered clouds. The plan is to follow the line/remains/traces of the old, abandoned JMT over Junction Pass until it meets Shepherd Pass Trail. Starting on a nice trail that kind of vanishes; luckily Andrea notices the arrow of rocks pointing across the stream. Onward, following cairns and traces of trail, climbing gently along the side of the valley. Eventually the trail becomes more clear and is an absolute joy to follow up, up, up. Past a couple of lakes with nice tent spots, up a really nice line that carries us with a minimum of switchbacks to the broad ridge.

Food break here to appreciate the fantastic views. Also some fun looking at the JMT/PCT across the way snaking its way up to Forester Pass (the highest point on the PCT). We don't want to tarry too long because there are some dark clouds over Forester Pass and we don't want to push our luck too much with the weather. Still, the views *are* spectacular.

Onward and upward, along a path that continues to climb steadily without many switchbacks across the broad face until we hit Junction pass at 4'000m. More nice views and then we start the gradual descent, following clear tracks, down, down to the lip of the canyon we need to descend into.

There's a clear-ish trail here and the descent requires concentration, but it's not particularly hard. At some point greg moves off the trail and we make our own way down in order to make things more challenging (at least that's what he says at the time).

At the canyon bottom we quickly encounter snow fields which we use to make the descent through the canyon much quicker than talus hopping.

At the end of the snow we take another break and then continue down through the loose talus. At this point the end of the canyon is in view and we see what we think is the trail. So we traverse through the loose talus to that. The trail takes us down, past a lovely small meadow, and then down, down to a broad flat plain from which we can see Shepherd Pass, Mt Tyndall, and some threatening clouds.

We adopt Plan B and find a good campsite on the plain, pitch the tent, finishing just as a few drops of rain start. That, fortunately, only lasts about a minute. Still, it sprinkles on and off for a bit before clearing up.

We wash and pump water in the sun and then have a relaxed afternoon of reading, snacking, wandering around, and taking pictures. At around 17:00 it rains for a bit, but that stops after about half an hour. Onto making dinner, post-dinner stroll, blog-post writing, and sleep.

Nice day of walking with a fair amount of vertical (at altitude), though pretty short. The threatened mess in the afternoon didn't happen, but we still have a nice spot to camp and had a lovely afternoon.

Dinner: Himalayan rice and lentil curry. Good!

Aside: while making dinner we empty the 100g gas cylinder we started with. This lasted through 3 dinners, 2 breakfasts, and 4 coffee/tea breaks.

Track:

Stats: 8.7km, ~650m up and down

Backpacking in the Southern Sierras: Kearsarge Lakes to Golden Bear Lake

We are up shortly before 6 to blue skies, like you want to see. We end up packing the tent away wet because as we are still in the shade there's just no chance otherwise without waiting quite a while. Underway shortly before 8. We follow the trail to the lovely Bullfrog Lake. Since we were counting yesterday, and we're going to be spending some time on the JMT/PCT, we decide today to count the number of all other backpackers we see (Final score: 32). Past Bullfrog and the other nearby lakes we start to descend.

At around 3km we hit the JMT/PCT and follow that down, down. At one point a spectacular panorama opens up in front of us that fills greg with "wow!". Down, down we go, past Vidette Meadow, onwards under trees with quite good walking for a while. Parallel to Bubbs Creek - actually more of a river. We come upon a lovely block of granite in the sun and spread out the tent bits to dry while we have a snack. Very effective use of the sun. We continue on our way after the clouds move in. We've seen this show before, time to get a move on and get to our camp spot before any rain starts.

Onward and onward. We're looking for the turnoff of the old JMT towards Center Basin; we have a description and a very rough indication on the map, but we end up completely missing it (looking at the map and our GPX afterwards: the "scanned 7.5'" caltopo layer is very wrong about both where the trail comes in as well as the relative course of the *current* JMT/PCT and the stream coming down from the Golden Bear Lake; the OSM map and other layers seems pretty good), so we end up leaving the trail and heading up through the forest much too late. After ascending easy for a bit through the woods we start to encounter the stream we should be on the other side of. Crap. After some bushwhacking and crossing some pretty good talus and some pretty bad gravel above the stream (yuck! Plus greg loses his sunglasses at some point during this whole process) we find a good spot across and then just go straight until we hit the old trail (obvious at this point).

It's now very clear that it's going to be raining again soon and the thunder has already started. Quick quick across the bog and then up a bit to beautiful Golden Bear Lake. No time for appreciating though, need to get the tent up before the rain starts! We look around a bit and find the spot. Up goes the tent and we are moving the stuff in just as the rain starts. Again. :-)

This time it doesn't rain super hard and there are some breaks when we can get out and pump water, etc. We were in the tent by 13:30 and the rain was basically done by 15:30 or 16:00. We have a quick wash, it rains some more, and then by around 17:00 it's really done. We even get a bit of sun later as we're out making dinner. Lovely dinner in the sun, a post-dinner stroll, a lovely, lovely sunset (the upside of the clouds), and then into the tent for blog post writing and bed.

We saw loads of people at the beginning of the day, but after turning off the JMT/PCT we were completely alone. Yay!

Dinner: Coconut veggie curry. Very good backpacking food!


Track:

Stats: 13.5km, 560m up, 490m down.

Backpacking in the Southern Sierras: Onion Valley trailhead to Kearsarge Lakes

Early breakfast at the "diner" across from the hotel, then into the car and back up to Whitney Portal. We find a decent parking spot (we hope), put on the packs, and head up to the store to meet our shuttle. He's early, so we get underway 20 minutes earlier than planned. Long drive to Onion Valley trailhead (~2'800m), goodbye to the shuttle driver, on with the packs and off we go!

The sun is shining like hell and we start our route up, up. We encounter a ranger in the first five minutes, show our permit, and chat for a bit and then continue up, up the trail. There are loads of people coming down with big packs, so, for the hell of it, we start counting the people coming down with big packs (final tally by the end of the day's hiking: 90!).

Up we go, on a good trail, under clouds after not too long (nice to have it a bit cooler!), up, up, up towards the pass. Nice lunch spot on a big flat rock with a view of Kearsarge Pass (3'569m) and the final bit up. Nice leftover breakfast burrito in the sun as lunch. As we're finishing, the threatening cloud over the peak above us starts making thunder. grrrr. We decide that it's probably a good idea idea to make haste towards the pass.

There's no high speed going with the heavy packs and the altitude, but we make decent time and there's no weather there when we arrive. Still, there *is* thunder nearby, so we don't hang out and make haste back down the other side. The lakes (~3'320m) that are our destination are in clear view (along with a lot of other nice stuff!) and we start scouting likely tent spot locations as we descend. The thunder continues, we feel bad for the folks who are still climbing to the pass (more than a few), but we make it down to the first lake without weather-related incident.

There's a great spot at the top of the lake that even has a bear box, but there are three or four tents there already, so we move on. We continue to the bottom of the first lake, cross over to the other side, and head up to a likely looking area we had seen from above. Andrea finds a decent spot, but we keep looking even though we know full well that weather is coming. Finally we decide that's the spot and start pitching the tent as the first raindrops fall. We set a new record in getting the tent up and our stuff (and us!) inside it. And none too soon. About 30 seconds after the last backpack is in the tent, the sky breaks open and we have heavy rain and hail. Some fun times dealing with drops from the roof (the seams on the rain fly are no longer completely waterproof) and water attempting to run under the tent on greg's side.

Eventually the heavy stuff stops and it settles down to a gentle rain. This goes on, with the occasional stop, for a few hours. Luckily the drops from the ceiling stop after the heavy rain and hail (really luckily: we were considering heading back out to the trail head if the tent couldn't take rain at all). We do enjoy a nice hot beverage in the tent while waiting for things to settle down. After the rain mostly stops, we pump water and start thinking about dinner. At some point the sun even comes out for a while and we enjoy a moment sunshine and rain sprinkles.

After dinner we do a bit of reco' for the next day (the trail-less steep shoulder we were thinking of crossing doesn't look like a good idea), and then head back to the tent since it's getting dark. In the tent we plan the next day and think a bit further to be sure we're happy continuing with the unfortunate weather situation.

Dinner: Patagonia red bean chili. Pretty tasty once the beans stopped being crunchy!

Track:

Stats: 8.4km, 780m up, 260m down

Backpacking & climbing in the Southern Sierras: Overview

Sun, Sept 1: Dayhike from Whitney Portal to Meysan Lake

Backpacking in the Southern Sierras: 

Mon, Sept 2: d1 Onion Valley trailhead to Kearsarge Lakes

Tue, Sep 3: d2 Kearsarge Lakes to Golden Bear Lake

Wed, Sept 4: d3 Golden Bear Lake to the meadow above the Pothole

Thu, Sept 5: d4 Meadow above the Pothole to Wright Lakes Basin

Fri, Sept 6: d5 Wright Lake Basin to Wallace Lake

Sat, Sept 7: d6 Wallace Lake to Upper Boyscout Lake

Sun, Sept 8: d7 Upper Boyscout Lake to Whitney Portal

Climbing in the Sierras:

Tue, Sept 10: Crystal Crag's East Arete and Ridge Traverse

Wed, Sept 11 - Thu, Sept 12: Mt. Whitney East Buttress

Sat, Sept 14: Mt. Emerson South East Face

Returning to Lake Ediza: Thousand Islands Lake to Agnew Meadows

Banner Peak reflections in Thousand Island Lake

 Another day-out hike...

We have a somewhat leisurely start and are underway shortly after 8:30. We're following a use trail around the lake, so it's easy going. This combined with the short day and the number of people we start seeing once we're closer to the outlet (boy this lake is popular) leads Greg to an overly enthusiastic pace. Andrea points this out, so he winds it back. ;-)

hiking around Thousand Island Lake

After leaving the lake, the trail leads us down beside the outlet stream (not much in it) and into the woods. At the High-trail/River-trail junction we opt for the shorter, easier River trail. Down, down we go, under the trees, on the dusty (very dusty) trail. There are a surprising (to us at least) number of people about, going in both directions, particularly after we pass the junction with the trail that goes up to Shadow Lake and Lake Ediza. Mostly we're under the trees, but there are some bits exposed to the sun, with manzanita around, reminiscent of hiking Henry Coe (except there's a breeze).

dusty descent under the trees

Back at Agnew Meadows we cram all the stuff into our little rental car, head to Devil's Postpile to drop Chris and his stuff at his car, then head back to Mammoth to check into the hotel, shower, unpack a bit, and then go out for a big, late lunch.


Track:

Returning to Lake Ediza: Lake Ediza to Thousand Islands Lake

Underway by around 8:30, we head up the same wooded slope that Andrea and I had climbed the day before on the way to Ritter. We continue past the beginning of the gully until the slope up to the Nydiver Lakes is visible to our right. In front of us there are a couple of people with a tent and someone else is crossing the talus towards Ritter's face. Curious, we watch this for a while, wondering what they are up to, until they start to scramble up the face and then begin climbing. Obviously a solo climber. Wonder how far they're going; we won't know, because we're moving on. We finish the last bit of climb to the first of the Nydiver Lakes and admire it for a bit. Here we finalize the decision that we're going to take the longer route around the crest to Garnet Lake instead of taking Roper's White Bark Pass (with its promised loose-talus descent). Onwards, around the first and second lakes, down a bit to a couple of tarns.

heading off in the morning in front of Mt. Ritter and Banner Peak

reflections in Nydiver Lake

A short break at the last of these and then we head cross-country steeply down into the next valley, past some old exploratory mining trenches (at least that's what we think they are), to about 3020m. Here we contour a bit around the valley wall before climbing the other side, steeply up through nice-smelling trees and scrub until we hit the broad ridge. Cross this ridge with some dried-up tarns and then lovely Garnet comes into view. We take a lunch break in a shaded spot with nice views over Garnet and then descend to the shore of the lake itself. Here we pump a bit of water (not-so-nice-tasting water) and then, since Garnet's shores are not walkable, climb back up a bit to the first shelf to get to the west end. Along the way we go by Roper's pass... sure enough, it looks loose and possibly unpleasant. Now we climb up a bit to the first crest, where the pass over to Thousand Island Lake becomes visible. Onwards, past a couple tarns, to get to the slope leading up to that pass. We traverse this on the diagonal, including some very enjoyable large-talus hopping, to reach the pass itself. From here there's a nice view down to the west end of the lake. We plan our campsite strategy to optimize morning sun and then set off along a clear use trail down to the shore. This leads us around the end of the lake (between it and a couple of tarns) and then onto a broad meadow of sorts (probably marshy when things are wet). We go past a group of camping fishermen, spot a bunch of Belding's ground squirrels (mis-identified at the time as prairie dogs), and finally get to an area where there are some trees and large rocks. Here we scout around a bit until we find a good campsite, set up camp, pump water, wash, and do all the usual things. As the sun vanishes behind the wall of mountains behind us, we get a new surprise: howling coyotes. What a wild sound. Hope they don't come visit.

Garnet Lake

campsite at Thousand Island Lake

 After dinner we stroll around the empty, and mostly empty, ponds and tarns that scatter the complicated landscape around us.

Dinner: broccoli cheddar soup with chipotle and cumin; mashed potatoes with curry and salami.

Track:

Returning to Lake Ediza: Climbing Mt. Ritter

When we were camping around Lake Ediza years ago we ran into a couple who were on their way up to climb Mt. Ritter. At the time that seemed like a rather strange thing to be doing... how times have changed for us. ;-)

While planning this trip we looked into climbing Ritter and decided that it was feasible for us and that we didn't need to carry too much extra equipment with us; crampons and ice axes would be adequate. So we planned an extra day at Ediza to allow us to give it a try. Monday's rain caused some doubts, but there were no clouds in the sky when we got up, so we packed minimal packs and set off. Our intent was to follow the so-called Clyde Variation, as described here.

We start by heading up the slope to the lovely bowl between Ritter-Banner and the Nydiver Lakes. There's no use trail on our side of the stream, but it's easy enough to pick a route through the woods and then, higher up, the meadow until we reach the bottom of the "Lower Gully". Along the way we spot a group of 4-5 deer who aren't overly concerned by our presence. Of course there's not even a trace of snow in the gully at this point, so we make our way up the steep grass/gravel/talus until we're at the top. We proceed there to make what seems to be exactly the same mistake described in the linked report and, by not turning right sharply enough, end up in terrain that's more difficult than planned. With a bit of careful scrambling and following Andrea's simple guidance: "there's no higher point on the map than where we're headed, so as long as we keep going up everything's fine" we top out and head towards the "Upper SE Snowbowl"; this has a bit of snow left on the steeper slopes, but is otherwise just loose talus with rock-covered ice at the bottom. We navigate the moraine-like side of this until down on the ice, put on the crampons, and then head to the chute that takes us to the "SE Col". This starts very loose and gravelly, so we leave the crampons on (they are great in loose gravel) until we're up on more stable rock. As we reach the top of the col, we realize that the "snow" wall that's been visible for quite a while (and that we saw on other days) is, in fact, ice.

From the col our plan is to get onto the glacier, traverse down a bit to a gap in the rock spine splitting the two pieces of glacier from each other, then head up and around the "three-toed buttress", following Alan Ritter's description. The problem is that we need to first get onto the glacier. In order to do that we have to get from the rock up a 3-4m vertical wall of ice. This is a problem. Our ice skills are not the best (not much practice), we have the wrong equipment (our ice axes are really not ideal for vertical climbing), we don't have anything with us to belay the transfer, the ice is pretty rotten, and the consequences of a fall are bad (~10m onto the rocks in an inaccessible narrow crevasse between the glacier and the cliff). Removing any one of those and we might have done it, but the combination was too much: we decided that we couldn't safely make the transition. We also rejected the option of starting on the ice on the col side and heading over the ridge to the transition: we weren't comfortable with the long stretch of exposed bare ice. Looking down, it's clear that the Alan Ritter's SE glacier route is not only doable, but the glacier has shrunk enough that it's probably doable without crampons. We picked the wrong route. Would we have known this if we had remembered to ask at the ranger station when we picked up our backcountry permits? Who knows. After a break and some gnashing of our teeth, we turn around and head back down.

testing the ice

parts of Ritter's South-East-glacier

view down onto Ediza Lake and Shadow Lake

We end up scrambling down beside the col instead of descending the steep talus/gravel bit. Back at the edge of the "snowbowl" we enjoy the fantastic views for a bit, then head down the correct (=nice talus hopping instead of scrambling) route to the top of the Lower Gully. Rather than continue back the way we came up, we opt to loop around and descend the head of the valley that lies to the West of Ediza (where we camped). This fun descent (including chancing upon a very curious buck who is too impatient for us to leave to run away) leads us to the valley floor, where we contour around, past a not-yet-dry tarn, and then climb up to the ridge overlooking Iceberg Lake. What a view of the lake, the wall up to Lake Cecile, and the Minarets! After enjoying the views for a while, we head back down to our tents where we do all the usual end-of-day stuff.

rest after a long day

Post-dinner stroll back up to the end of the meadow.

Dinner: chicken-noodle soup; freeze-dried chili with cous-cous added.

Track (there are all kinds of problems with the bits close to cliffs when viewed at high zoom levels):