Ice cragging on MLK Weekend
The original objective for the weekend was to tramp into the North Palisades and ascend U-Notch and V-Notch and attempt a winter traverse of Polemonium Peak (14,080 ft) to Thunderbolt Peak (14,003 ft). In talking with Sierra Mountain Guides however, we found that the ice was out of condition. With this and Shannon's achilles injury, we settled for just throwing everything in the car from bouldering pads to trad rack to ice gear and seeing what kind of trouble we could get into. Everyone else was taking advantage of the weather and heading to Yosemite Valley but as much as I love the valley, the east side just calls me.
We camped just off of 120 literally behind the Mobil Market. The site was up a dirt road and offered a great view of both Dana and Mono Lake. It was definitely dipping into the teens at night but we stayed warm with a big campfire and lots of down. We woke up on Saturday morning and the four of us headed further up 120 to the Poole Power Plant and started hiking up the Lee Vining Canyon. We had reports that the ice was "in" and we surely weren't disappointed. The hike however was more than we had expected and the lack of snow made the trek more arduous as we hoped from boulder to boulder on the interminable talus, avoiding ice when possible. We found the Main Wall to be pretty crowded with a number of parties already set up, so we opted for another lovely piece of ice all the way at the back of the canyon.
As I worked my way to the back of the canyon, I passed an older gentleman probably, 70 years old, slowly but surely making his way up the nasty talus. I said my hellos and continued up to the wall. I move fast when I'm excited. Right before I got to the falls, I caught up to a pair of guys, Ramesh and Aramm. They were super nice and offered to share the ropes so we could climb all of the lines. I scrambled around and up and only found a few spindly little trees to set up a belay. Well I guess the "5 and Alive" rule won't be in place today, I thought. I did pick out a couple trees and set myself up to rap down. As I did however, I kicked off a huge rock that no matter what I couldn't have prevented. I immediately started screaming my head off yelling ROCK! ROCK! and as I looked down I saw the head-sized boulder whizzing past Kat, three feet from her right shoulder. I felt so bad and I was a little shaken but relieved that the situation wasn't as bad as it could have been.
We spent just about all day at this one spot and we got to know the other group pretty well. Terry, the older man, was impressing the shit out of me, climbing like an old pro and going after it as if he were half his age; which would be my age in fact. And Aram had done some peaks in Nepal including Yala Peak (5,520 m) which George and I had done back in 2003. Small world and I hope I get to run into those guys again sometime. After the long day of ice climbing, the east side offers one thing that the valley will never have...hot springs. We soaked our soar calves and tired shoulders at Shepards Hot Springs and enjoyed a bottle of wine or two.
With Shannon on the DL, we opted for a hike on Sunday and headed over to Convict Lake to explore our options. The Northeast Gully (5.2) of Laurel Mountain was not an option with lots of snow up high. We thought about Mt Morrison but couldn't find a natural weakness to the south slopes from the trail which skirted the west side of the mountain. Apparently you need to make your way up from the east side to avoid the choss. We continued on and ended up at Lake Mildred. We explored the area and got a
good look at what I think is the Northwest Couloir or Mt. Baldwin. Whatever it was it looked hard and thin up top. That night we made our way back to Benton Ranch Road and got in a good long soak at Hilltop Hot Springs and learned a few new constellations.
good look at what I think is the Northwest Couloir or Mt. Baldwin. Whatever it was it looked hard and thin up top. That night we made our way back to Benton Ranch Road and got in a good long soak at Hilltop Hot Springs and learned a few new constellations.
On Monday, Shannon and Joscelin headed back early so Jos could prep for her new gig at Google ,so Kat and I hit up June Lake. We found some amazing ice at the Roadside Falls with only one other party enjoying the rays of perfect sunlight. I scrambled up some fourth class that was made more difficult because first, I was wearing mountaineering boots and second, I was doing moves on rock toeing very gingerly to avoid all of the ice that would have sent me 100 feet below to an uneven ground. Thankfully I set up the TR and rapped down. After I got down and before I started climbing, the girl on the next line asked me to grab her rope because she hadn't put her crampons on yet. Her partner was setting up a TR and had thrown down a single line. We were belaying on a ledgy thing about 25 feet up which had an ice slope of about 55 or 60 degrees so she didn't want to climb up without her crampons. I traversed over to the ice and just as I grabbed the rope my feet shot out form under me and I went flying, careening down the slope and moving fast. I somehow managed to grab the rope with my right hand as I was falling and it just so happened that the guy had fixed the single line with an eight on a bight and I arrested myself with with my single hand on the rope about 5 feet above the ground. I have no idea how I caught the rope and stopped myself from falling with only one hand and didn't give myself a rope burn or fuck-up my hand. Nor do I have any idea why the guy fixed the single line when setting up a TR. Regardless, I somehow managed to think about all of that while I was in mid-flight and thankfully the stars aligned and my guardian angel didn't leave me at the base of this cliff in a pile of bones, blood, crampons and compound fractures. So after that... we climbed!
And climbed.
After fully exhausting ourselves at June Lake we had our customary celebratory beer at the car and started heading back to the bay.
We did however, make a quick stop-over at Mono Lake, exploring the strangely Moon-ish salt formations on the beach. Kat of course got too close and found herself stuck in the mud, sinking deeper the more effort she made to get out. I almost left her there but thought about how lonely the trip back would be without her. So against my best judgement I helped her out and helped wash the sulfur mud off her feet.