As part of my training for my trip to South Georgia Island, on Labor Day weekend Jamie and I went up into the Eastern Sierras. Our goals were to backpack through the Minarets, the Palisades and Tuolumne Meadows--all in four days! If we had enough energy, time and good weather, we also wanted to squeeze in a climb of Mt Ritter in the Minarets, and recon Mount Agassiz while we were in the Palisades and check out Cathedral Peak near Tuolumne Meadows.

 

The Minarets and Mount Ritter

On our first day, we made the approach towards Mount Ritter and bivy'd pretty high above Ediza Lake. We found a great bivy spot, the weather was perfect and the views were wonderful. The next day we got a little off route, but we eventually worked our way towards the summit of Ritter. When we reached Owens Shoot, it was in poor condition and had a very dangerous combination of ice and scree. We were surprised to find the ice, because we hadn't seen any snow or ice from the Minaret vista in Mammoth, and had decided to leave our technical gear behind in order to save weight. Not having either crampons or rope with us, we decided to turn back. We descended back to our bivy, packed up and retreated back to Mammoth for some prime rib and a good nights sleep.

 

The Palisades and and Mount Agassiz

On day three we hiked up to the top of Bishops Pass for some awesome views of the Palisades. We then scrambled around the south side of Agassiz looking for a good place for a future bivy and for the beginning of the climbing route. We never did find the trail to Agassiz from Bishops Pass, but managed to stumble across some good bivy spots and the starting point for the route after about a hour of scrambling around. The route looks like mostly a rock scramble (Secor's "High Sierra" rates the Southeast Face and South ridge as Class II). By this time it was getting late in the day, so Jamie and I had to make a quick exit from Agassiz down Bishops Pass and hike the 6 miles back to the car. We made it just as it was getting dark. We returned to Mammoth for more prime rib and more well deserved sleep

 

Tuolumne Meadows and Cathedral Peak

By day four we were pretty tired from our three-day rampage through the Eastern Sierras. Still, hiking a few miles in Tuolumne Meadows to get some good views of Cathedral Peak sounded like something fun to do before we headed back home. Jamie had heard of a climber's trail that would take us to Bud Lake, on the far side of Cathedral Peak for some good views, away from the Labor Day crowds.  As usual, we got a little off route, but eventually found our way back to the trail and found a beautiful vista of Unicorn Peak. We stopped and had a nice picnic lunch. We enjoyed the views for a while, and then decided to call it a day, and get on the road early to avoid the crowds.

 

All in all, it was an awesome trip. I am familiar with the Southernmost part of the Sierras, around Mount Whitney. I've also spent a bunch on time in Yosemite. But I am not very familiar with the part of the Sierras in between the Whitney and Yosemite. This trip was a great opportunity to have a good time with my sister and get more familiar with what the Eastern Sierras have to offer. I definitely want to go back and finish off our climb of Mount Ritter, attempt Agassiz as well as Cathedral Peak. But I also want to do some exploring and climbing in the northern Sierras as well.

 

So many mountains, so little time...!

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