I left my house on Friday at 6:00pm and did not arrive at the trailhead until 1:10am Saturday. My sleeping bag was already rolled out in back of my SUV, so I quickly jumped in back to get some much needed sleep. With a sky full of stars, I set my alarm for 3:15am and closed my eyes. All too sudden my alarm went off, so I simply hit the snooze button. Well, nine snooze buttons later, I knew I had to get up. I was now almost 2 hrs behind schedule and I quickly got the JetBoil going, had some coffee mocha, changed my clothes, laced my boots and headed up the trail toward Ruby Lake.
The trail up to Ruby Lake was mostly snow free. Ruby Lake was frozen over, and in the predawn light, made for a beautiful scene. At Ruby Lake, I was supposed to skirt the east side of the lake and head over a low saddle to Mills Lake. Well, I had left my topo in the car, and I traversed the lake on the west side. This added very little mileage, but time wise, I wasted an extra hour. I wouldn’t say wasted, as the scenery was absolutely beautiful. I got back to the saddle, made my way up and over and trudged on to Mills Lake. By 10’ish, the weather was moving back in with small bouts of hail flurries coming and going. The guidebook described the start of the East Couloir as “a large couloir (gully) blocked by a large chockstone, being the crux”. Well, I never saw a “large” couloir, let alone a chockstone. With the weather deteriorating, I decided to try and quickly climb a large gully directly in front of me separating Mount Abbot and Mount Mills. At the top of this gully, in the saddle between Mount Mills and Mount Abbot is a very beautiful rock pinnacle – the Petite Griffon (sp?). I thought if I could just make it there, I would love to look into the Fourth Recess and see what is beyond this range.
I made my way to the base of the couloir and started climbing up. The weather was getting pretty sketchy, but I thought I could manage. Crampons were not needed as the snow was very soft, actually too soft and it took awhile to make any progress. I continued for quite awhile and climbed into a whiteout. I was about 50 feet below the Petite Griffon before I lost sight of it, but knew I would run into it if I kept on. Well, I literally ran into it. I couldn’t see anything in the Fourth Recess, so I slowly made my way back down by way of controlled sliding and glissading.
Knowing I had to pick my son up by 9pm, I quickly made my way down the glacier, back to Ruby Lake and back to my vehicle. I got to my vehicle sometime after 2pm, quickly changed and headed home. I was sorry to be leaving such a beautiful place, but I will be back.
I didn’t make the summit of Mount Mills, but the beauty of the Little Lakes Valley and the cirque of Mount Mills, Mount Abbot, and Mount Dade, kept me pretty content.
Start of Trail:
Looking towards Mono Pass:
Ruby Lake:
Petite Griffon = new target
