Jepson Peak & San Gorgonio Mtn 5-2-10

Dave G · Post by **Dave G** » Mon May 03, 2010 9:03 pm

On Sunday I climbed Jepson and San Gorgonio from the South Fork TH. The original plan was to climb one of Jepson's direct NE chutes, but after getting a good look at the current conditions which included strong winds up high, we decided instead to access Jepson via the saddle between it and Little Charlton. After continuing over to San G, we came back and descended Big Draw, generally following the drainage down to Dry Lake, and then back out onto the trail. The snow is melting fast! Heading back down in the afternoon the trail was like a creek once we were below 9K'. Pics are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21042415@N ... 862299851/

EManBevHills · Post by **EManBevHills** » Mon May 03, 2010 9:44 pm

Dave, we sorta crossed paths. It sure was gusty up high, above 10,750, where I ditched my skis due to glazed, windblown, crappy snow. Sure was a fun run down, though. Sorry I missed 'ya. Nice hike, you did!

norma r · Post by **norma r** » Mon May 03, 2010 10:40 pm

Nice day hike Dave & Norris! A two'fer. Extra points for not getting blown away!

Boy, that north side of San G and Jepson sure is pretty, isn't it?

Dave G · Post by **Dave G** » Tue May 04, 2010 8:05 am

EManBevHills wrote:Dave, we sorta crossed paths. It sure was gusty up high, above 10,750, where I ditched my skis due to glazed, windblown, crappy snow. Sure was a fun run down, though. Sorry I missed 'ya. Nice hike, you did!

Hey Eman, I was warned that you and Calico Cat were up there

so I kept an eye out for ya, but the only humans we saw all day were a party of three camped at SF Meadows. We hit the SG summit at ~1:45p. Didn't see any fresh tracks but the wind was mixing things up pretty good--what route did you guys take?

MarkI · Post by **MarkI** » Tue May 04, 2010 9:26 am

Nice pics Dave, good climb! Wow that avalanche must have been a pretty good one to knock all that stuff down, and it was fairly low on the slopes too eh? How about Big Draw and those other chutes, do they avi on a regular basis or are they usually fairly stable?

EManBevHills · Post by **EManBevHills** » Tue May 04, 2010 10:14 am

Dave,

Yeah, we saw them on our way out, so you probably saw my tracks.
We only ran into 2 youthful looking folks on Sunday near the westernmost false summit as they were battling the winds to stay upright.

Our route was straightforward: we hugged the treeline just east of the major ridge adjacent to the Jepson Bowl and descended the westernmost chute.

Since calicokat was along with his pro foto gear, I only took a few pics, and none up top in the wind. They were so strong, Jim's brand new helmet blew down to Vivian Creek!

http://picasaweb.google.com/EManBevHill ... directlink

Elwood · Post by **Elwood** » Tue May 04, 2010 1:15 pm

Hey Dave G!

Is that a radio attached to the coiley-cord in your picture? If so, what kind? If not, never mind.

Dave G · Post by **Dave G** » Tue May 04, 2010 5:12 pm

Elwood wrote:Hey Dave G!

Is that a radio attached to the coiley-cord in your picture? If so, what kind? If not, never mind.

Hey Elwood, that's just the leash off my [rock climbing] nut tool which I have clipped to my camera. I've got a long, sad history of dropping, smashing and losing cameras.

jimqpublic · Post by **jimqpublic** » Tue May 04, 2010 8:36 pm

Any postholio report? Thoughts on snow conditions this Friday 5/7?

Thanks

Jim

James · Post by **James** » Wed May 05, 2010 9:20 am

Postholio....good one.

Dave, besides wind, what conditions did you encounter that steered you away from the Jepson chutes?

norma r · Post by **norma r** » Wed May 05, 2010 9:52 am

James wrote:Dave, besides wind, what conditions did you encounter that steered you away from the Jepson chutes?

Norris!

sorry i could not resist! you know i love you Norris!

Dave G · Post by **Dave G** » Wed May 05, 2010 12:11 pm

norma r wrote:
James wrote:Dave, besides wind, what conditions did you encounter that steered you away from the Jepson chutes?
Norris!

sorry i could not resist! you know i love you Norris!

Well, not exactly. While it's true that Norris is more cautious than I am (which has probably saved my butt on a few of our rock climbs), we both could see that a headwall/cornice had formed at the top. That, combined with the strong winds convinced him that we ought to be using two ice tools to be safe, which we didn't have. Since there were other options for getting to the summit, it seemed reasonable to me.

EManBevHills · Post by **EManBevHills** » Wed May 05, 2010 9:00 pm

Looks like you made the correct decision.