Mount Conness is 12,595', one of the higher one in northern Yosemite. Conness has rock climbing routes on the wall and a challenging class 4 north ridge. The easiest way up is from Sawmill Campground. There is a parking lot at Sawmill, but only for campers, so I parked back along the road. There is a nice trail out of Sawmill for the first two miles. After wandering through pine forests, I left the trail and starting climbing toward Alpine Lake. The slope was very steep right after I left the trail. I angled northeast toward Apline Lake. There was a bit of class 2 on the slope and some light bushwhacking. The plants were soft, without thorns, and didn't cover the whole slope. I climbed over some boulders to get around Alpine Lake, and found a use trail on the other side.
Conness looking big in the morning
Left the trail here
Conness above Alpine Lake
I hiked north of the remnants of the Conness Glacier, there wasn't much left. The route went up a rocky face. There were a series of sandy ledges that kept everything class 2, and a couple of viable routes up. About 20 minutes after starting up, I popped out on the eastern plateau. At the end of the plateau, sheer cliffs led to the top of Conness and one jagged ridge. The final ridge was class 2 as advertised, but there was about 100' of knife-edge, with 1000' drops on either side. The knife-edge section is near the bottom, though there was a an exposed move close to the top. I reached the summit to find it occupied by a marmot. He gave up the summit when I was 10' away. I found a reference mark and register. The benchmark appears to have been removed. I was relieved to see a lot of the smoke had blown over and I could enjoy the views. Mt. Dana rose sharply, and I could see many famous Yosemite peaks, including a fuzzy, distant view of Half Dome.
Wall to the plateau
Conness from the plateau
Final ridge climb, class 2 unless you make a mistake, big air on both side in a few places
