EISPIRATEN

Took my first backpacking trip up in the Sierra this week. We were up at Lassen for the 4th of July, then headed down the 395 to Mammoth, where we spent a couple days in town before heading into the backcountry.

I have no idea how much my pack weighed, but it was incredibly heavy, I would guess approximately 800lbs. Nothing that we have can remotely be considered ultralight, but it was only a 7-mile hike in so we bit the bullet and shouldered our packs.

The mandatory (:x) shuttle bus dropped us off at Agnew Meadows (which has ample parking), and the views and wildflowers were immediately impressive.







The trail drops you down into Reds Meadow Valley, with undeniable evidence of the windstorm that tore the place apart last November all over the place, but it has a fair amount of shade and the uphill portions aren't too steep or long.

Quickly you climb back out of the valley upstream towards Shadow Lake, where you get your first glimpse of the Minarets and the Volcanic Ridge.





You continue upstream for what seems like an extremely long time over a gigantic granite staircase and finally come to Ediza Lake, one of the most scenic places I've ever seen:







We set up camp in a forested section to the west of the lake, retiring early so we could get up and make our attempt at Mt Ritter the next morning.


Morning Glow on the Minarets


Ritter in the Morning

We woke up early, as planned, and headed up the stream that feeds Ediza from the glaciers and snowfields between Ritter and Banner. I had a rough idea of the route to take, as we wanted to keep it class 2, but as is usually the case, when I got there in real life it looked nothing like the photos I had studied.

After negotiating a ton of huge talus, it looked like we could scramble up to a series of grassy ledges above the cliffs below Ritter and skirt the side of the SE glacier, so we tried that. It was fun Class 2 for the most part with a little Class 3 stuff mixed in, particularly climbing up one small waterfall. We reached our ledges, the peak appeared to be getting closer, but then we ran into a huge waterfall that was beyond our abilities.


Approaching Ritter and Banner, you can see the grassy areas we made it to


Not skilled enough to cross this guy


Failure never tasted so good

If we had been staying more than one night, we would have backtracked and tried again. Our mistake was obvious, we followed the stream too far in and should have cut up some previous chutes to climb well above the cliffs and onto the glacier, but to go back and do so and continue to the summit would have guaranteed we'd miss the shuttle back to Mammoth and added several miles of road hiking in the dark, so we decided instead to explore the surrounding area. We ran into several other lakes before dropping back down to Ediza, packing up, and making the long, sad trek back to civilization.


Nydiver Lakes


Garnet Lake


Ediza from Above

All in all, we had an awesome time and we weren't really expecting to summit Ritter anyway. We did gain the knowledge that, with the proper routefinding, Ritter is definitely doable as an easy Class 3. Next time up (hopefully soon), we'll book two nights in camp so we don't have such a tight time constraint.

A ton more photos here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wattifoto/ ... 546314844/


And as a bonus, here are some shots from Lassen that are completely unrelated to this post (meaning I don't feel like typing up a trip report on something so far north on a website dedicated to the SGMs. The Southern-ish Sierra sort of makes sense here.... )







More here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wattifoto/ ... 546041624/



Cheers 8)

Those are some nice photos!

Nice. Love the trek out to Ediza. Mammoth Brewing 395 IPA is class!

I love that area around Shadow Lake et al. Really beautiful stuff. Thanks for the pics.

Interesting beta for Mt. Ritter. I thought Ritter was class 4? Are these real class 3 routes or are these "Norman Clyde* class 3" routes?

HJ

*Norman Clyde was a famous early climber who rated many routes. His definition of class 3 is more like the modern definition of class 4. However, no one is going to re-rate the routes -- who wants to be known for going against one of the most famous of Sierra mountaineers? So, "Norman Clyde class 3" routes are typically harder and more technical than other class 3 routes.

very beautiful trip!

Thanks, everyone! 8)

HJ-

Some say you can actually do the entire SE Glacier route without ever exceeding Class 2 (heavily dependent on conditions, of course), but most reports and what I'd say having just been up there is that it's a lower level Class 3 (minimal exposure) by standard (non-Norman) definitions. I'm already itching to get back up there because I'm pretty sure I know which chute I need to go up now, I think I over-studied and didn't trust my insticts enough.

Of course, if you really want Class 4 or 5, those routes are there too.

mcphersonm80 wrote: ↑Of course, if you really want Class 4 or 5, those routes are there too.

Nah, I'm good, but thanks.

HJ

Awesome pics. I gotta get up there, don't usually stray even further north than Bishop. Expand the horizons......

Thanks for sharing the pix! I was there in July 2009 and it's amazing how little snow there is this year at the same time of year. I had hoped to get up there this summer, but since i don't have another 3-day weekend available, I vicariously traveled there in your TR.

Very scenic and great pictures. You would have made it if your pack only weighed, say..... 600 lbs.