Sierra Trip Reports

Climbers: Jon & Nick

Dates: Friday, May 17 – Sunday, May 19, 2013

Photos: Jon & Nick (as noted)

Synopsis: We awoke Friday morning to clearing skies and what looked like a dusting of snow up on the high peaks. The clouds were still engulfed on the Sierra Crest, but weather forecasts called for a general clearing trend. Our plan was to hike in from Mosquito Flat trailhead towards the Rock Creek area to camp at a lake near the base of Bear Creek Spire, and get an early alpine start Saturday morning.

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Climbers: Jon & Nick

Dates: Wednesday, May 15 – Thursday, May 16, 2013

Photos: Jon & Nick (as noted)

Synopsis: Upon returning to our camp at Third Lake after climbing Venusian Blind Arête, we settled in for yet another 4 AM wake-up to go climb Moon Goddess Arête the following day. That night the winds were picking up pretty strongly, clouds were increasing and the temperature dropped pretty significantly.

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Climbers: Jon & Nick

Dates: Monday, May 13 – Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Photos: Jon & Nick (as noted)

Synopsis: After climbing the Direct South Face of Lone Pine Peak, Jon and I headed back the next morning to try and get permits for the North Fork of Big Pine Creek. Our initial soft plans going in were to hike in that Monday and set up a camp by Second or Third Lake, and climb Venusian Blind Arête on Tuesday, followed by Moon Goddess Arête on Wednesday (both of which we ended up doing). We then tentatively planned to move camp up beyond Sam Mack Meadows to the Palisade Glacier, with a potential objective of climbing Starlight Buttress on Starlight Peak. More on that later.

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Climbers: Jon & Nick

Dates: Saturday, May 11 – Sunday, May 12, 2013

Photos: Jon & Nick (as noted)

Synopsis: Similar to the winter of 2012, this Winter was a pretty low snow-year throughout the Sierra Nevada. Throughout the Winter, Jon and I had been tentatively planning a week-long ski-tour in the Eastern Sierra. As the months passed along, days grew longer and the weather warmed, we realized that once again the Winter would not provide optimal Spring ski-touring conditions.

On the other hand, the low-snow year lent itself to great, early season alpine climbing opportunities throughout the High Sierra. With that in mind, Jon and I headed with a loaded car down Highway 395 to the high peaks of the Eastern Sierra to try and take advantage of a good weather forecast and climb some classic, big routes.

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