Route Climbed: East Arete Date Climbed: July 8, 2004
Solo with Andrew from the Peaklet Saddle. 8:30 roundtrip from the car. Lot of fun. Finding the right gully and the traverse back around near the bottom of the arete was nearly the end of me. I'll pay closer attention next time.
Approach is short, about 1.5-2 hours to the base. From the summit there is an awesome view of Desolation Basin (I think it's called?). Downclimbing the 5.4 headwall on the descent was the crux.
Route Climbed: SW Slope/NW Face; Hutchinson Rt.; SE Buttress Date Climbed: Aug. 1985; July 1986; July 1987
A terrific Peak. First eyed it in 1982 after backpacking north from Whitney Portal and vowed to come back to climb. My old Roper High Sierra Guide called the SW Slope/NW Face Rt. just the Regular Rt. Climbed with long time friend John Pfeiffer. The Hutchinson Rt. was called the South Couloir. Again with J. P. and couple of other friends. Encountered ice in the couloir below Married Men's Point. Finally, the SE Buttress was called the South Ridge. Climbed with Hugh Sakols, Randy Freidlander, Mark Hoefer, Thayrn Henderson, and Dan Bussinger. Nearly lost the hacky sack attempting to hack on the summit. Whatever names these routes go by, it is fun and interesting climbing.
Route Climbed: SW Slope / NW Face Date Climbed: Oct 4, 2003
An easy but very enjoyable dayhike out of North Lake, and the first fourth class peak I attempted by myself. (To give an indication of how easy the fourth class is on this route, I didn't even realise I'd climbed the first such section until I found myself on the arete--seemed more like 3rd class to me). This is a really fun peak! The downclimb proved to be easier than I'd expected.
To reach the notch, I followed the gully all the way up from where it begins, at the top of the talus fan (right where another gully descends from the notch on the righthand side of the summit). The gully itself is loose class 2 as advertised, but it's possible to keep to solid rock above this almost the whole way (class 2 or 3), avoiding the loose crud and making for an enjoyable climb.
Route Climbed: Humphreys Basin to the NW ridge Date Climbed: summer 1993
This was a fun climb with some exposure from the notch up the final couloir to the top. My 2 friends looked on from the notch. I guess being married had something to do with their decision to stay below.
Route Climbed: East Arete Date Climbed: July 7, 2003
Did a point to point day trip (11 hours) with Neil Satterfield of SMI in Bishop on an excellent day. Went up the East Arete and descended the NW face/SW slope. Finished off the day with a xc route over to Piute Lake and down to the North Lake trailhead. The East Arete is a quality route!
Route Climbed: Southwest Slope and Northwest Face Date Climbed: June 29, 2002
Climbed with ScottyS from Piute Pass. Of the 20+ peaks I climbed this summer, this was one of my favorites. The approach was good, the climbing was way fun, and the exposure is excellent for a 4th class route. Don't get bogged down looking at route pictures of the Southwest Face, you can go up nearly any of the chutes and come out at the right place.
Route Climbed: Main North Couloir - 1st ascent Date Climbed: 1979
Did the 1st ascent ( according to Secor ) of the main ice gully with Britt Reeves. The guy with the rope feined illness resulting in our free soloing the gully ( 800', 55 degrees ). Saw bighorn tracks at the top! An excellent ice climb.
Route Climbed: SW slope and NW face Date Climbed: Aug. 8, 2001
Day 5 of the Sierra Emblem Challenge 2001. Thunderstorms threatened so I got an early start at 5:20a from North Lake TH, reached summit at 11:00a, just in time for the first crack of thunder. Didn't stay long on the summit! Returned to TH at 3:00p.
The lower 3/4 of the mountain is nothing but loose junk. Once on the NW face, the climbing becomes quite enjoyable, and the class 4 moves are fairly easy.
brandon - Jul 30, 2004 4:52 pm
Route Climbed: East Arete Date Climbed: July 8, 2004Solo with Andrew from the Peaklet Saddle. 8:30 roundtrip from the car. Lot of fun. Finding the right gully and the traverse back around near the bottom of the arete was nearly the end of me. I'll pay closer attention next time.
poorboy44 - Jul 23, 2004 2:32 pm
Route Climbed: East Arete Date Climbed: July 2001Approach is short, about 1.5-2 hours to the base. From the summit there is an awesome view of Desolation Basin (I think it's called?). Downclimbing the 5.4 headwall on the descent was the crux.
Shaase - Jun 22, 2004 4:05 pm
Route Climbed: North Couloir Date Climbed: April 1998Perfect spring corn
tiogap - Jun 5, 2004 5:08 pm
Route Climbed: SW Chute to NW Ridge Date Climbed: September, 1980?Second roped climb in the Sierra(first was Darwin). Really fun climb. want to do east arete
RSN473 - Mar 11, 2004 4:38 pm
Route Climbed: SW slope and NW face Date Climbed: Aug 19, 2000Climbed with reluctant buddy Myron. Lower portion of climb was loose and uninspiring. upper portion was a very enjoyable climb.
mtnfoto - Jan 20, 2004 1:04 pm
Route Climbed: Regular West Face Route Date Climbed: 1981Solo day hike from North Lake. Also climbed Emerson on the way back.
Dave Dinnell - Jan 12, 2004 1:10 pm
Route Climbed: SW Slope/NW Face; Hutchinson Rt.; SE Buttress Date Climbed: Aug. 1985; July 1986; July 1987A terrific Peak. First eyed it in 1982 after backpacking north from Whitney Portal and vowed to come back to climb. My old Roper High Sierra Guide called the SW Slope/NW Face Rt. just the Regular Rt. Climbed with long time friend John Pfeiffer. The Hutchinson Rt. was called the South Couloir. Again with J. P. and couple of other friends. Encountered ice in the couloir below Married Men's Point. Finally, the SE Buttress was called the South Ridge. Climbed with Hugh Sakols, Randy Freidlander, Mark Hoefer, Thayrn Henderson, and Dan Bussinger. Nearly lost the hacky sack attempting to hack on the summit. Whatever names these routes go by, it is fun and interesting climbing.
Matthew Holliman - Oct 6, 2003 1:03 pm
Route Climbed: SW Slope / NW Face Date Climbed: Oct 4, 2003An easy but very enjoyable dayhike out of North Lake, and the first fourth class peak I attempted by myself. (To give an indication of how easy the fourth class is on this route, I didn't even realise I'd climbed the first such section until I found myself on the arete--seemed more like 3rd class to me). This is a really fun peak! The downclimb proved to be easier than I'd expected.
To reach the notch, I followed the gully all the way up from where it begins, at the top of the talus fan (right where another gully descends from the notch on the righthand side of the summit). The gully itself is loose class 2 as advertised, but it's possible to keep to solid rock above this almost the whole way (class 2 or 3), avoiding the loose crud and making for an enjoyable climb.
Dave K - Sep 15, 2003 6:19 am
Route Climbed: Southwest Slope/Northwest FaceA loooong, but very fun day on a big, intimidating-looking mountain. Humphreys' Basin is gorgeous.
I climbed it with my friends Sam, Etsuko (Kiwifzz) and Misha (Mlog).
ocelot - Aug 22, 2003 5:27 pm
Route Climbed: Humphreys Basin to the NW ridge Date Climbed: summer 1993This was a fun climb with some exposure from the notch up the final couloir to the top. My 2 friends looked on from the notch. I guess being married had something to do with their decision to stay below.
Scott M. - Jul 8, 2003 2:46 pm
Route Climbed: East Arete Date Climbed: July 7, 2003Did a point to point day trip (11 hours) with Neil Satterfield of SMI in Bishop on an excellent day. Went up the East Arete and descended the NW face/SW slope. Finished off the day with a xc route over to Piute Lake and down to the North Lake trailhead. The East Arete is a quality route!
kullaberg - Nov 28, 2002 7:22 pm
Route Climbed: north west face from humpheys basin Date Climbed: may 2000great early season climb. all the choss of the bottom 2/3 of the route was snowcovered and quite enjoyable.
my dog made it to 13000' , below the class 4 climbing.
fine day with good friends.
bearbnz - Sep 27, 2002 5:01 pm
Route Climbed: Southwest Slope and Northwest Face Date Climbed: June 29, 2002Climbed with ScottyS from Piute Pass. Of the 20+ peaks I climbed this summer, this was one of my favorites. The approach was good, the climbing was way fun, and the exposure is excellent for a 4th class route. Don't get bogged down looking at route pictures of the Southwest Face, you can go up nearly any of the chutes and come out at the right place.
Craig Peer - Sep 23, 2002 11:02 am
Route Climbed: East Arete Date Climbed: 2000Climbed this excellent route with Kevin Jellison and Russ Faure - Brac. Videotaped the whole climb too. Highly recomended!
Craig Peer - Sep 23, 2002 10:59 am
Route Climbed: Main North Couloir - 1st ascent Date Climbed: 1979Did the 1st ascent ( according to Secor ) of the main ice gully with Britt Reeves. The guy with the rope feined illness resulting in our free soloing the gully ( 800', 55 degrees ). Saw bighorn tracks at the top! An excellent ice climb.
ScottyS - Aug 13, 2002 7:58 pm
Route Climbed: SW face to NW chute Date Climbed: June 29, 2002Dayhiked with bearbnz on a perfect day. If you stay on rock, the SW face is not too bad. I thought the summit block was VERY cool!
More pics, etc are available on my homepage here.
Bob Burd - Aug 17, 2001 1:02 pm
Route Climbed: SW slope and NW face Date Climbed: Aug. 8, 2001Day 5 of the Sierra Emblem Challenge 2001. Thunderstorms threatened so I got an early start at 5:20a from North Lake TH, reached summit at 11:00a, just in time for the first crack of thunder. Didn't stay long on the summit! Returned to TH at 3:00p.
The lower 3/4 of the mountain is nothing but loose junk. Once on the NW face, the climbing becomes quite enjoyable, and the class 4 moves are fairly easy.