| Day 7 of 60 Miler: Victory and Defeat on the "Other Side" of the Saddle Trip Report |
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| Day 7 of 60 Miler: Victory and Defeat on the "Other Side" of the Saddle   | 
| Page Type: Trip Report Location: California, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 37.69700°N / 119.194°W Date Climbed/Hiked: Jul 19, 2003 | Page By: Brett A Created/Edited: Nov 10, 2003 / Object ID: 169151 Hits: 966 Loading... Page Score: 0% - 0 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
...Continued
The day after our ascent of Vogelsang we got an early start from Vogelsang Lake. Shortly after starting we arrived at the Vogelsang High Sierra Camp where the generous employees allowed us to dump our trash. We continued East through large meadows until we started the descent down into Lyell Canyon. We reached the bottom around noon and continued up the creek where we found a great swimming hole to stop for a lunch break. This was the exact same place where we had stopped 4 years earlier. The water was the coldest I have ever been in. We used an REI thermometer which went down to about 42 degrees and then broke.
Back on the trail we continued up the canyon towards the high peaks and Donahue Pass. We climbed up the end of the canyon into the forest where we found a campsite on the other side of the footbridge. We talked about a possible climb of Ritter and/or Banner on our rest day at Thousand Island Lake in two days. We decided we wouldn't be able to do both and Banner would be our best bet. The next morning we continued up the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne. We crossed the creek by walking over a dangerous dam and curved East towards Donahue Pass. Foreboding clouds were beginning to rush in from South instead of the West. We topped out at Donahue Pass, the highpoint of our on-trail hiking. We were greeted by the unsettling profile of Banner Peak in the distance as well as dark storm clouds. We ate lunch at the pass but decided to hurry up and get down. We rushed down the East side of the pass trying to get to lower, less exposed ground. We heard the thunder getting closer and closer. Near the bottom of Island Pass it began to rain. We got out the pack covers and rain gear and kept going. We weren't sure if we wanted to go for the pass in this weather, but we saw an opening in the clouds near the pass and decided to go for it. We went as fast as possible up the pass and back down where I got my first view of Thousand Island Lake in 4 years. We went down to the outlet and around the West side. We found a good campsite about a half mile from the outlet. As we were setting up camp the sun broke through the clouds and by sunset it was clear. We hoped the weather would hold for tomorrow.
We woke up fairly late to clear blue skies. It looked like it would be a wonderful day to climb. We packed day packs and I decided not to pack any rain gear. 3 adults and 6 scouts including myself set off across boulders for North Glacier Pass. We stayed on the use trail for a while but then branched off towards the low point between Banner and Mt. Davis which is North Glacier Pass. AS we got closer to the pass we found another use trail and headed up across several creeks and snowfields. The most difficult part before the pass is the large snowfield and boulder field just below the pass. We arrived at the pass around 11:00 and saw the deep blue waters of Catherine Lake. Here we got our first surprise. The glacier on the West side of the saddle which comes down to the water’s edge looked a little harder than we had expected. It drops off abruptly into the lake and to get onto the Glacier we would have to walk around the lake to some steep rock where we would have to climb down to the glacier. It also looked quite icy and without crampons or ice axe the glacier seemed out of the question. Secor mentions no more routes to the saddle from the lake so we decided we would eat lunch at the lake then turn back. After me and some others looked at the rock to the left of the glacier though, the more it seemed like we might be able to climb it to the saddle. We decided it was worth a try so 5 scouts and 1 adult decided to try it. We headed up to the East of the lake and crossed a small snowfield before heading up some class 2 rock. It was at this point that we noticed some clouds coming in from the North. Despite the changing weather we continued. As we zigzagged up the rock we turned left and hit a dead-end. It seemed like we might be done. We turned around but we saw a better route which we took. At this point the climbing turned into class 3 and we were on rock with small waterfalls coming over it. We were getting pretty high up and we crossed another snowfield and headed right. We got to the top of the route right below a shear face. As we looked around, we saw that the glacier was about 200 feet below us and there was no way to get down. But once again we found a way. We headed down parallel with the glacier. The climbing was getting pretty hairy for a Boy Scout trip though. We were descending over loose rocks getting closer and closer to the saddle. We finally reached the glacier and at this point we just had to kick steps up the snow and support ourselves with hiking poles. I led the way for the group and eventually we reached the rock below the saddle. We ascended the last few boulders to the saddle and were horrified at what we saw. Huge, puffy, dark clouds were coming towards us rapidly. There was no way we were going to slog up the West Face of Banner. We took a quick picture and started back down as the rain started and we heard distant thunder. Remember, I neglected to bring rain gear, so I took off my fleece jacket and put it back on over my backpack. As we started to head down, we saw another group of about 5 people who seemed to be staying low to wait out the storm. We were crazy, but not crazy enough to stay exposed here with lightning moving in. We slipped and slid our way back down the glacier to our route, being chased by thick clouds pouring over the saddle. WE wanted to get down as fast as possible but had to be careful because of the rain-slicked rocks. We followed the route just as we had come up not getting off track once. Relief came when we finally made it down to Catherine Lake. We hiked back over North Glacier Pass and headed down as the rain continued. The rain stopped as we got back to camp and told the rest of our group about the adventure.
That night, the big one hit. As the light drained out of the sky that evening, a large thunder storm approached from the North. Lightning went off about every 10 seconds. AS the lightning got closer and closer, we started battening down the hatches. We got everything under the vestibules and tightened all the stakes. Although it wasn’t late, I crawled in the tent, and just as I did, the rain started. I had flashbacks of a scary night on a hike four years ago when a huge thunder storm emptied on us all night with a few inches of hail. This storm didn’t turn out to be that bad as it only lasted for an hour of heavy rain and lightning.
The next morning was our last. We packed everything up and after spending a few minutes on an island to reflect on the trip, we headed out for Silver Lake.
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Sierra Nevada
