| Climbed the North Couloir with the Direct finish on October 19, 2002. Started the climb at 8,200' by our truck. Michael Gordon was with me but felt sick at McGee Lake and turned around. I soloed the gully, which was rock hard water ice. I thought it was steeper than 60 degrees. I guess the more technical it became, the steeper it felt (in my mind). I did not want to go to the top (have been there before), so I tried to go down via the NW Ridge. At the top of the gully, I could not find the connection to the top of the NW Ridge. From the notch, there was about 100 feet of fifth class climbing up and right. When I got to the top of what I thought to be NW Ridge, all I saw were steeply droping ridges. I could not find the top of the ridge. Anyone knows how to connect this? I downclimbed to the West and had to walk back over couple of cols and about three miles to the talus above Mc Gee Lake. I had to bivi in the talus as I just ran out of daylight. Reached Michael and the truck at 10:00am. This is really good outing, someone stronger could easily make it RT in a day from the Trail Head. |
John Muir Wilderness
