| Sawtooth Dayhike Trip Report |
Geography Parents  Loading... Trip Reports
| Sawtooth Dayhike   | 
| Page Type: Trip Report Location: California, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 36.45400°N / 118.554°W Date Climbed/Hiked: Jul 11, 2004 | Page By: derelict Created/Edited: Nov 3, 2004 / Object ID: 169690 Hits: 484 Loading... Page Score: 0% - 0 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
I arrived at the end of Mineral king road at about 5:45am,and I was
on my way to Sawtooth Peak by 6am.The morning was chilly and
dark,the wildlife abundant. Took some photos of what I think are
Grouse, and also a few of a young Buck. Soon my feet had carried me
to lower Monarch lake,and the base of Sawtooth Peak. I recharged
there with some Gorp and beef jerky, then I was on my way. I chose
the Sawtooth Pass trail just above lower Monarch lake, but soon left
this trail in favor of a green gulley that seemed to lead to the
ridge. It was a good decision as that gulley left me only about 15
minutes of sludging thru loose scree at the top of the ridge. The
usual route has a million use trails, all of which are thru scree the
whole way up. So now I am at Sawtooth Pass and snapping
photos, marveling the view and rehydrating. I have been to Sawtooth
Pass before, but have never been to the peak. From the pass, Sawtooth
Peak looks intimidating to me...but I want it bad. It will be the
highest point I have touched in my 31 years on Earth. Books would
have you believe that it is a walk from the pass to the peak, but
there are once again a million trails leading in all
directions. After about 20 minutes of walking toward but under the
summit, I begin to follow my GPS and head strait up. Wish that little
machine could pick the best routes too, because I ended up having to
make about 3 moves with moderate exposure. Oh well,I`ll get better at
picking routes ;) Up and up, soon the summit bit me on the nose and I
smiled wide. It seemed to come out of nowhere...wish that happened
more often. I began snapping more photos,myself starring in
many....hehe. I even got one with me straddling the fin "the highest
point". Not an easy task when your camera has only a ten second self-
timer. After some leisure time on the summit it was time to head
back. I turned off my GPS "who needs it for returns,right" and began
following cairns. Cairns that led me strait into cliff bands. Seems
every time "well,2 times now" that I`m on this mountain I get caught
in the cliff bands. I dont want to climb all the way back up, so I
find myself fearfully making more moves with exposure, and with hand
holds and foot placements that I didnt know I was capable
of. Anythings better than having to be rescued....hehe. After about 30
minutes I made my way over to a chute that took me down below the
cliffs. Here the mountain is all scree with medium size rocks here
and there. I began plunge stepping..wee...owe..owe...owe. I must have
fell on my ass like 5 times,scrapped up my hands pretty good. Souvenirs now I suppose. It was fun though. A little risk and
pain made the day somehow spicier.I filled my water bottle again at
Monarch lake and began moseying down the trail. I was content. Not
only did I bag my highest peak to date, but I also controlled the
fear I felt in those cliffs "loose pebbles on steeply angled slabs
that drop off 50ft is damn scarry" to me at least . Couldn`t find a register and I
checked every nook,cranny,and crevice...at least I got photos to
prove i did it! I also got many shots of the surrounding
mountains...wanna check em` out? Photos
|
|
Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP
