| Mount Russell's East Ridge: Second Time is the Charm Trip Report |
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| Mount Russell's East Ridge: Second Time is the Charm   | 
| Page Type: Trip Report Location: California, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 36.59003°N / 118.29065°W Date Climbed/Hiked: Aug 9, 2009 Activities: Mountaineering Season: Summer | Page By: jhodlof Created/Edited: Nov 8, 2009 / Nov 10, 2009 Object ID: 571693 Hits: 172 Loading... Page Score: 88.14% - 11 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Why another Report?Because there don't seem to be many for the East Ridge, or many that are recent. So, I thought I would add one. Plus, these reports are really about pictures, lots and lots of pictures. Since many of them lack pictures, I thought I would add one with pictures.
Russell seems to be a mountain that many climbers or hikers like myself do as a next step. It is a lot of fun, and even though it might look scary or too difficult, it isn't. I would do it again, and it is worth an ascent.
The original plan of the trip was to summit Russell from the East Ridge on day one and then hit Whitney and Muir the next day. I had been on Whitney before in summer, and both myself and my climbing partner Russell (OSO1212) had been up on March 19, 2009. Interestingly, that is where we met, on separate trips to summit Whitney via the Mountaineer's Route in winter conditions. We passed each other in the main gully, me heading down and he heading up. He spent the night up there and had a large pack with him. Still, he was moving rather quickly with the weight. Day one
A beautiful day and a good pace got us to LBSL by noon or so. We got to our camp at UBSL around 130. After relaxing for a while. we set out to do the East Ridge. We foolishly decided to use the Rockwell Variation to gain the saddle. I don't recommend it. It was far worse than the traditional approach above Clyde Meadow.
We made good time to the saddle given the conditions of the scree. It was pretty soft and loved to slide. Consequently, it ended up taking us longer than we planned for.
Personally, I wouldn't do this route to the East Ridge again, but it is a really pretty area and it might be worth the hike to see the South Face up close and in person. Tactile contact somehow makes it real.
We got to the Saddle after 4pm and decided that we would head west on the ridge and turn around after 5pm so as to be down and out of the rough talus and moraine field that is between UBSL and the scree slope. We didn't want to have to cross that in the dark. Plus, we still needed to set up camp.
 UBSL from the bottom of the scree slope
Starting on the East Ridge went OK, but we weren't 100% sure of the route and got off track, which wasted some time. Russell ended up exploring a small chimney that would not have been smart to climb, since we had no pro. It would only have taken us to the top of the Ridge, which was where we wanted to be, but there was an easier way to get there. The drop off below it was rather steep, too.
We ended up getting about two thirds of the way to the East Summit. The Views were spectacular, but we had moved too slowly to make both summits and get down before dark. We neglected headlamps, if I remember correctly.  Russell on Russell, day one.
We weren't looking forward to going down the Rockwell Variation. It wasn't too bad, but the scree tended to get in our boots. That part went rather quickly, and the hard part was crossing the moraine just before dark.
Day Two: Summit Day Ascent
The East Ridge |
Day two wasn't really set in stone when we got back to camp. I still wanted to do Russell's East Ridge, while Russell had enough of the day's scree and wanted to do Whitney and get Muir. I had little enthusiasm to do Whitney's MR again and so soon, though Muir was interesting. We decided to discuss it in the morning.
I slept later as I always do, and Russell got up early and was talking to people around camp. While he was getting beta, I was looking at the scree slope that leaves UBSL and climbs above Clyde Meadow. I could see a trail in the scree and this lead me to think that there was another way by which we could gain the East Ridge. Thus, we independently arrived at the conclusion to use this route and summit Russell. Russell left an hour ahead of me to tag Carillon while I ate breakfast. We met again at the saddle.
The scree slope above Clyde went much faster and was far easier than the Rockwell Variation. Gaining the plateau offered some great views, too.
Our old friend Whitney |
After meeting Russell relaxing at the Saddle, we started up the East Ridge. Climbing went smoothly since we did a lot of it the day before. Russell is faster than me, and got far ahead, eventually summiting both summits and returning to the east summit by the time I got there. That worked out well as we got pictures of each other from the two different summits. One interesting note from the day was hearing a loud crash below us. When we looked down at Tulainyo Lake, we could see that a huge piece of ice from the shelf on it's west shore had calved and was floating in the lake. It seemed so small from up high, but it is huge.
Tulainyo Icebergs. They will sink your dinghy! |
 Coming up to the east summit
Summiting went well, and the small section of sidewalk in the sky was little more than fun. It was calm, so that might be why.
On the west summit |
Russell on the east summit |
Descent (not into madness!)There is an incredible amount of scenery to be had in the area, and Russell is no exception. If you have done, or plan to do a summit of Whitney using Whitney's Mountaineer's Route, the view of the Final 400 from Russell is noteworthy.
 The final 400 on Whitney.
After some time on the west summit, I started down. I met Russell at the east summit. We got down to UBSL by 430PM and abandoned the idea of doing Whitney and Muir. I didn't mind this, but I think Russell would have like to have gotten up those two. Russell wanted to get back to his wife in San Diego, so he started out that afternoon and got home late that night. Having just started my Sierra trip, I wanted to spend a night up at UBSL and have a relaxed descent the next day. I did, and the trip was great even if it took us two tries to make the summit.
 Russell descends once more
 Below the east summit while descending
The fabulous East Ridge |
Images
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Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP
