Deb - Sep 29, 2023 8:11 pm Date Climbed: Sep 28, 2023
Dayhike+
Daria and I stepped out for a daring dayhike of Mt Goddard on a beautiful Autumn day with the night before full moon glow. I have never in my life suffered and groaned quite so much as this 26.5 hour trek to get up Starr's Route for the summit and back down. No bivy, no naps, no crampons...just two chicks in trail runners go out in style to be miserable.
Yes, the summit was sporting some tremendous views, but what an f'ing slog getting there from that northern ridge. yuk
wmolland - Aug 31, 2022 5:56 pm Date Climbed: Aug 22, 2022
From Martha Lake
I'm pretty sure there's no way to keep Starr's route 2nd class. That being said, the 3rd class steps are really fun! Going direct up the ridge is also good 3rd class fun.
colingregory - Jul 7, 2020 9:01 am Date Climbed: Jul 3, 2020
Backpack
Day 1 we backpacked over Lamarck Col to Evolution Lake. I felt the cheeseburger from the night before and the altitude as we went up. At some points I actually thought of bailing on the trip. Once over the Col and down into Darwin Canyon I started feeling better so we continued our plan and camped at the southern end of Evolution Lake. On morning 2, I was ecstatic to be feeling better and open to joining on the Goddard dayhike. We got on the JMT north to Lake Wanda where we headed cross-country to the start of Starr's Route. We took on the additional challenge and started right from the toe, making a potential class 4 move at the beginning which may have been the crux of the whole climb. Once on the route, we slowly progressed up the class 3 sections until we found the ramp to the notch. After making the notch, we traveled over and up the talus pile to the top of Goddard. What a peak! We could see the entire High Sierra, recognizing peaks as far south as Langley and as far north as Clark. We jumped over and bagged Goddard West as well. The climb down was uneventful and we left the route to plunge step/glissade down a bit faster. We hiked back over to the JMT and took a swim in Lake Wanda before hiking back to our Evolution Lake camp. On the hike back we saw a coyote and 3 bucks! It was a very fun day in the mountains.
Cameron4834764 - Jun 17, 2020 11:47 am Date Climbed: Jun 15, 2020
Early season ascent up Southwest
Second ever ascent of a 13er, the other being Mt Dana. Went up alone from Martha Lake. Took two days to reach Martha from Florence backpacking. Scenic at times but probably best to approach from the east for a shorter hike in. Route wasn't too terrible to find, though a lot of it was covered with snow. Could avoid snow for the most part but that put me on easy class 3 terrain at times. The ridge from south to north summit was quite exposed on the northwest side. The class 3 on the ridge was covered with snow and very scary to cross as it was steep on both sides (nearly vertical drop 1500ft on NW). Fell through the snow crossing it and nearly cried. In the future I would have set up anchors when crossing early season. Beautiful though and make it from Martha to the summit in 4 hours and back down in 2, traveling extremely slowly on the way up.
kevin trieu - Oct 1, 2018 9:31 pm Date Climbed: Sep 29, 2018
Windy summit
approached on Friday from North Lake and was treated to beautiful fall colors. camped @ Evolution Lake Friday night, moved camp to Wanda Lake and climbed from there. endless talus. summit in windy conditions with Juya Ghanaie. intended to climb Scylla and Solomon but lost the stoke due to broken tent and approaching storm.
urnotreal - Nov 11, 2014 9:46 pm Date Climbed: Aug 15, 2013
From Goddard Lake Pass
Hit this guy up on the way out of Ionian Basin. A bit of a slog until the traverse between summits but phenomenal views at the top.
From Wanda Lake. This is a nice route; some class 3 is almost unavoidable. Trip report
seano - Feb 4, 2012 2:01 pm Date Climbed: Sep 15, 2011
Starr's Route from Lake Sabrina
Approaching over Haeckel Col is much shorter than over Lamarck Col, and easily done at night. Horrible choss-heap, but with spectacular views. Trip report
After the morning on Scylla during a long weekend in Ionian Basin, crossed Lake 11818 (literally, you can step from one peninsula to the other right in the middle) and worked my way over the the SE Ridge of Goddard. Followed the east ridge back to camp at Lake 11592 before humping it out to Wanda Lake for the last evening.
This peak is a gigantic loose pile of crap, not very interesting going up but the views are far and away the most comprehensive I have seen the in Sierra (I've noticed over the last couple years that no matter what peak I climbed Mount Goddard always seemed visible). Clears views from Lyell and Ritter to Whitney and Kaweah, could easily distingush 12 Emblem peaks (and I am sure Clarence King was in there somewhere too).
labgloves - Dec 20, 2010 1:25 pm Date Climbed: Sep 1, 2007
SW Ridge
Part of a weekly long backpack out of Courtright. Went to Martha via Gunsight Pass - exited via Hell for Sure pass.
winemanvan - Sep 14, 2010 2:17 pm Date Climbed: Aug 29, 2010
Thirty-three years later
I revisited this magnificent summit 33 years after my first ascent. My brother Mike, my nephew Andrew from Portland Oregon and I woke up early to 19ºf temps and scrambled from the lake at the base of the SW chute, and reached the summit pretty quick. The views are excellent. There was smoke from a fire down near Cedar Grove, but visibility was really good. Could have stayed up there all day, but it was really cold and windy. It snowed the next day.
muajee - Sep 9, 2010 3:25 pm Date Climbed: Aug 19, 2010
via SW Ridge/West Chute
Backpacked to Martha Lake from Florence Lake and went up via SW ridge.
Awesome view, awesome summit, and an awesome peak! We had the whole route and summit to ourselves. It's very cool to finally see the Ionian Basin in person (someday I will be there). It's also cool that we're the fifth party to sign the summit register this year, which makes me wonder.... We/I might actually made the first Taiwanese ascent of Goddard...?!! Due to its remoteness and not as famous as other landmarks close to the roads in the parks, it's highly possible....
I signed the register 10 days after you did. You're right Goddard is an amazing peak with an outstanding view. You should definitely visit the Ionian Basin. It's rough, but one of the most beautiful and remote places in the Sierra.
winemanvan - Mar 15, 2010 12:39 pm Date Climbed: Jun 21, 1977
One of the Best Views
From Martha Lake. It snowed for a couple of days, so we hunkered down at the small(frozen)lake between Martha and the Ionian Basin. When the weather cleared we scrambled up the SW ridge and enjoyed one of the best view of the Sierras. Amazing! I will climb it again this summer if all goes well.
murraymcleod - Jan 8, 2010 2:53 am Date Climbed: Aug 4, 1984
From Martha Lake
Climbed with Mark Danner and Keith Erke from Martha lake. Others (Steve Presho, Ryan Snedden) made it to the lower of the twin summits, but wouldn't cross the ridge to the real summit. All part of a Courtright/Hell for Sure/Martha L./Rainbow Lake/Blackcap Basin trip.
boyblue - Aug 13, 2009 6:32 pm Date Climbed: Aug 3, 1979
West-ish to East-ish Traverse
From Martha Lake I went up a steep chute on the west side of the southwest shoulder (exactly the opposite side of the ridge from the West Chute). Crossed over both summits and dropped down near Ionian to explore some of the lakes.
LakesideHiker - Aug 13, 2008 5:58 pm Date Climbed: Aug 2, 2008
NE Col from lake west of Goddard
Brought up my son (13 yrs), son-in-law and his brother (14 yrs). It was their first peak, and my first time to ascend Goddard. We had planned on going out through the Ionian Basin, but I lost a day due to altitude sickness. In the band between 12900 and 13300, we encountered a thick host of migrating Monarch butterflies. Clear weather, no smoke, was encountered at the top (you could see the coast range). A long drive from Montana, but it was worth the effort.
lefty - Jul 9, 2008 1:33 am Date Climbed: Jul 6, 2008
Starr's Route
Hiked from Evolution Lake. We found some class three on the way up but found a nice class 2 escape route on the way down to the east a little past the notch.
bechtt - Aug 1, 2007 5:25 pm Date Climbed: Jul 22, 2007
Starr's route (ascent); SW slope (descent)
Easy climb from Wanda Lake. Views were worth it. Descended via SW slope into the Ionian Basin. Peak #7 on JMT adventure.
Deb - Sep 29, 2023 8:11 pm Date Climbed: Sep 28, 2023
Dayhike+Daria and I stepped out for a daring dayhike of Mt Goddard on a beautiful Autumn day with the night before full moon glow. I have never in my life suffered and groaned quite so much as this 26.5 hour trek to get up Starr's Route for the summit and back down. No bivy, no naps, no crampons...just two chicks in trail runners go out in style to be miserable.
Yes, the summit was sporting some tremendous views, but what an f'ing slog getting there from that northern ridge. yuk
wmolland - Aug 31, 2022 5:56 pm Date Climbed: Aug 22, 2022
From Martha LakeI'm pretty sure there's no way to keep Starr's route 2nd class. That being said, the 3rd class steps are really fun! Going direct up the ridge is also good 3rd class fun.
colingregory - Jul 7, 2020 9:01 am Date Climbed: Jul 3, 2020
BackpackDay 1 we backpacked over Lamarck Col to Evolution Lake. I felt the cheeseburger from the night before and the altitude as we went up. At some points I actually thought of bailing on the trip. Once over the Col and down into Darwin Canyon I started feeling better so we continued our plan and camped at the southern end of Evolution Lake. On morning 2, I was ecstatic to be feeling better and open to joining on the Goddard dayhike. We got on the JMT north to Lake Wanda where we headed cross-country to the start of Starr's Route. We took on the additional challenge and started right from the toe, making a potential class 4 move at the beginning which may have been the crux of the whole climb. Once on the route, we slowly progressed up the class 3 sections until we found the ramp to the notch. After making the notch, we traveled over and up the talus pile to the top of Goddard. What a peak! We could see the entire High Sierra, recognizing peaks as far south as Langley and as far north as Clark. We jumped over and bagged Goddard West as well. The climb down was uneventful and we left the route to plunge step/glissade down a bit faster. We hiked back over to the JMT and took a swim in Lake Wanda before hiking back to our Evolution Lake camp. On the hike back we saw a coyote and 3 bucks! It was a very fun day in the mountains.
Cameron4834764 - Jun 17, 2020 11:47 am Date Climbed: Jun 15, 2020
Early season ascent up SouthwestSecond ever ascent of a 13er, the other being Mt Dana. Went up alone from Martha Lake. Took two days to reach Martha from Florence backpacking. Scenic at times but probably best to approach from the east for a shorter hike in. Route wasn't too terrible to find, though a lot of it was covered with snow. Could avoid snow for the most part but that put me on easy class 3 terrain at times. The ridge from south to north summit was quite exposed on the northwest side. The class 3 on the ridge was covered with snow and very scary to cross as it was steep on both sides (nearly vertical drop 1500ft on NW). Fell through the snow crossing it and nearly cried. In the future I would have set up anchors when crossing early season. Beautiful though and make it from Martha to the summit in 4 hours and back down in 2, traveling extremely slowly on the way up.
kevin trieu - Oct 1, 2018 9:31 pm Date Climbed: Sep 29, 2018
Windy summitapproached on Friday from North Lake and was treated to beautiful fall colors. camped @ Evolution Lake Friday night, moved camp to Wanda Lake and climbed from there. endless talus. summit in windy conditions with Juya Ghanaie. intended to climb Scylla and Solomon but lost the stoke due to broken tent and approaching storm.
urnotreal - Nov 11, 2014 9:46 pm Date Climbed: Aug 15, 2013
From Goddard Lake PassHit this guy up on the way out of Ionian Basin. A bit of a slog until the traverse between summits but phenomenal views at the top.
Romain - Sep 13, 2014 8:14 pm Date Climbed: Sep 11, 2014
Starr's routeFrom Wanda Lake. This is a nice route; some class 3 is almost unavoidable. Trip report
seano - Feb 4, 2012 2:01 pm Date Climbed: Sep 15, 2011
Starr's Route from Lake SabrinaApproaching over Haeckel Col is much shorter than over Lamarck Col, and easily done at night. Horrible choss-heap, but with spectacular views. Trip report
mrchad9 - Sep 6, 2011 3:02 pm Date Climbed: Sep 4, 2011
SE RidgeAfter the morning on Scylla during a long weekend in Ionian Basin, crossed Lake 11818 (literally, you can step from one peninsula to the other right in the middle) and worked my way over the the SE Ridge of Goddard. Followed the east ridge back to camp at Lake 11592 before humping it out to Wanda Lake for the last evening.
This peak is a gigantic loose pile of crap, not very interesting going up but the views are far and away the most comprehensive I have seen the in Sierra (I've noticed over the last couple years that no matter what peak I climbed Mount Goddard always seemed visible). Clears views from Lyell and Ritter to Whitney and Kaweah, could easily distingush 12 Emblem peaks (and I am sure Clarence King was in there somewhere too).
labgloves - Dec 20, 2010 1:25 pm Date Climbed: Sep 1, 2007
SW RidgePart of a weekly long backpack out of Courtright. Went to Martha via Gunsight Pass - exited via Hell for Sure pass.
winemanvan - Sep 14, 2010 2:17 pm Date Climbed: Aug 29, 2010
Thirty-three years laterI revisited this magnificent summit 33 years after my first ascent. My brother Mike, my nephew Andrew from Portland Oregon and I woke up early to 19ºf temps and scrambled from the lake at the base of the SW chute, and reached the summit pretty quick. The views are excellent. There was smoke from a fire down near Cedar Grove, but visibility was really good. Could have stayed up there all day, but it was really cold and windy. It snowed the next day.
muajee - Sep 9, 2010 3:25 pm Date Climbed: Aug 19, 2010
via SW Ridge/West ChuteBackpacked to Martha Lake from Florence Lake and went up via SW ridge.
Awesome view, awesome summit, and an awesome peak! We had the whole route and summit to ourselves. It's very cool to finally see the Ionian Basin in person (someday I will be there). It's also cool that we're the fifth party to sign the summit register this year, which makes me wonder.... We/I might actually made the first Taiwanese ascent of Goddard...?!! Due to its remoteness and not as famous as other landmarks close to the roads in the parks, it's highly possible....
winemanvan - Sep 14, 2010 2:08 pm
Re: via SW Ridge/West ChuteI signed the register 10 days after you did. You're right Goddard is an amazing peak with an outstanding view. You should definitely visit the Ionian Basin. It's rough, but one of the most beautiful and remote places in the Sierra.
winemanvan - Mar 15, 2010 12:39 pm Date Climbed: Jun 21, 1977
One of the Best ViewsFrom Martha Lake. It snowed for a couple of days, so we hunkered down at the small(frozen)lake between Martha and the Ionian Basin. When the weather cleared we scrambled up the SW ridge and enjoyed one of the best view of the Sierras. Amazing! I will climb it again this summer if all goes well.
murraymcleod - Jan 8, 2010 2:53 am Date Climbed: Aug 4, 1984
From Martha LakeClimbed with Mark Danner and Keith Erke from Martha lake. Others (Steve Presho, Ryan Snedden) made it to the lower of the twin summits, but wouldn't cross the ridge to the real summit. All part of a Courtright/Hell for Sure/Martha L./Rainbow Lake/Blackcap Basin trip.
Princess Buttercup - Nov 30, 2009 11:32 pm Date Climbed: Jul 6, 2008
Starr's RouteUp from EVO Lake.
boyblue - Aug 13, 2009 6:32 pm Date Climbed: Aug 3, 1979
West-ish to East-ish TraverseFrom Martha Lake I went up a steep chute on the west side of the southwest shoulder (exactly the opposite side of the ridge from the West Chute). Crossed over both summits and dropped down near Ionian to explore some of the lakes.
LakesideHiker - Aug 13, 2008 5:58 pm Date Climbed: Aug 2, 2008
NE Col from lake west of GoddardBrought up my son (13 yrs), son-in-law and his brother (14 yrs). It was their first peak, and my first time to ascend Goddard. We had planned on going out through the Ionian Basin, but I lost a day due to altitude sickness. In the band between 12900 and 13300, we encountered a thick host of migrating Monarch butterflies. Clear weather, no smoke, was encountered at the top (you could see the coast range). A long drive from Montana, but it was worth the effort.
lefty - Jul 9, 2008 1:33 am Date Climbed: Jul 6, 2008
Starr's RouteHiked from Evolution Lake. We found some class three on the way up but found a nice class 2 escape route on the way down to the east a little past the notch.
bechtt - Aug 1, 2007 5:25 pm Date Climbed: Jul 22, 2007
Starr's route (ascent); SW slope (descent)Easy climb from Wanda Lake. Views were worth it. Descended via SW slope into the Ionian Basin. Peak #7 on JMT adventure.