Sun, Aug 14, 2022
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The last day of the 2022 Sierra Challenge saw us at the Cottonwood TH for the
relatively easy outing to unofficially named Bullfrog Meadow Peak. The peak
lies in the Golden Trout Wilderness to the south, west of Mulkey Meadow and
just south of Bullfrog Meadow, about 13mi roundtrip with 3,000ft of gain.
Nearby Peak 10,100ft would add some extra mileage and gain to the totals as a
bonus peak. Not surprisingly, we had a large gathering for the 6a
start, including the trio from
the pink squad who had coordinated their
wardrobe to
be as colorful as they could manage for this last outing. Dylan had more than
15hrs on the next closest competitor (Sean C) for the Yellow Jersey, so this
was really just a formality. For the Polka Dot Jersey, Chris held a half peak
lead over Tom, so his strategy was to simply follow Tom and keep him from
sneaking in an extra peak. Tom would have to be satisfied with the Green
Jersey lead which was unassailable by this time.
We followed the trail system south, up and over
Trail Pass and
then down to
Mulkey Meadow. At a trail junction in the large meadow, I turned left with a
group of participants, continuing for another mile or so. Some of us had plans
to visit Peak 10,100ft, the reason for taking the fork we did. For those
heading to Bullfrog Meadow Peak, the right (west) branch would have been a
better choice. The pink squad
followed me when I left the trail,
heading southeast
and then south for the bonus peak. Others stopped on the trail to consult maps
or phones, recognizing that we weren't heading to Bullfrog Meadow Peak. We
paid those stalled at the trail little mind - they would figure it out soon
enough. The four of us climbed out of the meadow and onto the forested slopes
leading to Peak 10,100ft.
We passed just east of an interesting point on the way. Pt. 9,800ft+
looked to be class 3, but none of us were interested enough to check it out.
Further south through forest and granite boulders we caught sight of
Peak 10,100ft
which would turn out to be yet more interesting. The summit ridge is a
collection of granite blocks neatly stacked along a ridgeline to give us a
challenge. The direct route up
the northwest spine looked hard, so we
moved left to tackle it from the north side. This was a class 3-4 effort on
large, solid blocks
softened by lichen to keep us on our toes. It took
about ten minutes to work our way up through
a crux section to
the top where we
arrived around 8:45a. Though it has little
prominence, it proved a fun little summit where we left
a register
while we taking in the views. It was a fairly clear day with views stretching
out over the Southern Sierra and Golden Trout Wilderness, far south past
Olancha and Kern Peaks. To
the west could be seen the modest
Bullfrog Meadow Peak rising up across the southern extent of Mulkey Meadow,
and it was to this we next turned our attention.
Three of us went back down from the summit rocks via the same route,
Tom
following the ridge and pronouncing it an easier way to the summit afterwards.
We then headed back north and northwest through forest. I got ahead of the
others who were taking a more leisurely pace. I crossed over sandy
Mulkey Meadow without seeing the others behind me. I headed into more
forest and up slopes that would bring me to the summit of Bullfrog Meadow Peak
from the east. This was an easier affair, though it did have
class 2-3 summit rocks that would provide views looking over much of
the surrounding forest. I found Mason, Emma and Lucas
at the top,
looking like they had nowhere in particular
to be. Seven others had been to the summit and already left. There was no
register here, so we got out another one and added
all the names of
the folks that had preceded us. 15min later, the
pink trio showed up
for a total of seven. Their names were
dutifully added
before we left the new register under
a small cairn. I had had lofty plans to visit other bonus peaks further west,
but had not the desire nor energy to do so now.
Our group of seven split up as we descended the peak via slightly varying
routes. I went off the northwest side down to Bullfrog Meadow where I
picked up
a trail on the meadow's northern edge. I was on my own for
a long while, but eventually caught up with Mason, Lucas and Emma
around Trail Pass. They had Adam and Megan in tow with them, and the
six of us would
stay mostly together
for the descent back to Horseshoe Meadow. It was close to 1p by the time we
returned to the TH and found the after-party in session over by Jim's RV and
Evan's camper. We expected the pink shirts to be shortly behind us, but when
they didn't show after an hour, we wondered if they'd gone off for other bonus
peaks. They hadn't, and were just taking it easy today.
They eventually
made their return around 1:45p, the last of the day's
adventurers to come back to the fold. We had some celebration and
congratulating
the jersey winners before folks began to trickle off
towards home. I would spent 4-5hrs driving myself out of California and
halfway across Nevada before finding a cool spot at Currant Summit on US6 to
spend the night, sometime after 9p. It wasn't yet time
for me to head home as I was off to Colorado for a few weeks. Adventure
never sleeps...
Continued...
This page last updated: Sat Sep 10 16:29:09 2022
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