Wed, Sep 2, 2020
|
With: | Robert Wu |
Robert and I had hoped to climb Dragon Tooth today, but after returning late
from Center Basin Crags we had to admit we were too tired for another involved
adventure. Instead, we decided on an easy half day outing to Peak 12,719ft,
above Golden Trout Lakes and northwest of Kearsarge Peak across Lilley Pass.
Though the distance is less than 3mi each way, there is nearly 3,500ft of gain
which keeps it from being a trivial outing. We started from the Onion
Valley parking lot (where we'd spent the night sleeping in our vehicles) at
6:15a, hiking
the trail to Golden Trout Lakes that
forks off
the Kearsarge Pass Trail. The trail
climbs steeply out of Onion Valley,
peters out in some boulder fields along the edge of the creek, then resumes in
the upper basin where the trail forks again. We
turned north and crossed
a marshy area to begin
the climb up to
Lilley Pass, a
surprisingly
tiring effort for such a short pass.
Sand and gravel conspire to make it one of the more tedious climbs,
nearly as tough as University Pass. We finally reached the
top of the pass around 8:30a, where we turned northwest for the final
25min climb to
the summit of Peak
12,719ft. There was more rock and less gradient on this section, making it an
easier affair than the pass had been. We were treated to fine views today, with
very little of the smoke and haze that had permeated the area the previous day.
We had views of the Sierra Crest from University in the south to Dragon Peak
to
the west and Diamond Peak to the northwest. Kearsarge Peak can be
seen across Lilley Pass to
the southeast, about 100ft lower than our
current perch. Robert
was resigned to visiting this SPS summit out of necessity, almost, even though
it looked most unappetizing from our vantage. I had climbed it more than a
decade earlier, so felt no such compunction. We left a register here before
returning to Lilley Pass where we
parted ways. Robert headed over
towards Kearsarge while I bombed my way
down Lilley Pass,
filling my boots with sand and gravel in the process. I took my time
descending back to
the trail and then down again to
Onion Valley, feeling no need to rush my return. After getting
back to
the TH shortly before 11a, I showered in the parking lot before
changing into fresh clothes and settling in for the 7hr drive home. It had been
a short day and a half in the mountains on this trip, but it seemed a rather
full one thanks to Center Basin Crags...
This page last updated: Fri Sep 4 09:56:30 2020
For corrections or comments, please send feedback to: snwbord@hotmail.com