This would be the fourth trip to Mt. Ritter for John and me, and the
second for the rest of the group, except for the newcomer, Martin. As apparent from the list of
participants, I have a certain personal/familial interest in Mt. Ritter, although
I have yet to find a direct link to Karl Ritter, after whom Whitney named "our" mountain.
Nathan and I arose bright and early to beat the 7:30 closing of
the Minaret Summit road (shuttle buses only after then), Jake stopped
by, and we hit Agnew Meadows by about 7:15. On a typically beautiful sunny
Sierra early-summer day, we hiked a couple of miles up
the Pacific Crest Trail, stopping several times to survey Ritter and
Banner across the way. There was a lot of snow up there this year, after a heavy
snow winter, plus we were a couple of weeks earlier in the season than the
last time we had been around. We hiked the High Trail as far as Two Teats,
and decided it was time to get Jake back so he could drive back to the L.A.
area before dark.
We started getting things organized for the trek to
Thousand Island Lake and beyond. John, Lindy and the boys arrived
about five p.m., and we did a little organizing before grabbing dinner
at an Italian spot across the road. Lori, Jesse, and Martin arrived
about 8:30, after we had things pretty well under control for the stuff
the earlier crowd had brought in. John and I ended up with about 55
pounds each, at least 5 less than the last time. Nathan got his
requisite 15 pounds (25% body weight), and we didn't have to leave
anything critical behind after passing our light tent off for Martin to
haul. Once again, time to crash for a very early start again in the
morning to beat the road closing. Tomorrow the trip starts for real!
We managed to get everyone up early and over the Minaret Summit
road, down to Agnew Meadows. The trip started off fine with great views
from the Pacific Crest Trail over the valley to the Ritter Range,
Shadow Lake, and the falls on Shadow Creek down from Shadow Lake to the
San Joaquin River. Shadow Creek looked particularly active with snow
melt from the winter's bumper crop.
As we walked, we watched the ceiling close
in first on Mt. Ritter, then Banner Peak, and steadily move down to the
12,000' level. Still, we pressed on toward our stated goal for the day
of Thousand Island Lake. As we approached Badger Lakes, it began to
snow (SNOW???) intermittently, and the wind came up. As the younger
kids were pretty well tuckered out, we selected a sheltered campsite
near one of the small ponds in the Badger Lakes group. Dinner was
prepared and consumed, and we settled down for the night, assuming that
the storm would blow over and we would be able to proceed as planned on
Tuesday. Far from dying down, the winds picked up overnight, as
evidenced by the singing pines and the low roar coming down the valley
from Thousand Island Lake.
After lunch, John and I decided to head up to
Thousand Island Lake, reconnoiter the route over the pass, and cache
some food for an attempt to stay true to plan, if one day late. Lori
came along with us, and the three of us reached Thousand Island Lake in
good order. As expected, the snow was heavier up there, and the wind
much stronger than at our sheltered campsite. We had obviously chosen
well when selecting a site, as the winds were extremely strong, and
there is little natural shelter around the lake. In addition, the
heavy over-winter snows had only recently melted out around the lake
shore, and there was virtually no dry ground handy for a camp. The
trail was alternately under water and under snow. We did spot a couple
of isolated bear tracks in the mud, but did not see the critters
themselves.
Upon reaching the far end of the lake, we found a convenient clump of trees in which to cache the food and said a silent prayer that Brother Bear had better sense than we did, and would stay inside his den. We then beat a retreat back to our campsite at Badger Lakes, fixed dinner, and settled down for the night.
The morning dawned a bit brighter, with the
clouds lifting and presenting an Ansel-Adams-esque view of Ritter and
Banner from our bear-bag spot on a cliff above the steep talus slope
next to our campsite. However, the wind was still blowing fairly
strongly, so, discretion being the better part of valor, Lori and Lindy decided
that they should take the kids back to civilization instead
of being stuck in a snowstorm at 9,500' for a couple more days. We
broke camp, and Lori, Lindy, Martin, Jesse, Andy, David, and Nathan
headed back down toward Agnew Meadows. Meanwhile, John and I headed up
toward Thousand Island Lake and North Glacier Pass.
Even with a late start, the morning started off well enough, but the
clouds and snow returned all too quickly. John and I located our
cached food (Brother Bear definitely did have better sense than we!)
and used the shelter of the clump of wind-blown pines (a real John Muir
campsite!) to eat our lunch. As we walked up the snowfields from
Thousand Island Lake over the low ridge and into the valley leading up
to North Glacier Pass, the snow became ever heavier and the winds
stronger. By the time we had reached the one-third mark up to the
pass, we were in a veritable blizzard of popcorn snow driven into our
faces by a 40-mile-per-hour wind screaming down the pass. The still
air temperature was down in the 20's, and the wind chill certainly well
below zero. Not exactly what we had assumed for conditions on June 26!
With visibility rapidly falling to 100 feet or less, we decided it was
foolhardy to try to make it over the pass and down past Lake
Catherine and on to Ritter Lakes. We turned around and headed back to
Badger Lakes. There had already been at least six to eight inches of
new snow at the 10,500' altitude we reached, with the promise of much
more higher than that. It was snowing so hard that by the time we
dropped back a mere 200' or so, we could no longer see our tracks, and
had to make our way based on the few landmarks we could see in the
driving snow. The hike back past Thousand Island Lake proved only
marginally more pleasant with the wind at our backs, as the clouds
rapidly descended to the 10,000' level of the lake and visibility
dropped to a hundred yards or so even when the snow relented for a few
minutes. We set up our minimal camp in moderate snow, made a quick
freeze-dried dinner, hung the bear bag alongside one we had left at the
campsite with food for the planned return, and hit the sack by about
7:30 p.m. The snow tapered off during the night, and the sky began to
clear, as evidenced by dappled moonlight shining on the tent about 11:00
p.m.
When John and I awoke about 6:30 a.m., camp was
frozen solid. The temperature had dropped substantially overnight, and
the remnants of the previous day's snow, along with a heavy frost,
coated the campsite. Despite the morning's clear skies and abundant
sunshine, we were convinced we had made the best decision in backing
down the previous day. My summer (mosquito-net roof) tent would have
been inadequate shelter in the sort of driving snowstorm we would have
walked into on the windward side of the Ritter Range. We managed to
get things halfway dried out and packed to hit the trail by about
8:30.
As we trudged back down to Agnew Meadows, Mt. Ritter and Banner
Peak, in their fresh covering of snow, mocked us from across the
valley. Unfortunately, we were just one or two days too early, but the
realities of jobs, vacation schedules, and families prevented us from
extending the trip beyond the one slack day we had built into the
schedule (and used sitting in camp on Tuesday). Certainly to try to
hike over North Glacier Pass Thursday, climb Ritter on Friday, (assuming
the weather would hold) and make it back to Badger
Lakes the same (a very long day, at best), then walk out according to
our original plan on Saturday would have stretched us to the limit and
left no margin for error.
The hike back was chilly but clear, with a forest of icicles hanging from
foliage and twigs over each little creek splashing down from the ridge
between June Mountain and Mammoth Mountain. It had been cold enough the
night before that even hardy alpine plants were frozen and wilted.
When we returned to Agnew Meadows and the motel in Mammoth Lakes, we found that Lindy, Lori, and the boys had made the eight-mile trek back the previous day and had enjoyed their first night back in civilization with showers and the motel's hot tub.
Set back once again, this time by a freak summer snowstorm rather than
the mountain proper, we were convinced that we had made the right
decisions, both in bringing the kids back a day early, and in backing
down from conditions we were ill-prepared to deal with ourselves.
Temporarily set back, but not defeated...I will return again to attempt
"my" mountain. I suspect that it will be with a different group...none
of the kids is interested in another Sierra "adventure" in the near
future, and Lindy had once said she would never try that sort of
expedition again (after our previous attempt via Ediza Lake two years
ago), then relented...but never again!
A rather disappointed drive back to Reno...one last chance to look longingly
at Banner and Ritter from Route 395 between Mammoth and Lee Vining. Another
stop at Bodie, at least, for more photography. Then we overnighted in Reno,
returning to St. Louis on 30 June. Mt. Ritter continues to
taunt me, but I do not give up easily!
To quote General Douglas MacArthur: I shall return!
24 September 1996, Alan Ritter