Rock Climbing at Owen's River Gorge

Rock Climbing at Owen's River Gorge -

This past Friday I found myself traveling down to Owen's River Gorge outside of Bishop, California to do a little bit of sport climbing. The weather turned out to be perfect. Sunny skies with cool morning, warm daytime temps, and cool evenings. We opted to camp at the free campground up the road. This trip was the first significant outdoor climbing trip of the season for me.

We arrived after about a four hour drive from Reno in time to catch a few 5.9s on the left side of the Great Wall of China. After the sun caught up with us we switched over to the Warm Up Wall to finish the day. The following day we caught some great climbing on a climb named Paradise (5.9) followed by a nearby 10c arete and a 5.7. We moved over to the more crowded Pub Wall and did several climbs there before moving on to the Negress Wall and back to the Warm Up Wall. Our final day finished with a 10a, 10b, and three 9s all on the left hand side of the Great Wall of China. In total 21 climbs ranging from 5.6 to 5.10c, all excellent quality.

Owen's River Gorge is reputed to be the best sport climbing in California. With over 700 routes to choose from, winter climbing a possibility, and shade or sun available depending upon where you choose to climb, I can see why it is so appealing. In fact, we met several people from Colorado and Utah who had come just to climb the gorge. Newton and I were impressed that the place was not overbolted or grid bolted, and that the crowds seemed very reasonable. We'll certainly be returning!

Last Climb at Lee Vining

Spring Ice at Lee Vining Canyon -

Gwen Linde and I returned to Lee Vining Canyon for one last ice climb of the season. It turns out that the ice was very wet and mushy, although still leadable, particularly in the morning. Great for hard toproping! However, if you choose lead make sure you do it in the morning before the ice gets too mushy. My guess is that there won't be a bit of ice left by the end of March.

Matanuska Glacier Trip, 2005, Republished

Mount Marcus Baker Attempt, March 2005 -

During March of 2005 Sarah Masco, Andy Mahoney, Sean Bemis, and I decided to attempt to climb Mount Marcus Baker, the highest point in the Chugach Mountains. We knew that we would need a spell of good weather as the mountain had a reputation for being quite windy. Afterall, it is at the crest of the Chugach and is quite exposed to weather systems coming off of the Gulf of Alaska. Sean snapped the photograph at the top of the page from the window of an Alaska Airlines jet.

We began our trip from Mike Meekin's place just up the road from where Sarah was living in Chickaloon. High winds delayed us for two days, but once out we were greeted by beautiful scenery. Mike is a very skilled pilot, but his Super Cub is tiny. Therefore, we each had to be ferried in individually. I was the last to arrive just before sundown and was greeted by cold temperatures. Luckily, the others had the tents up and we went to work building a sturdy snow wall that turned out to be very much needed. That night the weather set in and we were grounded for three days. The storm deposited a lot of snow and we were forced to go outside about every hour or two to clear off the tents. Finally, on the final day of the storm the weather improved somewhat and we got out to dig a snowcave, which ended up being far more comfortable than two tents.

After one night in the snowcave the sun broke out and presented us with a choice. Should we move camp up the mountain to a an exposed plateau or should we head down glacier and attempt smaller peaks near the Scandinavian Glacier Hut? Given that we were wet and cold we decided to head for the hut.

The hut turned out to be a nice option. Besides giving us a chance to dry out it was stocked with books, magazines, and games, all of which turned out to be useful because nasty windy weather set in the following day. The day after proved to be beautiful, so we decided to make an attempt on Finland Peak. On a previous trip in 1998 I had stayed at this exact hut and climbed Norway Peak and Denmark Peak. I was eager to give Finland a shot. Plus Finland offered one of the nicest ski descents, as well as a summit ridge that featured some alpine ice climbing.

Photos from left to right:

View of Mt. Marcus Baker from the Matanuska Glacier, Finland Peak, and the Scandinavian Glacier Hut.

Photos from left to right:

Sarah climbing the final slopes to the summit of Finland Peak, the summit ridge of Finland Peak, group photo on the summit.

Return to Lee Vining Canyon

Facing the Bard Head On -

This was my third week climbing ice at Lee Vining Canyon with Gwen Linde. After leading single pitches on the Chouinard Wall and the Bard Harrington Wall. We decided it was time to climb all 3 or 4 pitches of Bard Harrington. The ice in the canyon is still in excellent condition. It's north facing exposure ensures that minimal sun reaches the wall. Nonetheless, it is still recommended to get an early start and avoid the left hand side during the afternoon. Gwen and I witnessed several large icicles detach around 3 pm two weeks ago.

We ended up splitting the route into four pitches, although we probably could have completed it in three. Luckily for me it meant splitting the crux pitch into two manageable pitches. The two middle pitches probably went at about WI 3+ or 4-, which was perfect for me.

Top photo: Bard Harrington Wall on the left, Main Wall in the center (kind of hard to see), and Chouinard Wall on the far right, which appears to be the favorite for mountaineering clubs.

Bottom photo: I'm following the first pitch on Bard Harrington.