(click on any photo to enlarge) The next peak on my quest to climb the California 14ers was Mt Williamson. Mt Williamson is the second highest peak in California and the 5th highest peak in the continental United States. Williamson is only 120 ft lower than Mt Whitney and much more difficult to climb, even by the easiest route, therefore it sees fewer climbers. Williamson also lies within the Bighorn Sheep Zoological Preserve and is closed from July 15 to December 15. Permits to climb the mountain are very hard to get and must be attained months in advance. Luckily my OCD tendencies paid off for once and I applied for and received a permit in February. (Be careful what you wish for, cuz you just might get it) So on Tuesday morning me and my climbing partners Gregor and Funk drove south on 395 to the sprawling metropolis of Independence. Our departure point was the Shepherds Pass Trailhead. We left the car and headed up the canyon for the 11 mile, 6000 ft climb to Shepherds Pass. After about 6 hours we settled in at a campsite just below the pass at about 11,500ft, ate some dinner and tried to get some sleep before our big day on Wednesday. I felt crappy and to top it off I punctured my thermarest and ended up sleeping on the cold, hard ground. I woke up less than chipper and assembled my gear for our early departure. It took us less than an hour to gain the Pass and head toward the Williamson Bowl.
The Bowl is a massive basin carved millions of years ago by glaciers and contains five large lakes. Within the Bowl one must climb and descend three 300ft 'humps' and circumnavigate the lakes in order to get to the West Face Route.
Once we finally got to the base of the climb, I really started to think I had over estimated my mountaineering capabilities as looking up at the 1000ft vertical chute we were to climb scared the crap out of me.
I put my fears aside and started up the chute. About half way up, the chute was choked with snow so we had to move right onto rock in order to continue our upward progress. This is where I had my fight or flight moment. If we had crampons and ice axes I would have felt very comfortable ascending the snow, but the vertical rock ledges we needed to overcome spooked me a bit. Luckily Gregor is a former Guide and a very experienced climber and in typical guide fashion gave me the 'you can do it' speech and led the way. After about four or five moves we were back to climbing rock I was more comfortable with. At the top of the chute there lies a chimney that must be climbed to reach the summit plateau. We stopped at the bottom of the chimney to take our packs off for the one pitch, 30ft vertical crux of the route. As Gregor and Funk were munching on some grub, I asked Gregor if I could lead up the chimney. He smiled and said 'go for it!' I focused on every hand hold and foot hold and after about ten moves I pulled myself up over the top of the wall to see the Owens Valley 10,000ft below me! I let out a loud 'Yahoo!' and Gregor and Funk knew I had made it. From the top of the chimney it is a short talus and boulder hop to the true summit. I was so pumped I almost ran the rest of the way. While standing on the top of the summit I felt strong and confident even though a half an hour earlier I was scared shitless. Such is mountain climbing. Funk and Gregor then arrived with huge grins on their faces and I could tell they felt like I did.
We signed the summit register and took the obligatory summit photos and then started the hardest part of any climb, the descent. I led down the chimney and we continued down the chute back into the Bowl. At this point I finally started to feel good. Probably because I knew what to expect on the way back through the 'humps'. After 10 hours we fell into camp and ate dinner while being eaten alive by the dreaded Sierra bloodsuckers. I was tired but happy and slept good even though I had no mattress to protect my hips from the granite ball bearings under my Easty quilt. We awoke to a beautiful sunrise and packed up for the 11 mile hike back to the car. We made it down in about 4 1/2 hours and immediately headed to Amigo's in Bishop for Mexican food and Negra Modelos. We drove home with full bellys, telling stories of previous mountain epics. Sleeping in my own bed was heaven on Thursday night. Note to self - get a new Thermarest! Well- 2 down, 13 to go!! (Coincidentally, Williamson was Gregor's fourteenth 14'er. He has just Starlight to do, which he has attempted three times!) Next is the Tahoe-Yosemite Trail with Christi, Funk and T-Funk for our summer vacation. We'll get dropped off in Tuolomne Meadows and walk north 185 miles to Lake Tahoe. Until then................
(click on any photo to enlarge) The next peak on my quest to climb the California 14ers was Mt Williamson. Mt Williamson is the second highest peak in California and the 5th highest peak in the continental United States. Williamson is only 120 ft lower than Mt Whitney and much more difficult to climb, even by the easiest route, therefore it sees fewer climbers. Williamson also lies within the Bighorn Sheep Zoological Preserve and is closed from July 15 to December 15. Permits to climb the mountain are very hard to get and must be attained months in advance. Luckily my OCD tendencies paid off for once and I applied for and received a permit in February. (Be careful what you wish for, cuz you just might get it) So on Tuesday morning me and my climbing partners Gregor and Funk drove south on 395 to the sprawling metropolis of Independence. Our departure point was the Shepherds Pass Trailhead. We left the car and headed up the canyon for the 11 mile, 6000 ft climb to Shepherds Pass. After about 6 hours we settled in at a campsite just below the pass at about 11,500ft, ate some dinner and tried to get some sleep before our big day on Wednesday. I felt crappy and to top it off I punctured my thermarest and ended up sleeping on the cold, hard ground. I woke up less than chipper and assembled my gear for our early departure. It took us less than an hour to gain the Pass and head toward the Williamson Bowl.
The Bowl is a massive basin carved millions of years ago by glaciers and contains five large lakes. Within the Bowl one must climb and descend three 300ft 'humps' and circumnavigate the lakes in order to get to the West Face Route.
Once we finally got to the base of the climb, I really started to think I had over estimated my mountaineering capabilities as looking up at the 1000ft vertical chute we were to climb scared the crap out of me.
I put my fears aside and started up the chute. About half way up, the chute was choked with snow so we had to move right onto rock in order to continue our upward progress. This is where I had my fight or flight moment. If we had crampons and ice axes I would have felt very comfortable ascending the snow, but the vertical rock ledges we needed to overcome spooked me a bit. Luckily Gregor is a former Guide and a very experienced climber and in typical guide fashion gave me the 'you can do it' speech and led the way. After about four or five moves we were back to climbing rock I was more comfortable with. At the top of the chute there lies a chimney that must be climbed to reach the summit plateau. We stopped at the bottom of the chimney to take our packs off for the one pitch, 30ft vertical crux of the route. As Gregor and Funk were munching on some grub, I asked Gregor if I could lead up the chimney. He smiled and said 'go for it!' I focused on every hand hold and foot hold and after about ten moves I pulled myself up over the top of the wall to see the Owens Valley 10,000ft below me! I let out a loud 'Yahoo!' and Gregor and Funk knew I had made it. From the top of the chimney it is a short talus and boulder hop to the true summit. I was so pumped I almost ran the rest of the way. While standing on the top of the summit I felt strong and confident even though a half an hour earlier I was scared shitless. Such is mountain climbing. Funk and Gregor then arrived with huge grins on their faces and I could tell they felt like I did.
We signed the summit register and took the obligatory summit photos and then started the hardest part of any climb, the descent. I led down the chimney and we continued down the chute back into the Bowl. At this point I finally started to feel good. Probably because I knew what to expect on the way back through the 'humps'. After 10 hours we fell into camp and ate dinner while being eaten alive by the dreaded Sierra bloodsuckers. I was tired but happy and slept good even though I had no mattress to protect my hips from the granite ball bearings under my Easty quilt. We awoke to a beautiful sunrise and packed up for the 11 mile hike back to the car. We made it down in about 4 1/2 hours and immediately headed to Amigo's in Bishop for Mexican food and Negra Modelos. We drove home with full bellys, telling stories of previous mountain epics. Sleeping in my own bed was heaven on Thursday night. Note to self - get a new Thermarest! Well- 2 down, 13 to go!! (Coincidentally, Williamson was Gregor's fourteenth 14'er. He has just Starlight to do, which he has attempted three times!) Next is the Tahoe-Yosemite Trail with Christi, Funk and T-Funk for our summer vacation. We'll get dropped off in Tuolomne Meadows and walk north 185 miles to Lake Tahoe. Until then................
