TR: 6/16-26 2006 Climbs in Miter Basin
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 11:15 am
Sky Blue Lake Climbs June16-21, 2006
This is a trip from the past that show early season high snow conditions. The 2006 snow pack was 150% normal in the southern Sierra. I had applied for a Whitney permit to climb Mt Russel and Muir, but the FS mistakenly sent a permit for September 16-21 instead of June. Their mistake may have been a blessing, given the snow conditions. I declined the permit, received a refund and since we all had scheduled vacation time, my friend from Joshua Tree and my husband and I instead went into Sky Blue Lake. If climbing conditions were poor, it would at least be a scenic hike.
We met at Cottonwood Campground and spent a chilly evening relaxing and acclimating at 10,000 feet. After packing up crampons, helmets and ice axes, we agreed to forgo the rope and climb only what we could “with our wits.” Ellen, a minimalist went light with bivy only. Dave and I chose the luxury of our 2-main Mountain Hardware tent and camp shoes. I carried the bear canister so we would be minimally “legal”. We also brought 50 feet of cord to hang food that did not fit into the canister; this cord also saved the day on the return over New Army Pass.
June 16. Our goal was to get to Chicken Springs Lake. Our pace was slow, the trail snowy and we arrived mid-afternoon. We found campsites below the lake. I got bored so walked up to the lake, took a nice bath and enjoyed the view. After dinner I hiked down to the meadow to ponds full of frogs.
June 17. We left early and quickly were at the high point on the PCT. The view was great. We continued north until we reached Soldier Lake. A few jumps on creek crossings were at my limit! From Soldier Lake a use trail steeply switch backed up the hill. We traversed above Rock Creek where cliffs stopped our progress so we back tracked a short distance and dropped into Rock Creek. Ellen and I decided to wade and Dave managed to jump boulders. Once across we walked up another use trail, scrambling up a few rock benches then turn left into the Sky Blue Lake drainage. The bottom lands were very wet and swampy so we stayed above the creek and crossed many snowfields. The crux of the approach was the final bench to Sky Blue Lake. A little bit of easy class 2 scrambling and we reached the west side of the outlet creek. After much looking we chose a well-used site above the west shore of the lake, near a small melt pond. Crossing the outlet was tricky with full packs. We arrived mid afternoon greeted by an entire colony of marmots. We rested, read and rigged our tent footprint for shade. The marmots became quite bold. The lake was mostly frozen and melt water would pool on the ice during the day, but freeze solid at night. The snowfields had developed deep sun cups. After dinner and conversation we snuggled in our sleeping bags as the sun went down.
This is a trip from the past that show early season high snow conditions. The 2006 snow pack was 150% normal in the southern Sierra. I had applied for a Whitney permit to climb Mt Russel and Muir, but the FS mistakenly sent a permit for September 16-21 instead of June. Their mistake may have been a blessing, given the snow conditions. I declined the permit, received a refund and since we all had scheduled vacation time, my friend from Joshua Tree and my husband and I instead went into Sky Blue Lake. If climbing conditions were poor, it would at least be a scenic hike.
We met at Cottonwood Campground and spent a chilly evening relaxing and acclimating at 10,000 feet. After packing up crampons, helmets and ice axes, we agreed to forgo the rope and climb only what we could “with our wits.” Ellen, a minimalist went light with bivy only. Dave and I chose the luxury of our 2-main Mountain Hardware tent and camp shoes. I carried the bear canister so we would be minimally “legal”. We also brought 50 feet of cord to hang food that did not fit into the canister; this cord also saved the day on the return over New Army Pass.
June 16. Our goal was to get to Chicken Springs Lake. Our pace was slow, the trail snowy and we arrived mid-afternoon. We found campsites below the lake. I got bored so walked up to the lake, took a nice bath and enjoyed the view. After dinner I hiked down to the meadow to ponds full of frogs.
June 17. We left early and quickly were at the high point on the PCT. The view was great. We continued north until we reached Soldier Lake. A few jumps on creek crossings were at my limit! From Soldier Lake a use trail steeply switch backed up the hill. We traversed above Rock Creek where cliffs stopped our progress so we back tracked a short distance and dropped into Rock Creek. Ellen and I decided to wade and Dave managed to jump boulders. Once across we walked up another use trail, scrambling up a few rock benches then turn left into the Sky Blue Lake drainage. The bottom lands were very wet and swampy so we stayed above the creek and crossed many snowfields. The crux of the approach was the final bench to Sky Blue Lake. A little bit of easy class 2 scrambling and we reached the west side of the outlet creek. After much looking we chose a well-used site above the west shore of the lake, near a small melt pond. Crossing the outlet was tricky with full packs. We arrived mid afternoon greeted by an entire colony of marmots. We rested, read and rigged our tent footprint for shade. The marmots became quite bold. The lake was mostly frozen and melt water would pool on the ice during the day, but freeze solid at night. The snowfields had developed deep sun cups. After dinner and conversation we snuggled in our sleeping bags as the sun went down.