Headed up the North Fork of Big Pine Creek into the Palisades area, heart of the High Sierra, biggest concentration of fourteeners and glaciers. Iconic Temple Crag at left, distant North Palisade 14,265′, Thunderbolt Peak 14,022′ at center, foreground Mt. Robinson at right
After our experience yesterday, we are shopping for a more southerly exposure for better ski conditions, following our adage to ski the conditions, not the notoriety or numbers, which led us past all the big popular ski faces and couloirs, all the way north to the head of the canyon, here on Cloudripper 13,537′
Looking easterly past Sky Haven 12,896′, back down Big Pine Creek to the Inyo Mountains, across the Owens Valley far below.
Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Lakes from the top of Cloudripper
Eyelevel with giants; distant Mt. Birch, foreground Temple and Gayley, skylined Thumb, Sill, Middle Pal, Norman Clyde, North Pal, Thunderbolt, Winchell, Agassiz
Peering back across the Crest at the west slope headwaters of the Kings Canyons
Looking NW across the Bishop Pass trail from South Lake at right, Mt. Darwin skylined at center and Lamarck at right
Distant Mt. Humphreys at center, above the Owens Valley
Eight hours into our day, can we go for a ski run now?
Cloudripper. We skinned the fat gully system right of center, up the lookers left branch to the skyline, across right to the summit, then down the fall line gully to the right, which is split by the growing shadow, resisting the sexy looking, skinny little, shady, crusty gully between.
Looking across Fifth Lake at Two Eagle Peak and Cloudripper. The route finding this morning on the way up canyon was somewhat complicated, and we were trying to cover a lot of ground, so my buddy (twenty years younger btw), whipped out his phone and we followed the pings along the summer trails, to maximize efficiency. Usually we rely on route finding on sight, which is engaging on so many levels, but this seemed like good use of technology here today.
Crossing Third Lake beneath Mt. Robinson
Temple Crag above Third Lake
Final descent down Big Pine Creek in the lengthening shadows