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Recommends...
The High Sierra: Peaks, Passes, and Trails
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Day Climb of Vogelsang Peak's Northeast Buttress Route
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Although it looked steep, I guessed that the Northeast Buttress would ultimately prove an exciting, though only class 3 climbing endeavor. My bigger initial fear was that the North Ridge would prove the bigger challenge. Had I bothered to read Secor's description of the 5.9 Nightingale Arete route, I would have found out that the ridge is "class 2-3".
We cruised up the trail from the Vogelsang High Sierra camp and quickly came to the point where we'd leave the trail to begin the climb. We hadn't decided beforehand which route we'd take. To encourage Kim, I remarked (as I had done countless times before) on the aesthetically pleasing nature of the Northeast Buttress and how fun it looked to climb. She sounded unimpressed at this prospect, so I continued on, figuring that we'd do the standard route. After thirty seconds, I turned around to see Kim standing there, staring up at the route. Aha! My goading had worked! After a few harsh words, we climbed diagonally to the base of the climb, where slabs give way to loose-looking (but quite solid) boulders and talus.
After 150 feet of class 3 scrambling and avoiding scrub pines, the route steepens and narrows until it gains the North Ridge. For most of the remaining 250 feet, class 3 routes can be found over the steep-but-fractured granite blocks. However, at least two class 4 sections are unavoidable if one is to stay on the buttress. Near the top of the buttress, just before gaining the North Ridge, you can a) climb fifth class rock directly or b) edge out onto the west face for a few highly exposed class 3 moves. Once onto the North Ridge, the climbing is initially exposed class 3 bouldering with exposure, but quickly lessens to a walk-up all the way to the summit.
Although we tend not to enjoy forging up unknown class 4 routes without a rope, the exceptionally solid rock (light granite with large feldspar crystals) gave us faith that everything would work out. Upon gaining the North Ridge, I felt great relief that the ridge was far wider than it appeared on the topo map. Aside from some exhiliarating walking over an exposed catwalk, the half mile to the true summit was simply a sandy hike. We high-fived our achievement (and safety) and took in the wonderful views and nice weather from the summit, then descended the tedious standard route before packing up our camp at Fletcher Lake and heading home for the weekend.
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Department of Geophysics Stanford University |
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