Dayhiking the California 14ers
2001 - 2004

Aug 11, 2001, 12hrs: Split Mtn
As part of the 2001 Sierra Challenge, three of us set out from the Red Lake TH at 6a. I found the trail to be much better than advertised (I only lost it once, and that was on the way down), and after the first couple hours the scenery was very impressive. The first close-up view of Split Mtn comes just before reaching Red Lake, and the East Face of it, adorned in many hues of red, orange, white, and brown, is gorgeous. In the morraine field above Red Lake, Toby decided to stop, and here he took a nap for several hours until we returned. David and I continued up the steep, loose slopes to the Sierra Crest, then up Split Mtn. David struggled in that last half mile, and it took some extra encouragement to get him going all the way to the top (he had stopped short of the summit on a previous trip). It was well worth the effort! On our way back we paused to collect Toby, then the three of us retraced our steps back to the trailhead.

May 25, 2002, 12hrs: Mt. Shasta
I had already climbed Mt. Shasta once, but this second time I came back with brothers Ron and Tom. Starting not long after 3a, we proceded by headlamp all the way to Helen Lake in those wee hours of the morning. From Helen Lake we proceded with crampons to the top of Avalanche Gulch where we greeted the morning sun for the first time. It was bitterly cold (for Californians) even with the sun. Ron wasn't feeling so good by this time and decided to turn around, leaving Tom and I to head to the peak. It was a much better experience than my first time on Shasta, with less wind and actual views of where we were going. Tom slowed considerably, but kept at it tenaciously, and was eventually rewarded with the summit where we both spent a few short, but triumphant moments atop the world.

July 9, 2002, 16hr20m: Mt. Williamson
This was the most exhausting of the 14er dayhikes, some 28 miles and 9,000ft of elevation gain. I had tried the same hike less than a month earlier with two other climbers, but exhaustion and time got the best of us when we retreated partway up the West Face. This time I came back with Paul who was planning to go no further Shepherd Crest. After the first hour we were no longer hiking together, so for all intents it was a solo hike. The hike up to Shepherd Pass is hard enough - 11 miles, 6,000ft, but then one has to cross two miles of Williamson Bowl which I found very tiring and time consuming. The climb of the chute on the West Face was another slog up endless talus for two hours, followed by a short, but fun class 3 section to the Williamson Plateau. I was pretty spent and almost dellusional by the time I returned to the trailhead, but happy in the success that I'd climbed the hardest of the bunch.

July 19, 2002, 5hrs: White Mountain Peak
This is the easiest of all the 14ers. While on vacation with the family in Mammoth, I convinced my brother Ron to join me for a hike up White Mtn Peak. We spent more time driving to and from the trailhead than we did on the actual hike. Fairly acclimatized from being in Mammoth the last several days, we had no trouble with the altitude and had a pleasant walk to the summit. Being a weekday, we had the entire place to ourselves, not meeting another soul the whole time. Aside from the awesome views, the highlights were meeting the pen of Bighorn Sheep at the Barcroft Station along the route, and then visiting the Bristlecone Pine forest afterwards.

Aug 21, 2002, 14hr: Thunderbolt Peak - Starlight Peak - North Palisade - Polemonium Peak
This was the most technically challenging of all the days spent chasing 14ers, though not the most demanding time-wise (that honor goes to Mt. Williamson). Starting from South Lake with two companions, we hiked up to Bishop Pass, then cross-country across Dusy Basin, over Thunderbolt Pass, and up the Southwest Chute to Thunderbolt's summit block. Using a rope we'd brought with us, we rigged up a means to ascend the summit block, but my companions balked after watching me go first. Guess I didn't make it look easy enough. While they returned the same route, I continued along the amazing NW Ridge to first Starlight, then North Palisade. Feeling pretty good after descending to the top of the U-Notch, I decided to add Polemonium, an easy side trip from the U-Notch. I headed down the southwest side of the U-Notch, then back along the base of North Palisade to Thundebolt Pass and a return to South Lake.

Aug 22, 2002, 10hr30m: Middle Palisade
Following on the heels of the previous hard day, Middle Palisade was easier, but still hard. I had failed the previous year on Middle Palisade, motivating me greatly to not do so again. Knowledge from the first day helped with route-finding once we left the trail, and our party of four made good time to Finger Lake. Heading up to the glacier, two of our party decided to turn around, leaving only Vishal and I at the base of the mountain. We enjoyed the climb to the summit a great deal, even taking a variation on the descent just for fun. We ran across some Germans on the descent who appeared to be horrible climbers, knocking down just about every rock they could find - the most dangerous part of the whole day was avoiding them.

Aug 24, 2002, 10hr50m: Mt. Russell - Mt. Whitney - Mt. Muir
We had a large party heading out for Mt. Russell via the East Ridge from Whitney Portal. At Lower Boy Scout Lake several had already fallen behind, and by Upper Boy Scout Lake I found myself climbing alone, the others in various parties behind. I took the Rockwell Variation to the Russell-Carillon Saddle, tagged Carillon, then headed up Russell's East Ridge. After North and Middle Palisades the past few days, Russell seemed pretty tame. After reaching the summit, I descended the South Face and then climbed Whitney's North Face. There were many climbers atop Whitney, making for a party atmosphere. Returning via the Whitney Trail, I stopped for the short climb up to Mt. Muir, then back down to Whitney Portal (trying hard to avoid the rangers since I had no permit to be on the trail).

Aug 14, 2003, 12hr15m: Mt. Sill
Michael and I set out to climb Mt. Sill from the Glacier Lodge TH on the North Fork of Big Pine Creek. After a long hike up to the Palisade Glacier, we donned crampons and used our ice axes to tackle the icy slopes up towards Glacier Notch. We met another climber out by himself on the glacier, and he decided to join us for the climb up Mt. Sill. There was little snow left in the North Couloir, but much loose talus and sand instead. I made a slight diversion to climb the top of Apex Peak from the top of the couloir, then joined the others for the short class 4 section up to the SW Ridge. After summiting, Dan decided to head for Polemonium while Michael and I headed for Mt. Gayley. The whole excursion made for a pretty long day, but an enjoyable one.

June 26, 2004, 15hr30m: Mt. Tyndall
Matthew and I set out very early in the morning from the Shepherd Pass TH. He set a blistering pace, reaching Shepherd Pass in four hours. From there we went separate ways, Matthew heading to Williamson, myself to Tyndall. We'd both climbed the other's peak previously, which led to the differing agendas on this outing. I found the North Rib of Tyndall to be very enjoyable, though pretty easy as class 3 goes. From the summit of Tyndall I set out along the ridgeline for Mt. Versteeg, a few miles to the southeast. I didn't get far with my ridge traverse, stopped by progressively larger and more difficult blocks along the route. I had to bail off the ridge to the south, then traverse east and back up to the ridge in the vicinity of Versteeg. From Versteeg's summit I contacted Matthew via our cheap-o radios - he was halfway back down the West Face of Williamson. The weather was worsening as the day progressed, so we beat our retreat back across Williamson Bowl and then back down to the trailhead. The day was a very long one, but mostly on account of the addition of Versteeg to the itinerary.

Aug 9, 2004, 9hr30m: Mt. Langley
I had saved one of the easiest 14ers for last, and it turned out to be a very enjoyable outing. Michelle and I headed out from the Cottonwood Lakes TH at a leisurely pace. We split up at the junction with Muir Lake, as Michelle planned to climb only Cirque Peak, and I wanted to climb Langley before heading off to Cirque. I hiked out to Muir Lake, then cross country heading for a route that had been suggested to me the night before. The class 3 ridge turned out to be much harder than claimed, and I ended up having to bail off the side and go by one of the more conventional routes. I met a another climber on my way down from the summit, a bit disoriented, or perhaps just a tad crazy. The hike to Cirque Peak along the Pacific Crest was easy but delightful.