Mount Tom
Ascent of Mount Tom (via Horton Lake, class 2), June 4, 2017.
Timeline:
June 3, 2017. After an uneventful drive across the Buttermilks to the Horton Lakes Trailhead, I set out on the approach at 13:26. I had to cross multiple snowdrifts covering the old mining road and arrived at Horton Lake at 16:00. It took a while to find a flat spot to camp, but I finally found a comfortable, dry campsite about halfway between the old cabins and the lake proper. I spent a leisurely evening in camp (a 2:34 hour day).
June 4, 2017. I set out at 6:52 to climb Mount Tom. Due to copious amounts of snow from a winter with record snowfall, most of the old mining road was covered. In the end I opted to simply climb the middle of the chute where the road zigzags. The going was slow in the soft snow, and I reached the head of the Hanging Valley at 9:19. After a break to refuel, I traversed the flank of Mount Tom to reach the old Tungstar mine (the history of the two mines in this hanging valley is interesting). There, the scree and talus chutes were all snow-filled. I picked a line on the steep, hard-packed snow, wore my crampons and climbed up at a slow pace. There are no route finding issues but it is necessary to angle up ever so slightly to the left as you go, crossing into successive chutes, to avoid ending up on the steep class 3 rock of the Southwest Ridge. A few hundred vertical feet from the top, the snow stopped, I took off my crampons and scrambled up the class 2 terrain to a false summit just a hundred feet north of the true summit. I reached the summit of Mount Tom at 12:25, took photos of the amazing views and settled down for lunch. I left the summit around 13:15 and started the hike down. The snow had now softened, making for an easy descent, albeit with the occasional postholing. I was back at the head of the hanging valley at 15:07, and proceeded down the steep slope. As soon as I set foot on snow, a small wet slab avalanche started. I had never experienced such a thing, and proceeded to just follow the avalanche as it made its way down the slope. Conditions were ideal for digging heels and boot skiing, and I made quick work of this portion of the descent, reaching camp at Horton Lake at 16:12. I spent a quiet evening in camp (a 9:20 hour day).
June 5, 2017. I woke up really early to take pictures of the morning alpenglow on Four Gables and Basin Mountain. I packed camp slowly, hiked part way around Horton Lake, and set out on my return to the trailhead at 6:57. I reached my car at 8:55 (a 1:58 hour day). I was back in Mammoth around 11 am.