Mount Izaak Walton
Ascent of Mount Izaak Walton (Northeast Ridge, class 3), July 9, 2018.
Timeline:
July 8, 2018. This climb was part of a three day backpacking trip from Mammoth Lakes to the McGee Creek trailhead, with my daughter Claire. We left the house around 9:00, took the trolley to the Village, then another trolley to the Lake Mary Marina. We hiked through Coldwater Campground to the Duck Pass trailhead, setting out on the trail at 10:12. We stopped for lunch at Barney Lake and reached Duck Pass at 13:00. We continued on to Purple Lake and then onto Lake Virginia. We had trouble finding a nice campsite due to crowds of PCT and JMT hikers already occupying the choice spots, but we found a nice enough campsite on the Eastern shore of the lake. We were in camp at 17:00. Despite the bugs and the crowds, we spent a nice evening enjoying the gorgeous setting of Lake Virginia. (A 6:48 hour day, 9 miles).
July 9, 2018. We left camp at 8:35 and hiked down the steep switchbacks leading to Tully Hole. This was mosquito-infested, so we hurried to Horse Heaven, which however proved even worse. We hiked at a good pace along Fish Creek, toward Tully Lake. There, we left the trail and hiked south in that lake basin, seeking higher elevations and fewer bugs. We found a beautiful campsite at the base of Rohn Pass, not far from many tarns and streams (but alas, not entirely devoid of mosquitos). It was 12:09 when we reached this campsite. We set up the tent and had lunch. At 13:04, I set out to climb Mount Izaak Walton. I went over Rohn Pass, traversed east along the flank of Peak 11,688 to the col northeast of Mount Izaak Walton. I proceeded up the Northeast Ridge, staying quite close to the crest the whole time. Some class 3 was encountered on the upper portion of the ridge, nothing too difficult. I reached the summit at 14:36 and spent about 20 minutes there. Views southeast to the Mono Recesses and Ruby Ridge were outstanding. Views northwest toward Horse Heaven, Tully Hole and Lake Virginia showed me our day's entire progress. I descended along the East Face of Izaak Walton (some easy class 3), across a snowfield, and back to Rohn Pass. I reached camp at 16:12. Claire and I had dinner and then went for an evening walk in the lake basin, taking many pictures. (A 7:37 hour day, 6 miles of hiking plus 3 miles for me to climb Mount Izaak Walton).
July 10, 2018. This was going to be our biggest day and it did not disappoint. We left camp at 8:14, finding a direct line to Tully Lake and then regaining the main trail. We crossed some beautiful meadows on our way to the start of the switchbacks to McGee Pass. We reached the pass at 10:45, and took a nice break there chatting with a group of four seasoned Sierra hikers who were on their way to the Silver Divide. We hiked down from McGee Pass toward Little McGee Lake, crossing the occasional snowfield. We stopped for lunch between Little McGee and Big McGee lakes, and I scouted out the Northeast Ridge of Red and White Mountain, for a future outing. We then continued down the extraordinary McGee Creek canyon, through meadows, pine and aspen forests and fields of mule ears, wild roses and paintbrush – among many other marvels. Nearing the trailhead, we realized that the standard USGS map for the area places the trailhead about a mile too far up the canyon. We therefore had to hike one more mile than expected to find my car, which we reached at 16:35. (An 8:21 hour day, 13 miles).