Mount Warren
Ascent of Mount Warren (East Slope from Boy Scout Camp, class 2),
November 18, 2018.
Timeline:
November 18, 2018.. I left Mammoth at 8:15. Once on 120 West toward Tioga Pass, I turned right on a dirt road directly across from the Lee Vining Ranger station. That road soon forks and I took the option to the right, leading me through a private nature preserve. The dirt road was mostly good, and it took me little time to drive the 5 miles or so to the Boy Scout Camp. I parked as far as I could, my way blocked by a locked gate. I started hiking at 9:12 through the forest, beelining it northwest toward Mount Warren. The summit soon appeared once the forest thinned out. The slope was gentle and the main difficulty was navigating the stunted whitebark pines and talus along the way. On the way up I aimed for the eastern side of the prominent "hole" located between Lee Vining Peak and Mount Warren. The terrain above that hole got a bit steeper, but I made good time to the summit, reaching it at 11:35. There, I found a monstrous and seemingly brand new mobile radio site, disfiguring the summit and visible from a great distance. I wonder who has the authority to place such a thing on a Sierra summit, and whether public comment is solicited – given that we common mortals are not allowed to place fixed anchors in the wilderness (Mount Warren is in the Hoover Wilderness and the Inyo National Forest). I may make it a point to find out.
Despite this, the views from the summit were outstanding – south toward Mount Dana and the Lyell Group, southwest to Mount Conness and North Peak, northwest to Excelsior Mountain, Virginia Peak, Whorl Mountain, Twin Peaks, and Dunderberg Peak. I spent a bit of time on the summit, despite the cold temperature (no wind, though) – taking photos, signing the register (Warren got 10 ascents in 2017) and eating my sandwich. I left the summit at 12:06, choosing a return path slightly to the north of the one I had picked on the way up. This was uneventful. I was back at my car at 13:39. (A 4:27 hour day, 2,650 feet of elevation gain, 6.6 miles).