Norman Clyde Peak / The Thumb
Failed ascent of Norman Clyde Peak (North-Northeast Ridge, class 4) and ascent of The Thumb (via Southfork Pass, class 3), with Mike Callen, June 21-24, 2019.
Timeline:
June 21, 2019. We departed the trailhead at Glacier Lodge at 11:44, expecting a short and easy approach to Finger Lake. That was not to be. The first obstacle was crossing the South Fork of Big Pine Creek just before the switchbacks leading to Willow Lake. The stream was so strong due to the rapid snowmelt of the record snowfall this winter, that it was not crossable in the usual spots. After much searching, we found a meandering crossing through a willow grove, where the stream subdivides into smaller sub-streams. This took a lot of time. Then, snow drifts slowed our progress up to Willow Lake and beyond. Snow cover was continuous starting around 10,000 feet. At 17:30 we found a nice dry camp at the outlet of Brainerd Lake, much lower than we expected. (A 5:46 hour day, 3.75 miles, 2,350 feet of gain).
June 22, 2019. Given conditions, we decided to forego a technical route and instead to try out the descent route on Norman Clyde Peak (North-Northeast Ridge, class 4). We woke up early and departed camp at 6:20. We made our way up to Finger Lake (only one barely dry campsite available) and then on toward the bottom portion of the NNE ridge. We found the class 3 access to the ridge easily, and cruised toward the start of the route, reaching it at 10:00. The ridge was full of snow, but it seemed mostly avoidable, so we simulclimbed up the steep slope. The ridge leading to the summit was coming closer, but access to that ridge, unfortunately, was blocked by a large snowfield and iced-up rocks all around, at an elevation of about 13,500 feet. We decided to abandon the climb, due to these conditions. At 14:30 we were back on the lower ridge and at 15:40 we were off the 3rd class. The return to camp was quick, helped by much glissading, and we were even able to walk on Finger Lake, frozen and covered by a thick layer of snow in most places. We were back at the tent at 17:11. (a 10:51 hour day, 3.5 miles, 3,300 feet of gain).
June 23, 2019. Our intent on this day was to climb The Thumb via Southfork Pass, since most other objectives in the area seemed affected by the same conditions that turned us around the previous day (the NE face of Middle Palisade, for instance, was full of snow). We left camp at 8:06 and made our way quickly up the snow-covered moraine leading to Southfork Pass. The pass itself was an easy, if steep, snow climb. Snow conditions were ideal for kicking steps and we chose the easier, western chute. We were atop the pass at 11:23. We then traversed the South face of The Thumb across many ribs and chutes, toward the SE ridge. Due to the snow lower down, we did this traverse at a higher elevation than is normally optimal, and had to climb a bit of class 3. We reached the SE ridge at 14:00 and the summit of The Thumb at 14:33. Our descent was much quicker as we were able to find the two chutes described by Secor and then skirted the South Face horizontally on the softening snow at its base. We were back at Southfork Pass at 16:30 and back in camp at Brainerd Lake at 18:55. (A 10:49 hour day, 6.4 miles, 3,200 feet of gain).
June 24, 2019. We left camp at 9:52 and made our way quickly down the drainage. The snow drifts that had slowed us were substantially smaller after only 3 days. The stream crossing was uneventful as we knew the way this time. We were back at the hiker parking lot at Glacier Lodge at 12:35. We had lunch at Glacier Lodge and returned to Mammoth, stopping at the Keough Hot Springs on the way. (A 2:42 hour day, 3.75 miles, 2,350 feet of elevation loss).