Mount Morrison
Failed ascent of Mount Morrison (East Slope, class 2), with Simon Wacziarg, August 13, 2020.
Timeline:
August 13, 2020. There is a nice campsite, with a picnic table, near the end of the road leading to Tobacco Flat and the East Slope of Mount Morrison. I drove up with the family to car camp there for the night of August 12, 2020. On the next day, I woke up around 6:00 to a beautiful rising sun on Laurel Mountain. After breakfast, the entire family decided to set out on a hike up the streambed on the east side of Mono Jim Peak. We left at 7:35. Of the five that left camp, soon only Simon and I were left hiking, and we made our way up the drainage that separates Mount Morrison from Mount Aggie. We went a little too far in the drainage and headed up some steep terrain leading to the prominent saddle separating the drainage from the hanging valley northeast of Mount Morrison's summit – instead of following the straightforward use trail that leads to the same spot. It was 9:54 when we reached the saddle. Simon did not feel like continuing up the remaining 1,400 feet of elevation gain, I was worried that the others would have to wait till mid-afternoon for us to return, at a campsite with no shade, and I had already climbed Mount Morrison before. So we turned back, followed the use trail this time, and headed down to camp. We reached the car at 11:19. Claire was still there but Magali and Maia had hiked down to Convict Lake to find shade and lunch. We packed up camp and joined them at the Convict Lake Resort, where we had a lunch of pulled pork sliders and potato salad. (A 3:44 hour day, 5.10 miles, 2,650 feet of elevation gain).