West Vidette
Ascent of West Vidette (Northeast Chute, class 2), October 19, 2021.
Timeline:
October 18, 2021. Due to unsettled weather, my plans for this trip kept changing. I had initially planned a dayhike of Silver Peak from Mammoth, which would have been a very long day indeed. I decided to defer this trip due to snow in the Mammoth area. I rerouted to more Southern climes, hoping for more modest snow accumulations. The plan would include day hikes of West Vidette and Mount Bradley from Onion Valley, the last two SPS peaks I wanted to climb in this general area. I left Mammoth after dinner and settled for a very cold night in my 4Runner at the trailhead.
October 19, 2021. A West Vidette dayhike from Onion Valley involves about 23 miles and 8,000 feet of elevation gain, and October days are short, so I would need to manage time carefully. The alarm went off at 4:30 and I started hiking by headlamp at 5:28, after breakfast. It was bitterly cold, and I wore two layers of fleece plus a down jacket all the way to Kearsarge Pass. It took exactly two hours to reach the pass, the trail covered with intermittent snow and ice. I was greeted to spectacular early morning views to the west as I peered down the Kearsarge Lakes drainage. There was more snow on that side of the crest. I reached Vidette Meadow shortly before 9:00. There were no issues crossing Bubbs Creek and I started up the snowy slopes to the Vidette Lakes drainage. I put on the microspikes I had brought just in case, which helped a lot with uphill traction. Miraculously, I found the use trail despite the snow cover. Following it and a generous line of cairns, I made my way to the lowest of the Vidette Lakes. I was still uncertain about whether I would climb the Northeast Chute or the East Slopes / South Ridge. At the base of the snow-filled chute, I made up my mind to pick the quickest route up. There were only a few inches of powder on the ground, but it concealed the sand and scree that I knew made up the chute. It was quite steep, and a bit of a trudge to climb, but I made my way to the North Ridge of West Vidette eventually. From there, the highpoint was a short hike away. I reached the summit at 12:15, almost seven hours from the trailhead.
West Vidette does not have a spectacular summit, but its position in the middle of the range gives great views in all directions – west toward the Brewer Group, south to Mount Stanford, Deerhorn Mountain and Mount Ericsson, and east toward East Vidette, University Peak, Mount Bradley and Mount Keith. I was satisfied. I ate half of my sandwich on the summit, signed the register and, mindful of time, started to retrace my steps at 12:38. The descent down the Northeast Chute went quickly; I was back at the lowest Vidette Lake at 14:05, and took another break there to eat the rest of my lunch. There were only 4.5 hours of daylight left, so I would have to hurry. I retraced my steps almost exactly to Vidette Meadow (still not finding Shorty Lovelace’s cabin), and then up to Bullfrog Lake. I took a short break there to replenish my water supply, and continued on to Kearsarge Pass. By then I was pretty spent, and the last uphill steps to the pass were slow. It was 17:35 when I reached the pass, glad to be facing only downhill travel. I tried to keep solid pace, but the snow had thawed and frozen during the day, and that slowed down my descent. After about an hour, I took out my headlamp to discover the battery was drained – whether because of the cold or because I had not turned it off properly that morning. Thankfully, at the last minute I had thrown a spare headlamp in my daypack. It was not the most powerful thing, but it did the trick. The last hour of hiking featured a bright moonrise that had the most spectacular effect on the surrounding scenery. I reached the trailhead at 19:27, famished and exhausted. I made soup, pasta and tea before settling in the 4Runner for a second night. (A 13:59 hour day, 12:50 hours moving, 23 miles, 7,850 feet of elevation gain).
October 20, 2021. I woke up to solid cloud cover. I looked up the Robinson Creek drainage to see what the conditions looked like toward University Pass, but it started to drizzle. Mount Bradley would have to wait for another day. After a cup of coffee, I drove off, stopping at the Alabama Hills Café for a big breakfast before the drive back to LA.