Gemini / Mount Hooper / Seven Gables / Mount Hilgard
Ascents of Gemini (North Ridge, class 2), Mount Hooper (South Slope, class 4), Seven Gables (South Slope, class 3) and Mount Hilgard (Southeast Face, class 2), with René Renteria, June 16-21, 2022.
Timeline:
June 16, 2022. We had a 12 mile day ahead of us, with full packs, so we left Mammoth early and started hiking at 9:12. The trail miles went by steadily, up a steep set of switchbacks to Pine Lake, on over flatter terrain past Honeymoon Lake and finally into beautiful Granite Park. Following good advice given to me by Ronald Kleber a few days earlier, we had decided to approach Seven Gables by going over Granite Bear Pass. This proved to be an excellent choice, as the moderately-angled snow leading to the pass from the east made for steady progress. With our heavy packs, our approach day went slowly, and we didn't reach the pass until 17:26. From there it was a quick descent through the Bear Lakes Basin toward Seven Gables. On the way, we met a couple who was on a multi-day exploration of the area, and had set up camp on a bench above one of the lakes. At 19:22, we stopped for the night at Vee Lake, a spectacular location offering a great view of Seven Gables. It was very windy and cold, so we had a quick dinner and retired to the tent for a good night's rest. (A 10:10 hour day, 8:23 hours moving, 11.60 miles, 5,230 feet of elevation gain).
June 17, 2022. Our plan for this day was to ascend Gemini and Seven Gables, but we woke up to a thick cloud cover, and weather would thwart part of our plan. We left camp at 8:07 and hiked down to Seven Gables Lakes and then up some slabs and snow to Seven Gables Pass. We took a quick break there. It was still very windy and bitterly cold, and the weather soon took a turn for the worst. We decided to give the North Ridge of Gemini a shot anyway, as there was no sign of thunder. The climb consists of some talus slopes followed by a steeper ridge / chute just below the higher northwestern summit. We were on top at 11:05, but did not stay long as the weather was worsening and the views mostly obstructed by clouds. It started to snow as we were leaving the summit. We were back in camp at 14:30 under steady snow. We lounged in the afternoon, playing cards and staying warm in the tent. The weather cleared in the evening, and we were able to enjoy the spectacular evening light on the surrounding mountains. (A 6:27 hour day, 5:44 hours moving, 5.20 miles, 2,700 feet of elevation gain).
June 18, 2022. We had big plans for this day, but they would again be thwarted, this time by my poor planning. The plan was to climb both Mount Hooper and Mount Senger, peaks that seemed close from our basecamp on the map but proved to be anything but. We left camp at 7:54, hiking down the East Fork of Bear Creek. This is initially a cross-country route, with some steep cliffs lining some of the lakes that punctuate the stream. It took a while to make our way to three successive stream crossings that lead to a junction with the John Muir Trail. From there we hiked up to Selden Pass along the excellent trail. Some PCT stragglers were still this far south, so we met a few parties. From the pass we gained a broad basin directly east of Mount Hooper. One needs to go over a narrow notch to gain the south side of the peak. This was snow-covered, and we took out the ice axes for an easy hike to the notch. The atmosphere was much less alpine on the western side of that notch. The South Slope of Mount Hooper is a bit of a tedious sand and talus slog, but we made good progress and reached the summit area around 14:00. Of course, it had taken much longer to get here than I had anticipated, placing in doubt our plan to climb Mount Senger on the same day. Additionally, afternoon clouds were gathering. At any rate, René went up the class 4 summit block comfortably, and even stood up on the block (no record exists, see below). I went second, and of course had to do the same (scary). I had read reports that minimized the difficulty of this summit block. However, my view is that it should not be underestimated. It is definitely class 4, if this means that a fall at the wrong spot would be fatal - although the moves are indeed secure and would seem easy to a person with climbing experience. At any rate this is one of the great summit blocks of the Sierra, and should not be missed. We spent quite a bit of time in the summit area, since by then we had given up on Mount Senger. There were still over 9 miles of hiking to get back to camp, however. We came down the upper part of the West Ridge of Mount Hooper before turning south to regain the notch. We descended back to Marie Lake and took a late lunch break there (16:45). It was a peaceful bucolic moment, although the cloud cover had returned. Then came the many miles of trail and cross-country hiking back to camp. René took out his headlamp as we were climbing back to Vee Lake from the lower Seven Gables Lake, and we reached camp at 21:00. Definitely a much longer day than we had anticipated. (A 13:06 hour day, 12:10 hours moving, 18.50 miles, 5,100 feet of elevation gain).
June 19, 2022. This was to be a rest day but our failure to climb Seven Gables and Mount Senger made us reconsider. We headed for the highlight of the trip - the South Face of Seven Gables. We left camp at 9:12. For the second time, we hiked up to Seven Gables Pass, but this time took a right turn at the top, down to a tarn and on to the South Face of Seven Gables. We hiked all the way to the left side of the face, encountering no class 3 on the lower portion of the climb. The face itself is an easy sand and talus walk, till one reaches a sort of window in the skyline. This is located roughly between the twin summits of Seven Gables, and gives a spectacular view of the higher, north summit. We both wondered how this could go at class 3, but it turns out that it does. From this vantage point, one continues north along the west side of the peak (class 3) to descend into a steep and narrow notch. Staring up toward the summit, it is not immediately obvious which way to go. There are steep rocks on the right side, and two steep chutes /chimneys left of that. We started up the rightmost chute but this soon became class 4. We tried the other chimney, which was loose and steep class 3 - but quite secure as one can stay wedged inside. One of the moves consists of going over a dubious-looking chockstone. I went first. René dug deep to pull the move after a moment of hesitation. We were both a bit worried about having to reverse the chimney, so I started to concoct a plan to descend a different way. This would prove to be a great idea as it caused us to traverse the entire peak and climb the very prominent sub-peak located immediately North of Seven Gables (Peak 12,640). Anyway, after the chute there is some leftward traversing (more class 3) till one reaches the summit area (14:15) and the spectacular summit block of Seven Gables. René went up the block first and I followed. We took plenty of pictures in all directions. The weather was holding up and the views were spectacular.
We spent a good amount of time on the summit, and then started down the West Ridge (class 2+) at 14:44. I had spotted a steep notch from the east that would give us a straight shot back to camp, but I did not know if it would go. We headed for the top of the notch, and immediately saw that it would provide a very convenient way back to camp. In fact, we had a spectacular view of Vee Lake from our vantage point. But before that, we had more business to do. I was determined to scramble up Peak 12,640. René and I disagreed on how long it would take. I bet that it would take less than 15 minutes (it took 13). At any rate we were delighted to climb this sub-peak as it gave great views of Seven Gables and of surrounding peaks. After much searching, I also found an improvised summit register with interesting entries from a group called The American Adventure Service Corps (TAASC). They seem to have adopted this peak as their mascot. Their entries revealed a concern for memorializing the events of 9/11. Otherwise, entries were mostly authored by rock climbers having ascended the spectacular 5.9 arêtes that lead up the north side of this peak. These seem more popular than I would have anticipated given their distance from any trailhead. We greatly enjoyed our time on this little summit. We rejoined the notch at 16:45, and headed down in the beautiful afternoon sun. It was loose, sometimes steep scree that eventually gave way to some snow, then slabs, and soon enough we were back at the lower of the Seven Gables Lakes (18:00). We contoured the lake on its northern shore, took a break and hiked back up to camp (18:55). We concluded this very aesthetic full traverse of Seven Gables with a lavish dinner, topped with whisky and Nutella. (A 9:42 hour day, 7:59 hours moving, 5.00 miles, 3,100 feet of elevation gain).
June 20, 2022. Our rest day had been postponed, but not cancelled. All we needed to do this day was to commute over White Bear Pass to the outlet of Lake Italy. This would give us a good position to quickly climb Mount Hilgard the next morning before returning back to the trailhead. So we spent the morning sleeping, playing cards, lounging in camp, and enjoying all the amenities that Vee Lake has to offer. We finally set out at 14:41, heading back up the gorgeous terrain in the Bear Lakes area. We passed a lone backpacker along the way, wearing gigantic headphones. He barely acknowledged our existence. White Bear Pass proved to be very easy to ascend, though the descent on the northwestern side was trickier than anticipated (stay right as you descend). We were soon at Brown Bear Lake and from there caught a use trail to Lake Italy. We found a nice spot for the night not far from the outlet, at the base of the Southeast Face of Mount Hilgard. That evening, we were privileged to witness the flight of an eagle over the Hilgard Branch drainage. (A 3:04 hour day, 2:36 hours moving, 3.50 miles, 900 feet of elevation gain).
June 21, 2022. We left camp at 8:10, hiking up the sand, scree and talus that makes up the Southeast Face of Mount Hilgard. One heads straight up the face, sometimes moving right to the more solid rock that forms a sort of ridge. Then one traverses the face leftward to an obvious notch, and the summit. We were on top at 10:10, signed the register and took many pictures. We then headed to the lower, southern summit of the peak, which gave us a nice view of Seven Gables and Mount Hooper. The descent was quick - we were back in camp at 11:39. We had lunch and packed up everything before leaving at 14:18 for the long hike back to the car. We skirted the southern shore of Lake Italy over snow and rocks, and headed up toward Italy Pass (on a use trail, on and off). At the pass, which was reached at 16:23, we met a French hiker living in Minnesota, who was on his annual backpack in the Sierra. He was nice enough with me in our mother tongue, but made a disparaging comment to René about living in Texas. Maybe one day René will forgive the French for their sins. From Italy Pass, the view down Granite Park is sublime - this area is right up there in my pantheon of beautiful Sierra basins, along with Center Basin, Upper Basin, and Milestone Creek. Then started the long descent back to Pine Lake and onwards to the trailhead. We took a break above Honeymoon Lake (mosquito infested - we could not stay long), and on to the switchbacks above the tungsten mine. At some point, a mile or two from the end, we had to take out our headlamps, and finally reached the car at 21:24. Then on to Mammoth, dinner, a shower, and a real bed. (A 10:33 hour day, 9:45 hours moving, 13.50 miles, 3,480 feet of elevation gain).
Trip totals: 53:05 total hours, 46:38 moving hours, 57.30 miles, 20,510 feet of elevation gain.
Note: My camera failed to record any photos I took during the first two and a half days of this trip. I am not sure what happened, but the pictures for that early period are scarcer than usual and don't feature René very often. Thankfully, René had his own camera, or we would have no photographic record of these good days of mountaineering. But this also means we have no shot of our entry into the Mount Hooper summit register, or any photos of René on that summit block (or of either of us standing up on that block), since those shots were taken with my camera. I noticed the problem as we were starting our descent from Mount Hooper, and just extracting and replacing the HD card fixed the issue. The remaining days feature the usual plethora of pictures.