Mount Thompson / Mount Powell
Ascents of Mount Thompson (West Ridge, class 3) and Point Powell (Northeast Couloir, class 2-3), with René Renteria, June 26-27, 2023.
Timeline:
June 25, 2023. Approach from Lake Sabrina. For this trip we expected significant snow cover so we opted to bring skis. We left Mammoth in the late morning and drove to Lake Sabrina, where we ate some sandwiches we had prepared. We set out on the trail toward Blue Lake at 13:13, carrying our skis and boots and hiking in sneakers. We immediately encountered obstacles – avalanche snow covering the trail, downed trees, flooded portions of the trail. One stream crossing required us to soak our shoes and socks. We then hiked up some switchbacks toward Blue Lake, encountering more and more snow – none of it skinnable. We nonetheless switched to ski boots for easier snow travel. At Blue Lake we crossed the outlet on some logs, and at a trail junction went left toward Donkey Lake and the Baboon Lakes. Shortly after Blue Lake the snow became almost continuous and we started skinning up. But at some point we felt that there would be no more dry spots to camp, so we stopped and set up the tent on a flat rock outcropping at about 10,600 feet. This was not far from Donkey Lake, a bit short of our intended camp at Baboon Lakes. It was a comfortable night. (A 4:48 hour day, 3:56 hours moving, 3.75 miles, 1,563 feet of elevation gain)
June 26, 2023. Ascent of Mount Thompson. Our intent was to climb Mount Thompson, Point Powell and possibly to traverse to Mount Powell. This turned out to be – again – too ambitious given how slow travel would prove to be on snow. We opted not to take the skis, as the initial portion of the approach seemed suncupped and uneven. Indeed the terrain became skiable really only around 12,000 feet – though it would have made for very nice skinning up and skiing down. At any rate we left camp at 6:35 and headed up past Baboon Lakes and Sunset Lake to the small glacier located between Mount Thompson and Point Powell. We opted to start with Mount Thompson, via its West Ridge, purported to be a class 3 route in Secor. So we headed to the low point between Mount Thompson and Point Powell, at the base of the ridge. It immediately became apparent that the climbing would be steep and exposed. We started up a steep tower and over several more such towers, with exposed class 3-4 moves. This was enjoyable, challenging, and quite slow going. At some point I spotted a possible exit to the snow on the south side of the West Ridge, leading to the more conventional Southwest Face route on the peak. This was a steep snow climb in this season, led to a gully with a white quartz vein, and the summit plateau. We were on the summit at 13:58. We then retraced our steps down the Southwest Face, across the south side of the West Ridge, and finally to the Thompson-Powell col. We briefly contemplated the idea of heading up to Point Powell either via the Southeast Chute or the Northeast Couloir, but by then it was about 16:00 and we decided to go back to camp instead. The descent was quite slow, and we were back at the tent at 19:21. (A 12:45 hour day, 11:32 hours moving, 6.85 miles, 3,316 feet of elevation gain).
June 27, 2023. Ascent of Point Powell and return to trailhead. We didn't want to forego Point Powell, so we headed back up the Sunset Lake drainage. Leaving camp at 6:37, we retraced our steps, taking advantage of the trace we had left on the descent the previous day. We headed straight for the Northeast Couloir. This was a very nice snow climb, with steepness approaching 45 degrees in places. René led us the whole way up, kindly kicking steps up the firm morning snow. We were at the head of the couloir at 11:00 and from there it was a quick jaunt up an easy slope to Point Powell's summit rocks. We had lunch there and then retraced our steps, reaching camp at 15:22. We took a short nap, packed up camp and left at 17:00, making our way down toward Lake Sabrina in the gorgeous evening light. We were back at the car at 20:14, and drove back to Mammoth for a late dinner. (A 13:36 hour day, 10:52 hours moving, 10.17 miles, 3,664 feet of elevation gain).
Trip totals: 31:09 total hours, 25:10 moving hours, 20.77 miles, 8,543 feet of elevation gain.