PhD Peak / Mount Bradley
Ascents of PhD Peak (West Ridge, class 3) and Mount Bradley (North Slope from University Pass, class 3), August 31, 2023.
Timeline:
August 31, 2023: My plan for this day was loosely based on a trip report by Bob Burd who had climbed Mount Bradley on the return from a dayhike of Center Peak, and then exited via University Pass, climbing PhD Peak (Peak 3,920m) on the way out (the latter peak was first climbed in 1934 by Hervey Voge and David Brower, who named it). I planned to do this itinerary in reverse, and to forego Center Peak which I had already climbed.
I left campsite #3 at the Onion Valley Campground at 6:19 and made my way along the trail to Robinson Lake, reaching there in under an hour. I continued up the drainage that leads to University Pass. There was much icy snow, so I put on my crampons and took out my ice axe. The path steepened below the pass, with very frozen / icy snow conditions: I would swing my ice axe with force, but the pick would only go in a half inch or so. Thankfully the angle remains manageable, and my gear afforded adequate purchase. But the going was slow, and I wondered whether the snow would thaw sufficiently for the descent. I chose a line to the right of the usual way up as the snow was more continuous on that side. That forced me to go left near the top of the pass, across class 3 rock, to regain the pass proper. I was there at 9:51, so this took a while. I went over to the summit of PhD Peak (10:07). The summit register on this infrequently climbed peak dates back to the early 1980s, and was very damp. I did my best to sign without ruining the fragile paper.
From the notch between PhD Peak and Center Basin Crag #1, I then came down a class 3 gully described in Bob Burd's report, which was very straightforward. I could stare at the North Slope of Mount Bradley south of me, but there were cliffs to my right, forcing me further down. Finally, at 11,300 feet I found a way around toward the North Slope. This had a continuous band of hard packed snow, so I donned my crampons and ice axe again. The angle soon eased, and I reached the summit of Mount Bradley at 13:34. I stayed there for only fifteen minutes, as it was extremely windy. After taking a few pictures of the outstanding views, I started on the way back.
My plan called for a descent of the West Side of Mount Bradley, down a loose chute, and then re-ascending to University Pass from the west. I first found my way down a class 2-3 chute on the southeastern side of the summit area, and then down the wide chute on the west side of Mount Bradley (the usual ascent route). I found horrendous conditions: with the record-breaking snow year, avalanches of mixed debris and snow had carved a deep furrow in the middle of the gully, erasing any sign of past passage and creating unstable and loose conditions. I proceeded very cautiously and slowly: it took me almost an hour and a half to get back to flatter terrain in Center Basin. There, I was able to stare up the gully that leads to University Pass (I had descended this gully on a climb of University Peak, in 2017). It also had a deep furrow in the middle, which I guessed had been caused by the same conditions that affected the gully leading to Mount Bradley. Given what I had just descended, I deemed these conditions to be dangerous - not to mention the uncertainty regarding snow conditions on the east side of the pass.
This of course meant that I had to come back over Kearsarge Pass, the same ordeal I had gone through with Mike Callen in 2017: 14 miles of hiking with another 2,500 feet of elevation gain. I was going to have to hike many hours by headlamp. On I went, through beautiful Center Basin, down a trail to the Bubbs Creek drainage where I caught the John Muir Trail. The miles went by fast on the gently descending terrain until I reached the trail junction at Lower Vidette Meadow (by then it was 17:57). There started the long hike up to Kearsarge Pass. Around 19:45 I took out the headlamp, and at 20:47 I reached the pass. On the other side, I stopped briefly to chat with two JMT hikers who has stopped in Onion Valley to resupply: they were from the East Coast, and this was their first time in the Sierra. I then continued on down the trail to Onion Valley, reaching the car at 11:07. I was utterly exhausted, and did not feel like eating, so I just had miso soup and went to bed in the back of my truck. But I did not sleep much. (A 16:47 hour day, 16:00 hours moving, 20.1 miles, 8,935 feet of elevation gain).