Smith Mountain
Ascent of Smith Mountain (North Slope, class 2), with Maia Wacziarg, September 25, 2023.
Timeline:
September 24, 2023. Maia had a day off from school due to Yom Kippur, so I took her camping and hiking in the Southern Sierra. We left LA around 15:30. On the way in we saw a bear in a meadow and stopped to take some photos. We set up camp at Fish Creek campground around 18:30, made a fire where we cooked corn on the cob, had dinner and watched some videos in my brand new MSR tent. It was a cold night.
September 25, 2023. It was a chilly morning so we made another fire. We had breakfast, packed up camp and drove to the trailhead for Smith Mountain. We set out at 9:41. This was Maia's first SPS peak, at 8 years of age, so the climb took some time. We remained westward on the Albanita trail longer than we should have, creating a slight detour. We reached the top of Smith Mountain at 11:24. I couldn't remember, from my 2018 visit to this peak, which pinnacle was the highpoint, so I climbed to the summit twice - first to make sure it was the summit, then to help Maia up the summit rocks (she experienced no trouble). It is a rather exposed summit, so we did not linger after signing the register and taking the obligatory photos. It was an exceptionally clear day and we could very clearly see the Kaweah group, Mount Whitney, and especially Olancha Peak. Maia was a bit more hesitant on the descent but I helped her with the moves and provided a sort of improvised belay with my arms. We took a break below the summit for a snack, and then hiked back to the car quite fast and in a more direct line than on the way up (we got to the car at 12:40). We drove to the Kennedy Meadows General Store for a lunch of burgers and ice cream. We were back in LA at 17:30. (A 2:56 hour day, 2:36 hours moving, 3.52 miles, 1,130 feet of elevation gain).