Recess Peak / Mount Gabb
A backpacking trip, circumnavigating the Mono Recesses, with ascents of Recess Peak (Southwest Arête, class 3) and Mount Gabb (South Slope, class 3), with Claire Wacziarg, September 10-15, 2023.
Timeline:
September 10, 2023. From Mosquito Flat, over Mono Pass. We left the trailhead at Mosquito Flat at 12:33 after eating lunch there. We were planning on a relatively short day, but it was to be even shorter than planned due to weather. Shortly before reaching Mono Pass, it started to rain. We quickly pitched the tent right on the trail in an effort to stay dry. In a lull, we continued on to the pass, and just before reaching Summit Lake, it started raining again, around 15:00. We set up the tent again. This time, the rain lasted several hours, and it wasn't until 19:00 that we were able to start hiking again. We wanted to leave this exposed area, so we hiked down by headlamp to the Trail Lakes, near the start of the Fourth Recess. There was another party there, but we found a nice campsite between the two lakes. We had dinner and went to sleep. (A 7:24 hour day, 3:15 hours moving, 5.58 miles, 1,848 feet of elevation gain)
September 11, 2023. Down Mono Creek to Quail Meadows. We left camp at 9:05 and hiked down along Mono Creek to Quail Meadows. It was a beautiful day, and an uneventful hike. We reached Quail Meadows around 16:00, and briefly toyed with the idea of continuing on along the JMT to get closer to Recess Peak, but we decided to call it a day. We spent a restful evening in camp. (A 6:54 hour day, 6:18 hours moving, 12.74 miles, 622 feet of elevation gain)
September 12, 2023. Ascent of Recess Peak. I had big plans for this day: to hike to the basin west of Recess Peak and to climb that peak in the afternoon. We left camp at 8:11 and hiked south along the JMT to its junction with the Bear Ridge trail. There, we set out east over easy cross-country terrain to a nice campsite at 10,450 feet, due west of Recess Peak. We set up camp, had lunch, and I set out to climb Recess Peak at 13:00. To approach the Southwest Arête of this peak, I followed the descent route used by Bob Burd and his companions during a 2005 ascent of the peak. This had some remaining snow in places, so it was a bit harder than the advertised class 2, but it got me to the crest of the Southwest Arête. From there, some class 2-3 scrambling (the crux being to avoid some pesky pine trees on the south side of the ridge) brought me to a steeper sand/talus slope, and I reached the summit of Recess Peak at 15:26. Thick clouds had gathered but there was no significant precipitation and no thunder. I took numerous pictures of the outstanding views in all directions, and retraced my steps. On the descent, I followed the more conventional route all the way to the northwestern toe of the arête, leading to some lakes. I took a water break there, and continued on down to camp, where I arrived at 17:35. I went to clean up in the nearby stream, we had dinner, played cards, and enjoyed a quiet evening in camp. (A 9:23 hour day, 7:56 hours moving, 9.97 miles, 5,322 feet of elevation gain)
September 13, 2023. Down the JMT to Bear Creek, and up the Hilgard Branch to Lake Italy. This was a fantastic day of mixed trail and cross-country travel through gorgeous terrain. We left camp at 9:50 after a leisurely morning. We returned to the JMT and hiked down to Bear Creek, following it for a while to the junction with the Hilgard Branch, where we had lunch. From there, we hiked east on a good trail, through beautiful meadows with views of lofty cliffs and peaks. The trail continued through the canyon of the Hilgard Branch, though it disappeared for a time through some talus and wet meadows, causing us to have to bushwhack a little bit. We caught up with two female hikers who were also headed to Lake Italy, and chatted a bit. After about three miles from the Bear Creek junction, the trail left the canyon floor and started ascending toward a narrow gorge. At this point the trail disappeared, and was replaced by an intermittent line of cairns. The scenery became varied and beautiful as we made our way slowly through the upper reaches of the Hilgard Branch drainage, over meadows and granite slabs. As we approached the Brown Bear Lake drainage to our right, we crossed the Hilgard Branch and caught a good use trail toward Lake Italy. At the lake, a lone camper warned us about some snowfields ahead, along the southern shore of the lake. Indeed, two snowfields blocked the way, and they proved challenging to cross for Claire, as we lacked snow gear. I went first, kicking good steps through the steep snow that we had to flank, Claire followed my steps as well as she could, and we soon reached a good campsite not far from the stream that drains Jumble Lake. In the evening, the surrounding peaks were crowned with some of the most impressive alpenglow I have ever witnessed. (A 8:45 hour day, 7:19 hours moving, 12.52 miles, 2,677 feet of elevation gain)
September 14, 2023. Ascent of Mount Gabb. The alarm went off at 5:15, and I tried not to wake Claire up as I left the tent. After a breakfast of coffee and shortbread, I left camp at 6:22, at daybreak, to climb Mount Gabb. I first skirted the eastern side of Lake Italy, avoiding some snow by hiking up steep talus. I made quick time across the slabby slopes above Toe Lake, and headed straight for the South Slope of Mount Gabb. I went pretty much through the center of the face, through a blocky chute and then left above a lingering snowfield. I was on the summit at 9:37. I stayed there for a while, taking in the views, and headed down the Southwest Ridge, along easy sandy slopes. On the way down I met a lone hiker heading to Gabbot Pass, but did not linger much. I was soon back at Toe Lake, then over talus on the south shore of Lake Italy and back to camp at 11:46. Claire had gotten up late and was enjoying the morning. We had lunch, I rested a bit in the shade of a rock, and we contemplated our next move. The weather was taking a turn for the worse, with clouds gathering as they had most afternoons on this trip. Finally, at 14:39 we left camp and headed up to Jumble Lake. But we did not get very far: as we reached the nice campsite at the northeastern end of the lake, near a stream, it started to rain. We set up camp, and the rain never abated sufficiently to allow us to hop over Italy Pass that afternoon. So we just spent the night in this spectacular location, at 11,700 feet. (A 8:10 hour day, 6:17 hours moving, 5.91 miles, 3,227 feet of elevation gain)
September 15, 2023. Over Italy Pass to Pine Creek Trailhead. We left camp at 7:42, and make quick work of the short remaining distance to Italy Pass. We then descended through beautiful Granite Park, taking numerous photos. At Honeymoon Lake, we started seeing other hikers, and asked them if they could drive us from Pine Creek back to our car at Mosquito Flat, but we had no takers (we had discovered that the trail from Pine Creek to Morgan Pass was impassable, due to a rockslide that occurred as a result of the record snowfall that past winter: this would cut short our plan for a complete circumnavigation of the Mono Divide). On we went, with a short lunch break at Pine Lake, till we reached the Pine Creek trailhead at 14:25. There were many cars parked there, but no one willing to drive us north toward our starting point. So Claire went to chat with the packers in the nearby pack station, and managed to convince one of them to drive us! This was a young cowboy named CW, from Colorado, who happened to be of the same age as Claire. CW had a Chevy C/K truck from the mid-1970s that was not in great shape, but ran just fine nonetheless. On the way to Rock Creek, CW regaled us with his tales of the life of a packer in the American West. In short order we were back at our car, and soon enough, back in Mammoth. (A 6:42 hour day, 5:43 hours moving, 10.08 miles, 934 feet of elevation gain)
Trip Totals: 47:19 total hours, 35:46 moving hours, 56.8 miles, 14,630 feet of elevation gain.