Diamond Peak
Ascent of Diamond Peak (Southeast Slope, class 2), with Andrés Rodríguez, March 22-24, 2025.
Timeline:
March 22, 2025 - Approach along the Baxter Pass trail. We left Mammoth around 8:00 after two nights of acclimatization. We stopped for some last minute purchases and some gas. We finished packing and set out on the Baxter Pass trail at 10:04. The initial 1.5 miles went smoothly, despite having to carry our skis. The snow started in earnest when the trail started flanking a North-facing slope in the narrowing canyon of the North Fork of Oak Creek, and we switched from sneakers to ski boots at that point. The snow was soft in the warming temperatures, and the going was slow. Finally, we reached the point where the trail crosses to the North side of Oak Creek, at about 8,500 feet, and we were able to put on our skis and skin up the canyon at a faster pace. The terrain soon widened as we approached Summit Meadow. As we passed what seemed to be the last running water, I spotted a nice established campsite not far from our path, at 9,500 feet. I waited for Andrés, who was filling up his water, and at 16:16 we decided to make our camp there. It was a bit lower from where I had planned to camp, but it was a dry camp, with running water nearby, and these advantages outweighed the slightly longer day we would have to face the next day. Since it was still early, we had a leisurely time setting up camp and having dinner. We went to bed early, after a game of cards. (6:12 hours elapsed, 5:07 hours moving, 3.68 miles, 3,439 feet of elevation gain)
March 23, 2025 - Ascent of Diamond Peak. I expected a rather mellow day, so we did not do an alpine start. We left camp at 8:01 under perfect weather. We skinned up the gentle slope to the impressive cirque between Black Mountain and Diamond Peak. In winter conditions it looked quite different from when I was last there in May of 2022 with my cousin Adrien. We made pretty good time on skis and soon reached the base of the rightmost of four major couloirs on the S-SE aspect of Diamond Peak, at around 11,900 feet of elevation, at 11:00. This seemed like the broadest and least steep option. At the same time it seemed much too steep to skin, and we did not relish the prospect of carrying our skis up the deep and steep snow. So we left them at the base and booted up. The roughly 1,000 feet of steep snow climbing was excruciatingly slow due to soft boot-deep snow, taking us over an hour and a half to climb (Secor advertises a "splendid snow climb in the spring" and I suppose that's accurate). Once on the broad flat area at the top of the couloir, the summit still seemed quite a ways away to the West. But that turned out to be mostly an illusion. We continued booting up the now gentler terrain, took a nice break on a protruding rock before the final slope to the summit, reaching the top of Diamond Peak at 13:45. It had taken longer than I had anticipated, but we now faced the prospect of a very fast return to camp, so I was not worried. We took our time on the summit, taking numerous pictures. Andrés had lunch (I did not feel the need). The register dates back to 2005 and is quite sparse - about four ascents per year, mostly by SPS peakbaggers. The views from Diamond Peak are fantastic, from the Palisades and Mount Goddard in the North to Mount Williamson, the Great Western Divide and the Kaweah Range to the South. We departed the summit at 14:10 and quickly retraced our steps to the top of the couloir, down its now melting slope (some signs of an impending wet slide avalanche) and back to our skis (15:10). The ski descent from there was quite fantastic, with the broad cirque and excellent snow coverage affording wide turns down gentle terrain. We were back in camp in no time, at 16:00. It was another comfortable afternoon eating, resting, and talking. A card game, some excellent whisky (the remainder of the Jacob's Pardon that I had been gifted the previous year), and some talking led us to a good long night of sleep. (7:59 hours elapsed, 7:03 hours moving, 5.84 miles, 3,636 feet of elevation gain)
March 24, 2025 - Return to Baxter Pass Trailhead. The morning sun on the surrounding peaks was magnificent, and I got up early to take advantage of it. We were in no particular rush, so we took our time with breakfast and packing camp. We left camp at 8:38 and skied down all the way to the stream crossing, where we switched to boots for the side-hilling portion of the approach trail. This was much faster on the return, since we had the benefit of our trace from two days prior, so there was less postholing. Soon we reached the broader desert portion of the hike, and changed into sneakers. At another stream crossing, Andrés took a bath in Oak Creek while I continued on, eager to reach the car. This I did at 11:18, with Andrés following about 10 minutes later. We stopped for a lunch of steak and eggs at the Alabama Hills Café and drove back home to LA that afternoon. (2:37 hours elapsed, 2:22 hours moving, 3.68 miles, 24 feet of elevation gain)
Trip totals: 16:48 hours elapsed, 14:32 hours moving, 13:20 miles, 7,099 feet of elevation gain.