Mount Starr
Ascent of Mount Starr (West Slope from Mono Pass, class 2), August 12, 2025.
Timeline:
August 12, 2025. I left Mammoth at 7:20 and started from the trailhead at Mosquito Flat at 8:07. The initial portion went quickly, and I reached Mono Pass at 9:40. Some hikers were chatting loudly near a boulder, so I hurried up a use trail that snakes up the West Slope of Mount Starr. I dropped my hiking poles on a flat rock at the base of the steeper part, a decision I would later (briefly) regret since it prevented me from descending a different way. Soon the use trail gave way to a mix of sand and talus, and I headed straight up to the summit ridge. I moved to the right (east) side of the ridge without thinking, and encountered some class 2-3 terrain (the west side is much easier, as I would realize on the return). Soon I gained a flatter portion from which the summit could be seen. I could also see a person there. I hurried to the top and met Heather, from Ojai, eating a snack. We chatted a bit, and took each other's photos with our respective cameras. We stared down the east side of the peak and it seemed quite doable, but I had left my poles near Mono Pass. Off I went, on the west side of the ridge this time, down the West Slope, back to my hiking poles and to the pass. The return along the trail was fast, crossing or passing numerous parties on this beautiful summer day (well, clouds were gathering, but it was still early). I came within a short distance of the trailhead, around 12:45, when I crossed paths with Heather again. She had come down the east slope, and had not liked it one bit, saying it was steep and loose. Since I had reached the same point in about the same time as her, I no longer regretted stashing my poles. I went to the Rock Creek store for a delicious BBQ beef brisket sandwich, and a Häagen-Dazs chocolate ice cream. There, I crossed paths with Heather for a third time. I was back in Mammoth at 14:20. (4:42 hours elapsed, 4:13 hours moving, 7.83 miles, 2,669 feet of elevation gain).