Mount Ritter TR

[Wild]

Hello people,

Just spent an awesome four days in the beautiful Sierra Nevadas.. Backpacked to Lake Ediza from Mammoth Resort on the first day, climbed around on a glacier at the base of the Minarets on the second day, peaked Mount Ritter on the third day, then came back to the car, then home, on the last day.

It was by far the most amazing place I had ever been to. The lakes.. the rivers.. the waterfalls.. the fall colors.. the snowy, rocky peaks.. Man, it had it all! Mount Ritter had been on my mind for a long time, it felt great to stand on top of the titan. I took the south-east glacier approach, which consisted of a small hike from ediza lake to the base of the mountain, followed by a really fun bouldering/bushwacking stretch through mixed rocks, snow, ice, and streams. At this point my friend turned around because he didn't like the weather. I told him to wait for me at camp while I went up and back down... I really had to go for it. Nothing could stop me then, I was in the zone man. Anyhow, climbed up the solid glacier then the final scree slope. Glissaded my way back down the glacier, downclimbed the slippery rock/snow terrain, and made it to camp barely three hours after we separated.

The Sierra Nevadas are amazing. I can't wait for the next trip...
Meanwhile, here's a quick video that I put up together from our trip. My HD Camera ran out of battery only two days into the trip (need more batteries!), so half of it is video, and the other half is pictures; plus an extra crappy 360 video from the summit of Ritter from my picture camera.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iuwe2XnUioo

And while we're at it, may I ask you guys your opinion?
If you have trekked around the Sierras, what is your favorite mountain/route up there? I'm looking for a next prospect and would appreciate any feedback. Thanks

[zippetydude]

Wow Danny, you're all over the place, aren't you? I love the path coming up out of Mammoth to Shadow Lake and the waterfall is beautiful. I haven't gone on up to Mt. Ritter, and I have to say, your friend had a point. That weather looked dicey. Great job making it to the peak!

As far as other trails to do - you could come up over from Mammoth by Thousand Island Lake, through Donahue Pass, tour the high country and then go down to Yosemite Valley. I've done most of that as day runs, and it's every bit as spectacular as you might imagine. There's even a bus that runs back to Mammoth (YARTS) for just a few bucks.

See you out there on the trails.

z

[Cy Kaicener]

Great slide show Danny Takes me back many years to a time before I was married. We climbed Ritter and Banner on that week end.

[Wild]

Hey Z! How have you been sir? Been running those trails this weekend?
Indeed, the trail from mammoth to shadow lake is nothing short of sublime. Have you ever been all the way to Lake Ediza? Yes, you are absolutely right, the weather was a bit dicey. I had to stop myself a few times and truly ask myself if this was not too reckless. I thought, as soon as I get that little warning feeling in my tummy, I'm willing to turn around..

Thanks for the suggestion on the route, I like that one. I think I may include Banner Peak in there and make it an over nighter. The bus was already out of season when we were there.. I guess they close the gate at the end of October or something.


Hello Cy! Thank you very much sir, it's really fun to make. Ah! The days huh? That is awesome, good job on summiting those beautiful peak! I had originally planned to climb both, but you know how things can change out there, hehe. Did you do both peaks in a day? One last question, sorry hehe, but if you don't mind me asking, what route did you take?


Thanks for the feedback guys, I appreciate it.

[tinaballina]

Nice TR...

[Cy Kaicener]

Danny - It was a two day backpack via Lake Ediza. It was more than thirty years ago, so I dont remember the route, but I think it was class three.

[Wild]

Hey Cy, looks like we might have taken the same approach then.
I wonder how different the area was 30 years ago..
Thank you Tina!

And here's more pictures...
http://picasaweb.google.com/bushidanny/ ... untRitter#

Man I miss that place!

[OsideMatt]

If you've never been to the area immediately to the NNE side of Ritter it's a trip. I don't know that there's a route from Garnet Lake but right there is a pretty magical spot. There's a big snow field that stays year round in the shade right under Banner and feeds this pre-lake sediment pond maybe 100 yds by 50 yds and it's maybe 8 in. deep all over. You can walk through it (it's warm because it's so shallow and the bottom is SOFT) and kick it on dozens of these near VW side boulders sitting in the sediment. Then the outflow cuts a channel 4-5 feet wide through some meadows and feeds on down to Garnet Lake. Coolest place I've ever seen.

I'm a big fan of Rae Lakes in SEKI if you get a chance too. Little crowded but it's an awesome 4 day loop.

[Sally]

Hi Danny,
Congratulations on your Mt Ritter trip! I don't know if I have the skills to do something the likes of Ritter, but when I backpacked to Ediza Lake we did the scramble to Iceburg and Cecille Lakes, which I found to be plenty enough exhillarating for me!

I have through-hiked the JMT and there is not a section that I wouldn't love to do again. I would recommend any part, especially after the crowds have subsided in September.

[Wild]

Hey OsideMatt, thanks for the feedback man!
Are you possibly referring to Thousand Island Lake? Either way, sounds like a great idea...with Banner on the way.. hehe. I'll have to try to locate that snowfield and stream you speak of!

Hello Sally, thank you much! I am sure you could do it, it really was not so bad. It took a little bit of scrambling effort at the beginning, but I really just took it step after step and it was a lot easier than I expected. After we came back to camp at Ediza Lake after summiting, we backpacked all the way back to Agnew Meadows, which is another 4 miles. THAT was hard...