Re: Hiking Mount Conness Advice

Hello --

So I read with great interest about the hike to Mount Conness (as many of you did) in Backpacker magazine. A group of my friends (one who summitted Shasta in July) are planning to try to summit via Young Lakes on the Route which is basically a hike...at most some class 2 with a bit of exposure.

What I don't have, despite countless webpages with info, is a GPS trail track or more info on the important notices, pitfalls of the trip up Conness. I'm hoping someone on this forum can help. We are planning to hike out on September 10th, and come down late in the day on the 11th.

Feel free to post here with links or information, or if you'd prefer to contact me directly you can on by work email at bgregory@kovr.com. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time,

Brian

Not sure what you really want. There should be LOADS of stuff out there on Conness.
Some may call it low class 3 along the final ridge to the summit (you will prob. use your hands).
Other than that... it pretty hard not to figure out how to go. Although when did it with
The Old Dude... a bunch of youngsters never made it to the top... not sure why...

Here's some GPS tracks of the area... including Ragged and White Mtn:



Have fun

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I remembered hiking over the weekend that there actually used to
be a trail nearly if not all the way to the top of Conness.
The trail to Youngs used to be called the Mt. Conness Trail.
That in and of itself should give an indication of how easy the trek is.
i.e.:

https://picasaweb.google.com/yosemite.chick.on/YoseMaps#5560700134887229906

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Quote
slosh2400
Hello --

So I read with great interest about the hike to Mount Conness (as many of you did) in Backpacker magazine. A group of my friends (one who summitted Shasta in July) are planning to try to summit via Young Lakes on the Route which is basically a hike...at most some class 2 with a bit of exposure.

What I don't have, despite countless webpages with info, is a GPS trail track or more info on the important notices, pitfalls of the trip up Conness. I'm hoping someone on this forum can help. We are planning to hike out on September 10th, and come down late in the day on the 11th.

Feel free to post here with links or information, or if you'd prefer to contact me directly you can on by work email at bgregory@kovr.com. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time,

Brian

Here is a shot of the final section: (that's Old Dude)(if you fall you die)


Here's Old Dude nearly puking: (rightmost figure)

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Old Dude



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2011 08:34PM by mrcondron.

Quote
mrcondron
Here's Old Dude nearly puking

Puking?

I found Conness to be far easier than many peaks I've done under the "Class 2" designation (and I'm even sensitive to exposure). Just one example of how things are really relative to experience and skills.

I did a guide (complete with GPS track) of hiking conness from the east side. The approach is different but the final stretch (the exposed part) is the same. Details here.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2011 08:49PM by calipidder.

More stuff here to wallow away the time:
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,28505

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I did that trip many years ago...gotta do it again, its a good one! I had been married for a year or two, took my wife as well as my parents and younger siblings, so it was a group of 8 or so, ages probably 13 to 45. It was pre-gps obviously...I propbably had a topo map and maybe some kind of guidebook. I don't recall the routefinding from Young Lakes being difficult at all, and we all made it to the top without much trouble. I do remember a crux point near the top that just had some exposure...very airy, as they say. Maybe about a 10 foot section. My little sister went over it, got real scared and came right back...and we had to talk her into doing it again so that she could summit, which she did.
Oh, and the other memory...my Dad broke his leg on the way down! But it was not nearly as bad as it sounds. He slipped on some loose sand that was on granite; coulda happened anywhere, and we thought he had twisted his ankle. He hobbled back to camp at Young Lakes with my help, and we had to horse him out the next day. He finally went to the doctor about 10 days later and they told him he had broken it!
So always remember, when you reach the top, you are only half way done...don't lose focus on the way down!

Yep--I took a group of kids on this back when I was working as a guide at a camp in that area back in the 1970's. Route from Youngs Lakes is pretty darn obviious, and a bunch of the kids made it to the summit. Another group stayed in the snowfield below and had a snowball fight.

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