Re: So many peaks, so little time: Clouds Rest, Excelsior, Warren, and Johnson

I've spent the past couple of weekends tooling around the Tioga Pass region. When I choose hikes I look to peaks as my destinations, though it's not always important that I make the summit. I like how aiming for peaks takes me off trail and gets me to explore areas I might otherwise pass by. Anyways, in the past couple of weekends I've managed to hike Clouds Rest (okay, not off trail and quite busy, but still worth it), Excelsior (out of Virginia Lakes - link goes to route info), Warren (via 120/Warren Fork) and Johnson. Can't pick a favorite, although the view of Mono Lake from Warren was pretty darn awesome. Some pics:

Excelsior:
The 'red hill' that is the crux of the climb (excelsior summit is the point to the left)


Saw a bear running across this slope at 12k on the west side of the peak. Too far away for pics:


Dat purty, purty polemonium:


Conness, big and in the way:


Warren:

Ugh, that chute. Harmless going up but a knee-killer on the way down.


But whoa the view is worth it:




And Johnson:

Great slabby climb:


But the bushes get in the way a bit on the final summit ridge:


The perspective from up here is great, I haven't done many peaks in the area:




I'll probably do one more weekend around Sonora Pass before heading down to do Willy and Tyndall in a couple of weeks. Yay it's my favorite time of year!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/2013 08:19PM by calipidder.

Great shots! Love the contrast between the red volcanic and the grey granite in these pictures.

Thanks for the trip report and photos.

Too bad your shin got cut up going through the bushes. That's why I usually prefer to wear long pants if any part of my hike might involve some bushwhacking, though wearing long pants doesn't guarantee that I won't suffer cuts or abrasions (unless I'm wearing some heavy denim jeans which can be very problematic in other ways).

Everything is a trade-off, but I find lightweight quick-drying longs pants (or convertibles) offer the best trade-off between protection and comfort when bushwhacking.

.

That's what I usually do, but last week was so warm that I chose to go with the shorts. No big deal - my legs are normally pretty scratched up and bruised. It's a sign of a good weekend.

Here's edg's stuff on Excelsior:
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,59527,59527#msg-59527

Tanks for posting Cal

Ur legs look brand new to me. Mine... uh... yeah... Got granite? why yes I do

The nylon pants don't do much for granite and for the twigs which I continually
get scewered with. Meh. It's worth it.

You may want to give Shepherd's a go sometime too. Not many go up there either.
Everyone heading to North or Conness... or even just thru Sky Pilot and not
doing the extra little to to crest atop Shepherds.
Love the shots of that you got.

Have fun

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calipidder

Ugh, that chute. Harmless going up but a knee-killer on the way down.

Amen. I hated that thing




Here's a pano my buddy took from the top (including the goofy looking weather station)





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/2013 11:25AM by edg.

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edg
Here's a pano my buddy took from the top (including the goofy looking weather station)

You sure it isn't seismo?

Huh, we thought it was a locked outhouse for the vertically challenged.

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eeek

Quote
edg
Here's a pano my buddy took from the top (including the goofy looking weather station)

You sure it isn't seismo?

Could be, I have no idea. I think I remember reading that it was weather somewhere (perhaps summitpost).

Do any other mountains in the Sierra have seismo monitoring equpiment on the summit?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2013 09:45PM by edg.

You have probably seen some of the earthscope devices around.
There's a few in the park also. Map is here:
http://www.earthscope.org/current_status/
If you follow that link it will lead you to some photos of what they look like.

Looks the same as the gunk on Hoffmann. An outhouse for short people.
(by that I mean the stuff on Excelsior... not the Plate Boundary Observatory devices)

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/2013 07:29AM by chick-on.