Mount Abbot

Mount Abbot 13,710′
Sierra Nevada
Total Time: 8:10
Distance: 10.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 4070′
Crux: Class 3
Trailhead: Mosquito Flats- trash, pit toilets

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Mosquito Flat is the highest paved trailhead in the Sierra Nevada, sitting at over 10,000′. There are a number of 13,000+’ Sierra Peak Section Peaks surrounding Little Lakes Basin that were relatively low hanging fruit given the high starting altitude. Despite this, I had only climbed Mount Morgan with a failed attempt on Mount Abbot many years ago due to an incoming thunderstorm. I had been putting off climbing most of the summits as the loose scree and talus on the approaches make them better snow climbs. But after years of bad snow and not seeming to make it out to the Eastern Sierra in the early summer, I decided to bite the bullet and reattempt Mount Abbot, one of fifteen Sierra Club Emblem Peaks. It would be a quick strike, driving to the Eastside on a Friday night and trying to be back to Coarsegold for dinner the following day with a few errands to run in Mammoth in between.

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When my alarm clock started buzzing to wake me at 3 AM, my first thought was- “Why can’t I just have normal hobbies so I can sleep.” It was a bit after 4 AM by the time I had breakfast and drove to the trailhead, the sky covered in stars with no moon or clouds in sight. It was 25 degrees as I started up the trail from Mosquito Flats, quickly turning onto the trail for Ruby Lake and Mono Pass. I plodded along in the darkness, reaching Ruby Lake 2 miles in, under an hour from the start. It was too cold to take much of a break so after inhaling a few more calories, I left the trail and started cross country along the eastern shore of the lake, climbing slab and talus up the drainage leading to Mills Lake. There was ice covering the talus in the main drainage with water trickling between the rocks as I boulder hopped higher. It was still dark when I reached Mills Lake, climbing granite benches to the southwest in darkness. Dawn began to break a few hundred feet over the frozen lake, just in time to navigate the moraine.

I had remembered the moraine to be loose and unpleasant on my first attempt of Abbot years prior, and the loose and shifting boulders were even worse than I remembered. My progress slowed considerably as I crossed shallow ribs and gullies of incredibly loose rock aiming for the largest boulders as I could in hopes they would be the most stable. Mount Abbot was now illuminated directly ahead, with the impressive Petit Griffon spire to the north, rated 5.7 with two pitches of quality granite.

The Sierras had actually gotten a round of light snow about a week prior, so I had brought my crampons and ice axes hoping for the chance to use them. But the glacier at the base of Abbot leading to the north couloir was all but extinct, with a few patches of ice high in the shadows and nothing but sand and scree remaining. I found a little better footing on the central moraine leading to the edge of what was once the glacier, a climbers trail briefly materializing before disappearing again in the rubble. I actually made better progress than expected as I started up the sand, the small patches of snow providing a bit of extra traction and glue for the small rocks.

I quickly reached a large boulder where I remembered turning back from building clouds years before, not realizing how close I had been to the summit. I continued past, hoping to utilize more solid looking class 3 slabs at the base of the couloir to lead to the class 2-3 rock to my right. But the thin layer of snow coating the granite slabs made them incredibly slick, and although more tedious, sticking with the sand and scree remained the safer option until I could move right into a dry gully out of the couloir proper. This led to a series of most class 2 sandy benches and ramps, crossing over a rib further right and ultimately leading to the summit plateau above.

The summit was now only a few hundred feet above with the ridgeline quickly leading to the technical crux, a knife edge narrowing of the ridgeline that was easily bypassed with class 2-3 ramps and ledges to the right (west) side of the crest. It was actually fairly enjoyable, reminding me of a watered down version of Mount Gardiner from the month before.

Once past the narrowing, it was easy class 1-2 slopes up to the high point, reaching the summit a bit before 9:30 AM. The views were outstanding as one might expect from an Emblem Peak, with Bear Creek Spire and Mount Tom to the southeast, Seven Gables to the south, Mount Hilgard and Recess Peak to the southwest, Little and Big Shuteye to the west, the Clark Range and Silver Divide to the northwest, Red Slate, Ritter, Banner and Mammoth Mountain to the north, and Baldwin, Morrison, Stanford and Morgan to the northeast.

It was a fine climb, dedicated to my grandfather who passed away at the age of 89 a few days before. I signed into the summit register and started back down the summit plateau, wanting to optimize my time for the long drive home. I reversed the class 2-3 ledges to get back to the far side of the summit ridge, then descended into the North Couloir, more or less following the same route of ascent. I welcomed the loose snow and sand lower down, allowing me to plunge step quickly back to the moraine, although the sections had a few too many slabs and bigger rocks to move too efficiently. Now with the benefit of full daylight, it was clear I would be able to avoid the worst of the moraine by more directly dropping off to the east, using slabs and more solid benches above and west of the drainage leading down to Mills Lake.

This worked beautifully with much more stable terrain and slabs off the moraine, and I only needed to cross over the toe of the moraine at the very bottom where the slabs had some bigger drops above the lake. I took a short break at Mills Lake to shed some layer before quickly dropping back down to Ruby Lake, seeing the first people of the day.

With only two miles back to the trailhead, I continued past, taking a bit over 3 hours to descend from the summit back to the trailhead and about half of that getting from the summit down the morainne. After a late lunch in Mammoth and a few errands I headed back over Tioga pass, making it home in time for dinner as planned.