Red and White Mountain and Mount Isaak Walton

Red and White Mountain 12,816′ and Mount Isaak Walton 12,077′
Sierra Nevada
Total Time: 17:30
Distance: 30.6 miles
Elevation Gain: 8400′
Crux: Class 3
Trailhead: Mono Creek- full services at VVR seasonally

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It was time for my annual trek over Kaiser Pass, still with a number of SPS peaks to tackle in the deep backcountry near Lakes Edison and Florence. I was sitting at 98 Sierra Peak Section summits and wanted to break 100 with a long day. Mount Issak Walton is commonly done as a dayhike out of Lake Edison with mileage in the low 20s. On a map, it looked like Red and White Mountain could be traversed from along the Silver Divide, upping the mileage to around 30, doable, although a number I hadn’t broken since Arrow Peak when I was in much better hiking shape after the JMT. I could also find very little information on the complexity of the terrain along the Silver Divide, which would probably be the biggest question mark going into the day. The drive to Lake Edison is easily the worst in the Sierra Nevada, and I decided to break up the pain by sleeping just over Kaiser Pass the night before. Waking up at 2 AM, I finished the drive and started out from the Mono Creek around 3 AM, thoroughly car sick despite the shorter drive. The first five miles weaves through the forest along the northern shores of Lake Edison, little to see by headlamp and taking about 1:40 to reach the spur trail for the Lake Edison Ferry on the far side. I had 12 hours to bag the two summits and get back to this point to catch the return ferry across Lake Edison, hopefully saving me 5 miles on the return. At the far eastern end of Lake Edison, the trail began to follow Mono Creek, initially gaining little elevation until reaching a stream crossing, the water flowing just enough to need to take off my shoes to wade across. Beyond the crossing was when the first real elevation gain started for the day, climbing up exposed slabs and granite steps just as the sun was beginning to rise.

I was now on the PCT/ JMT, and passed a number of campers still asleep. It was far too cold to take a break, temperatures hovering in the high 20s at the bottom of the canyon. I quickly reached the junction for Mott Lake, the trail becoming a bit less defined and well traveled compared to the JMT. After another stream crossing, the trail enters alpine meadow, the wildflowers and grasses coated in a frost that quickly soaked my boots. I pressed on to Mott Lake, reaching the alpine cirque in about 4:30 from the start.

Unfortunately the sun had still not risen above the peaks ahead, and I threw on my down jacket to take a short break. I had decided that if I was going to bag both summits, I needed to try for Red and White Mountain first, being the deepest in and the more difficult of the two peaks. So after my short break, I skirted along the northern edge of the lake and started cross country further up the drainage, finally getting some sun in the higher alpine meadow.

I angled up towards Rosy Finch Lake, initially planning on traversing around Silver Divide Peak to the south, although quickly seeing that would likely not be technically feasible with dramatic fins of granite extending south of the unofficially named summit.

I topped up on waters along at a high tarn then climbed on to the Silver Divide with impressive views of Red Slate Mountain to the northeast and a fresh dusting of snow on Mount Ritter and Banner Peak further north. It was now about 9:45 and despite being over 6 hours into my day, I was happy with the progress I had made so far, Red and White Mountain less than a mile to the east and Mount Isaak Walton less than a mile to the west.

Traversing intermediate Silver Divide Peak wound up being fairly trivial on talus and slabs to the north, skirting some huge fields of snow that would certainly survive until winter. As Red and White Mountain came into view, I was pleased with how close it looked, but surprised by the cliff bands blocking the last bit of approach to the final saddle. On the map this spot looked like it would be straightforward, and I didn’t expect to be shut down so early.

I followed the rim to the south, finding a class 2 break down a gully, leading out across slabs and back over to the saddle. Looking back up towards Silver Divide Peak, there was a very clear class 2-3 line straight up the spine of the Divide, although it had been difficult to spot from above.

I turned my attention to the West Ridge of Red and White Mountain. Secor does not mince words on the quality of the rock (rotten) on Red and White Mountain and really any route up it isn’t really recommended or considered enjoyable. But my bar for loose rock has changed considerably after climbing in the Grand Canyon for a few years, and I hoped that the class 3 ridge above would hold more solid rock than advertised. The majority of the West Ridge is a broad fan of talus, granite down low transitioning to the red and black rock characteristic of the summits stretching from Mount Conness to the north and Mount Morgan to the south. There was actually very little loose rock as I made steady progress upward, the ridgeline not really narrowing until the final 100 yards of class 3 to the summit. Staying true to the summit ridgeline would be very exposed class 4, but I found a class 3 slot along the southwest slopes of the ridge leading to a series of ledges about 50′ below the crest. This in turn led to another steep class 3 slot to the far side of the false summit.

The going got a bit easier from there, with class 2 scree up the western slopes of the true summit, transitioning to class 3 the final 50′ to the high point. The views from the summit were outstanding, with Red Slate dominating the view to the north, Mount Morrison and Baldwin to the northeast, and the Little Lake Valley and Mount Abbot grouping to the southeast. Further south stood Mount Gabb and Recess Peak, with Seldon Pass to the southwest. Further north were Mount Ritter and Banner Peak, with a fresh dusting of snow on Koip and Kuna Crest, my most recent long day peakbagging. To the west stretched the remainder of the Silver Divide, and I tried not to notice how far Mount Isaak Walton looked.

I was surprised to find only one other name in the summit register for the entire year, although soon realized it was likely due to a fin of ice on the summit ridgeline of the standard route, likely shutting down the majority of parties making summit attempts this season. It was shortly after 12:30 PM when I started reversing my steps down the ridgeline, a bit behind schedule if I had any hopes of catching the ferry. I dropped back down to the Silver Divide, reaching the connecting saddle in about 45 minutes from the summit before climbing several hundred feet of class 2-3 directly to the plateau north of Silver Divide Peak.

I was lucky to find a thin stream of water from the active snow melt to filter another liter before traversing the remainder of the divide, skirting the small false summits and bumps where I could as I made steady progress back towards Isaak Walton. My plan was to climb the NE Ridge, a quality class 3 granite line directly off the Silver Divide, but I could see a lingering patch of snow on the ridgeline about halfway up.

But as I grew closer the ridgeline looked mostly easy class 2 and the patch of snow easily avoidable. I started up the easy class 2, skirting the snow to the left on very modest class 3. It wasn’t until I was about 2/3 of the way up that the ridgeline became more interesting, narrowing to a fun series of slabs and cracks, hitting a notch about 100′ below the summit with a series of class 3 steps on the far side bringing me to my 100th Sierra Peak Section Peak.

I would say the class 3 was over too soon, but I was over 12 hours into my day…. Although the views from the top were not as expansive as on Red and White Mountain, they were still outstanding, particularly to the south. Looking back at Red and Mountain Mountain, I could hardly believe the traverse only took 3 hours.

With a little over an hour until the ferry left from Lake Edison, it seemed quite impossible to make it in time, so I did allow myself a short break before dropping off the sandy slopes directly south. There were a number of sandy lines to boot ski down into the hanging valley below, crossing a handful of snowfields down to an absolutely gorgeous meadow, a narrow stream winding through with easy cross country on short grass.

At the end of the hanging valley, the stream steeply dropped towards Mono Creek below, and I angled cross country through the forest, aiming for the JMT just above the junction with the Mott Lake trail. This was a bit brushier than I had expected, with a series of 30-50′ cliff bands that prevented me from blindly charging downslope.

Once on the JMT I was able to pick up my pace, holding out some hope that I might be able to catch a late ferry run, with a large number of hikers on their way out at the end of Labor Day weekend. But with a good chunk of the terrain covered by headlamp that morning, I didn’t realize just how far I had to go to reach the ferry landing, not getting there until after 6:30, nearly two hours from the first scheduled departure. Looks like I’d be finishing my day with another 5 miles, mostly in the dark.

I tried to cover as much ground as I could before flipping on my headlamp, turning on some climbing Podcasts for the final stretch to take my mind off the many ups and downs I had forgotten about since that morning. It was shortly before 9 PM when I reached the trailhead, and I zipped over to VVR hoping the kitchen or store might still be open for some snacks. It was not (closed at 8). So with a single granola bar left from the day, I started the bumpy ride out back over Kaiser Pass, not finding anything open until a gas station in Shaver Lake where I wolfed down a premade sandwich, bag of chips and a gatorade to celebrate my 100th Sierra Peak Section summit.