Crater Mountain 9,172′
Great Basin Desert
Total Time: 2:30
Distance: 3.9 miles
Elevation Gain: 1400′
Crux: Class 2
Companions: Avery
Trailhead: Mono Lake basin fire roads, no services
With Holly working for the day in Mammoth, it was time for the second annual “Daddy-Daughter Climb an Obscure Peak in the Eastern Sierra.” With the historic snowpack, options were a bit more limited and I needed to find the sweet spot between not too hard or long with the toddler on my back, not dangerous conditions and covered in snow, and an objective Holly wouldn’t want to do anyways. White Wing Mountain had fit the bill perfectly the year before, but with lingering snow, I needed to look on the other side of the 395 to find something with more suitable conditions. I quickly settled on Crater Mountain, the highest summit of the Mono Craters. Sitting at the northern end of the Long Valley Caldera, the Mono Craters are the youngest mountain range in North America with most of the summits about 10,000 years old and the northern-most and youngest, Panum Crater, forming less than 700 years ago. And despite holding over 1,000′ of prominence, the summit is constantly passed up by larger objectives in the Sierra on the other side of the highway. Utilizing some driving directions from Peakbagger, I left Mammoth and headed north on the 395, heading east on 120 briefly before following a series of dirt roads until I was in line with the saddle between the main summit and lower southern summit.
We followed an old road towards the saddle, probably passable by my stock SUV with some patience until reaching an old barrier that OHV enthusiasts clearly ignore. There was a few minutes of whining and protest as Avery fought sleep in the carrier behind me, but she was no match for the methodical soothing rhythm as I slowly hiked up the sandy hill, falling asleep in a few minutes.
The slope immediately above the saddle was considerably steeper, and I did my best to utilize the extra traction provided by clumps of pine needles and patches of buckthorn to reach an intermediary plateau. Although I was expected to see a series of false summits along the ridge based on my topo, they were actually a series of craters, easily avoided to the east with minimal elevation gain as I neared the actual summit plateau.
Gaining this was actually the steepest stretch of the day, although I found pockets of solid rock jutting out of the sand that made it tolerable and kept my pace smooth enough to keep Avery asleep. The summit plateau is a series of volcanic plugs and piles of rubble, the highest to the northwest at the opposite corner.
It was easy but sandy cross country to reach the base of the highest plug, a well defined use trail working up the northeast aspect to the summit, with Avery waking up just a few dozen feet below the highpoint. The views across the Sierra were tremendous, with Mono Lake to the north, Mount Dana and the eastern edge of Yosemite to the west, Mount Ritter, Banner Peak and the summits near Mammoth Mountain to the southwest and Mount Morrison, Red Slate and the high Sierra summits further south. There was a great flat spot at the summit where Avery could play, more amused by the flying insects at the summit and freakishly light stones (pumice) than the views.
I was surprised to see people signed into the register almost every other day, although I wondered if this year was an anomaly given the lingering snowpack on bigger summits. After a short break we started down, with the intent on taking a more direct line to the car by plunge stepping down the sandy slopes. I dropped off the summit plateau on the eastern face, cutting diagonally across sandy slopes back into the forest.
Although Avery initially seemed to dislike the jostling of the more rapid descent, she quickly settled down when I broke out my secret weapon- a small bag of Cheez-Its, passing a square over my shoulder every minute or so, having just enough to get us back to the car. I rinsed off my feet and hopped in the car, heading for lunch in June Lake before taking her to the playground for her turn to have a little physical activity for the day.
