Mount Gardiner

Mount Gardiner 12,907′
Sierra Nevada
Total Time: 13:20
Distance: 21.7 miles
Elevation Gain: 10,000′
Crux: Class 3
Trailhead: Roads End, full services

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I wanted to get one more trip to Kings Canyon before snows brought an end to my already short alpine season, with plenty of summits out of Roads End yet to be climbed. Among them was Mount Gardiner, just shy of 13,000′ and one of 35 Sierra Club Mountaineers Peaks, a subselection of summits in the Sierra noted for both the quality of the climbing as well as their difficulty. I had ticked off over 1/3 of the summits on the short list but had not yet attempted one in 2022. The day before, it was looking like I might need to pivot to an easier summit, with Sierra receiving the first big storm of the year, bringing snow to higher elevations. The summit of Mount Gardiner is obtained by a short but difficult class 3 ridge, and I had no interest attempting it wet or with snow. But checking the radar, the storm kept just north of Kings Canyon, and it looked like the route would be dry. This was again thrown into doubt on the drive in, with it pouring rain as I drove through Cedar Grove in the early morning. But dropping into Kings Canyon proper, the downpour transitioned to a sprinkle and the skies were clear by the time I reached Roads End, a thin crescent moon peeking out behind whispy clouds at the edge of the storm front. It was still dark when I started out, hiking the two miles to the Bubbs Creek trail turnoff by headlamp, the green eyes of a deer crashing through the forest waking me up better than my morning coffee. I was able to shut off my headlamp as I started up the switchbacks along Bubbs Creek, sunrise lighting the Sphinx overhead and Kings Canyon to the west.

I took my first break at the junction with the Sphinx Creek Trail about 4 miles in, cold air flowing down canyon from the higher summits keeping me from pausing too long. The skies stayed clear as I hiked along Bubbs Creek, the summits near Vidette Meadow just poking into view through the trees. It was 8 AM when I reached Charlotte Creek and the start of my cross country travel, although I knew there would be excellent use trails at least to the base of Charlotte Dome, one of the best moderate technical routes in the Sierra Nevada.

Sure enough, there were plenty of ducks along Charlotte Creek leading up through the forest. I started up a use trail on the east side of the creek requiring a brushy crossing, quickly realizing I was likely on the climbers’ use trail for nearby Bubbs Creek Wall. Once on the proper west side of Charlotte Creek, I found the correct use trail quite easy to follow as I neared the apron of Charlotte Dome looming directly overhead.

The climbing looked incredible with deep runnels and chicken heads clearly visible from below- a climb definitely worth coming back for. I lost the use trail in some manzanita just below the apron, but was able climb up on the low angled but ever steepening slabs to get above the brush. Staying on the slabs at the bottom of the apron kept things third class, although you could easily get into low fifth class terrain if you wandered up higher.

I stayed on the slabs as long as possible to avoid the brush before cutting to the northeast, aiming for the drainage immediately south of Mount Gardiner. I was well above the worst of the brush with easy cross country through the pines, and stopped to top up on water at 10,400′, the summit of Charlotte Dome now at eye level behind me. The northern end of the Great Western Divide and Mount Brewer dominated the skyline behind me, and I took my first long break since turning off at Charlotte Creek. The pines thinned as I climbed higher until I reached the upper talus basin where the terrain became a bit looser.

In an effort to find more solid rock, I left the bottom of the drainage and climbed sandy slopes onto the broad southern ridge. Although there were still plenty of loose spots, the rock was overall solid and continually improved as I climbed higher on the ridgeline. It was just before 1 PM when I reached the south summit of Mount Gardiner, having taken over 7 hours to climb the nearly 8,000′ to the narrow ridgeline between the lower southern summit and the higher northern summit.

It was a bit disorienting at first looking at the north summit, as the ridgeline actually is more C-shaped, allowing you to see essentially the entire route. It looked like there were plenty of ledges off the crest to avoid some of the more difficult sections, and I dropped my pack and started down a ramp to the left towards the notch. Although steep, it was easy to keep in the well featured corners to avoid any significant exposure, and I climbed a bit below the level of the notch to avoid any sketchy traverses.

Thick clouds moved in as I dropped into the notch, adding an even more alpine feel to the crux of the day. From the notch, I moved on to wide ledges left of the crest before scrambling up to it. The crest itself was wider than it looked from afar, and I dropped back to the left to reach another ramp up to the first false summit of the ridgeline where it hooks from north to west.

Sticking to the crest, I briefly dropped down to ledges on the right side hitting one of the few sections that gave me pause with good hands but iffy feet. I reconsidered my options and moved back on to the crest, squeezing between two flakes instead, the moves probably being a bit harder but without any risk or exposure. This brought me to one last obstacle along the ridge, a large gendarme easily bypassed by a class 2 ramp on the right, with a final class 3 crack up to the summit block.

I was grinning ear to ear at the summit block, finding the scrambling interesting and engaging, but never sketchy with usually multiple options to avoid any significant exposure. The clouds were swirling around me as I took a short break, the Rae Lakes area completely whited out to the east, but with views towards the Great Western Divide to the south.

With my pack waiting for me back at the south summit, I reversed course, only deviating from my ascent route at the notch with the southern summit, where I was able to find a more direct class 3 line out of the notch without needing to traverse over to the ramp. It was now just before 2 PM and with 8,000′ of descent to go,  I wasted little time starting down the scree slopes. I tried to utilize the steeper loose gully for the descent, but found just a bit too much solid rock to be able to boot ski down. I was able to pick up the pace closer to treeline, aiming for Charlotte Dome the entire descent to try and be as direct as possible.

I again skirted the bottom of the apron below Charlotte Dome, managing to find a better route through the manzanita for a bit, only to lose it a few hundred feet above the Bubbs Creek trail resulting in another brushy creek crossing. The 4,000′ of descent back to the Bubbs Creek trail took 2.5 hours, with over 7 miles between me and the trailhead. I filtered a liter of water at the trailhead and set off. I tried to maintain a fast pace half jogging at times, and nearly ran into a young bear directly around the trail as I rounded a corner.

He paid me little mind as I continued past towards the trailhead, taking a bit over 2 hours to make it back to the car shortly before sunset. It was the first time I had been on the final stretch of trail without a headlamp, with my last long trip to Kings Canyon being a 30+ mile dayhike of Arrow Peak. Hopping in the car I headed back to the Central Valley, grabbing a bite to eat in Sanger and getting home at 9:30 PM.